Transform the customer journey from Passon to Purpose

The Digital Transformation is accelerating NOW and for obvious reasons FAST! Where B2B in most sectors are, or soon, wil struggle to compete in a digital economy that is increasingly dominated by the Industrial Internet of Things offerings with a tsunami of hardware products, software services, and many platforms providing dashboards promising everything as-a-Service. For some , nothing new anymore, but still, we will gone see more and more examples of companies crushing into a wall, or worse, drown into bankruptcy by not having the a strategy to fit post COVID-19 needs. Yes, are now forced to transform our business and for sure need to include our customers on that journey or others will disrupt your business, fast and at scale.

Just have a look at the different apps you have installed on computer or smartphone, four out of five are platforms; AMAZONE, PREDIX, SalesForce, and all these applications have in common that they take a highly customer-centric approach and position themselves between the consumer and the product/service company in the value chain. They have transformed the customer journey by making use of an ecosystem.

What exactly is an ecosystem and value of "X"-as-a-Service

“an interconnected set of services that allows users to fulfil a variety of needs in one integrated experience“ (McKinsey and Company, 2018).

I did spot two key factors that did disrupt the market aside from their targeted legacy businesses other than the common management mistakes (The KODAK moment), too slow market adaption or bad strategies that did drive this disruption by an ecosystem;

• Raising expectations from customers to get more services conveniently bundled (Bundling of Services = the core aim of ecosystems)
• Value Chain Disruption, by platforms leading to corporates, pushed upstream, losing direct contact with consumers, facing shrinking margins for their products.

As said, the age of "The Customer" has brought a change in how businesses offer their products and services. As customers now seek convenience (Raising expectations), facing an aging workforce, and even access to assets and systems without having concerns about the operations or investment ownership (CAPEX).

The focus is now shifting from offering products to capabilities of products delivering the value chain with an outcome as a service and it happens trough platforms.

"XaaS" ("a product X" as-a-Service)—also known as Anything-as-a-Service—is a subscription-based (long term requiring payment) model where the relationship with the customer begins with the purchase and starting the journey trough the SLE (Service Level Agreement). This business model has helped B2B companies generate continuous, predictable revenue from their products. They are shifting from a product-centric to a customer-centric business model. XaaS enables companies to innovate faster and deepen their relationships with customers through data insights derived from IIoT-powered devices and (dusty) databases. Position your customer at the center of each interaction; businesses can analyze their unique behavioral data, thus creating significant contextual interactions that match every customer's needs and wants for now. But there is more, much more needed to shift minds and start the journey of digital transformation.

The transformation from PASSION (customer) to PURPOSE driven ecosystem

Many of us, business developers and marketers, have developed and are familiar with the well-known customer journey to describe the most relevant customer touch-points in a specific customer interaction or along the customer/product life cycle. Now the business is shifting, and the digital transformation is a fact, the map of the customer journey could soon be not good enough anymore. Or at least if you consider exploring XaaS models, the need for a "platform" would be driven by an ecosystem with enablers and realizers, and building such an ecosystem will require a transformation from a customer journey to an ecosystem journey. A helpful mapping framework could get you started;

How it works — a quick step-by-step guide

1. Define the scope, customer & ecosystem

Starting an Ecosystem Strategy should be the definition of the scope. What is the OUTCOME of the ecosystem we are shaping? Lacking a clear definition and understanding of the scope, you will end up with endless discussions in management meetings. Any scope definition starts with the customer — clearly define who the customer is and the market segment you want to address and which core activities belong to the Ecosystem Journey to enable and deliver the outcomes defined.

2. Emerging Customer Needs - OUTCOMES

The next step is not just the existing current problems but more likely about developing customer needs you need to target as the desired OUTCOME. Take an outside-in perspective and reflect on industry trends and the changing needs in the future. Typically this is based on reliable analysis, design thinking exercises, AND customer interviews are what defines the essential customer needs in the upcoming 1–3 years, which will have a significant impact on how and what customers desire. Do not forget to take substantial OPEX/CAPEX impacts into the definition while at the end, you aim to make some money out of your platform while fulfilling your short term and future customer needs.

3. Stakeholder Mapping

After having defined the scope and emerging requirements, map critical stakeholders of the ecosystem(s): you, partners, competitors, new market entries, etc. to understand the "who is who along the journey." Support the mapping, and you will need to differentiate between three significant roles an eco partner can play in the XaaS Model;

• Realizer / Producer — the provider of products, and services
• Enabler — a supporter of realizer and architect by delivering technologies, and content through digital products and services
• Platform — the orchestrator/middleman of products and services via a platform that targets the business outcomes

The above-listed stakeholders can also be considered as three layers on the journey to unlock the ecosystem and meet the emerging customer needs. Map the different stakeholders within the ecosystem, including yourself and your products and services.

4. Think BIG, start small, SCALE fast

Think BIG and stay focused, primarily on outcomes and reach out to industry leaders, especially those with the X shaped profile for help and early engagement. Start small, wherein the case of (larger) companies with a broad portfolio of offerings you should obviously not plan all products and services in the first offering. Thus start with your core strengths and those partners belonging exclusively to the specifically targeted ecosystem. SCALE fast where the chain is only as strong as its weakest link. The Platform, EDGE and data infrastructure means that the first and last mile are already on to proven patterns, but it is not always possible to make sure they figure in your setup and that is where rapid Proof of Value would come into play while starting small.