4/21/16 VISIONCRITICAL: By Kelvin Claveria (excerpt)

In a recent webinar with Vision Critical, digital analyst Brian Solis shares what companies need to do to lead the customer experience revolution. The webinar was very timely given how, according to Gartner, 89 percent of companies expect to compete based on customer experience (CX). For many companies, improving their customer experience strategy and providing a seamless end-to-end experience is one of the most difficult but most urgent business puzzles to solve.

1. Close the “relevance gap.”

Brands today are “co-created” with customers, according to Solis. The experiences that customers share with other customers online (what Solis refers to as “shared experiences”) form the basis for a brand’s image. In the digital age, shared experiences are captured in online searches and conversations, shaping customer perception like never before.

For Solis, the best way for companies to improve customer relationships (and ultimately CX) is to build a community. “Innovation is community,” he says. “It’s about doing something together that makes belonging matter.”