A few years ago, the daughter of a friend moved to Scotland for her senior year of college. But when she went to close her cell phone account, she was told there was no way to get out of the contract. What? Not even if you aren’t going to be in the country?

Luckily, those days are behind us. Today there are any number of mobile phone providers who don’t require a contract. I think of examples like these – and there are plenty of them – as demonstrations of customer power. At some point, enough customers said, “No more,” and went elsewhere, triggering a change. They demanded a better customer experience.

There are many definitions of what constitutes a good customer experience but as the Customer Experience lead at Avanade X, I like to think of experiences as something both satisfying and empowering. Satisfying so that a customer comes away delighted by the interaction and empowering so that they want to do business with you again.

The challenge: in a world of similar experiences, how do you make yours stand out? How do you instill that memorable customer experience that makes your customer want to return again and again?

These are the Avanade X conversations we are having today with our clients. They’re often surprised by a couple of things:

• It is possible to do more while costing less. Now is a good time to start envisioning how you can turn your “same as” online operations into customer experiences so good your customers will return again and again. While you are designing an optimal customer experience, you likely will find opportunities to save in any number of areas, endearing you to your CFO.
• Customers today don’t care how your business is designed to operate. When my friend’s daughter tried to end her mobile phone contract, she was told, “That’s not how we do things.” That won’t work today. Yet you can find a way to maintain your business model while also attracting and retaining the loyalty of new and existing customers.

Avanade X is more than a good idea. It’s downright invigorating. I get to talk with companies about the “who” and “why” of their business. My team and I get to go beyond the technology to the vision and then use our technology skills to turn that vision into reality. By doing so, we can demonstrate how exceptional customer experiences can change transactional relationships into loyal communities.

That’s the power of Avanade X.

Learn more about how Avanade X can help you do what matters.