It’s the Customer

In the 1800’s French writer Jean-Baptiste Alphonse Karr penned, “plus ca change plus c’est la meme chose” which literally translated means, “The more it changes, the more it’s the same thing.” More often that not, we have translated this as, “The more things change, the more they stay the same.”  Much discourse has taken place over the years as to Karr’s intent.  I say Karr was quite the futurist; in this fast-paced, technologically advanced world we live in today, his statement still rings true.  Read on to find out why…

There are many areas I could choose to base my argument upon, but let’s take commerce. Webster simply defines commerce as activities that relate to the buying and selling of goods and services.  Regardless of your viewpoint – be it marketing, sales, operations, customer service or some combination, we can all agree that the speed and degree of change in commerce continues to accelerate.  Businesses moving beyond single channel operations into multi-channel and on to omni-channel face increased challenges.  Now industry pundits and analysts are saying that omni-channel is dead – even though many businesses have not yet attained that level of sophistication.  Unified Commerce  is the new utopia.  From the C-suite, how do you navigate the change?

Concerning Karr’s quote, If this were a debate, you might be inclined to think I just made the case for the opposing argument, but let me bring this home.  Karr speaks to a deeper level.  Sure on the surface, technology will continue to advance, but what lies at the core of commerce?  The buyer, the seller, the product?  Of course not.  It’s the customer.  The more things change, the more they stay the same.  It always has been and always will be about the customer and the customer experience.  Companies that invest their time, energy, focus, and yes, technology into improving that customer experience will be winners in today’s and tomorrow’s marketplace.

What are you focused on?