— Forbes.com: “The Strategic Narrative”
How your business operates; what your organization believes in; the actions employees take; and the words you use to describe what you do, the value you deliver, and what differentiates you — are all now omnipresent. These touchpoints, interactions and messages define your customer’s overall experience with your company. They also represent the new competitive environment that CMOs must contend with today.
According to Gartner, more than 80 percent of companies are competing on the basis of the customer experience they deliver. Combined — business transparency and the customer experience as the competitive battleground — have elevated the critical importance of aligning your company’s words (story) and actions (strategy).
In a CX-driven world — words and actions matter.
The words you use and the actions you take … define how customers perceive their experience with your company. While your strategy drives actions, your message drives the storyline customers experience throughout their journey. That’s why your story and strategy must be fully aligned. When they are not, the customer experience breaks down. The perception of your brand is damaged. Customers lose faith and trust in your company. Customers leave and go to the competition.
Achieving clarity and connectivity is critical.
A recent article in the Journal of Business Strategy stated, “In its simplest sense, a corporate story is a narrative tool that tells the tale of a company’s strategy in action. It is a clear, structured, compelling articulation of ‘‘who we are’’ and ‘‘where we’re headed’’ that rallies emotional and rational support from stakeholders.” The article continues, “More than mere words, however, the corporate story’s strength lies in its ability to align leaders, drive decision making and mobilize the organization.” That’s why every stakeholder involved in the customer experience must deeply understand how your story and strategy connect.
Getting stakeholders to “instinctively” activate the story and strategy.
What, when and how you communicate your story must be viewed as strategic at every level of the organization. This means every employee should be able to communicate with conviction … who your company is, what the company does, the value it delivers to customers and, ultimately, why someone should do business with your organization. However, for this to happen, CMOs must lead the charge. They must secure unwavering commitment from the entire leadership team to drive mindset, behavior and cultural change throughout the employee population.
CMOs must design and execute a sustained internal organizational change initiative that ensures employees can “instinctively” activate the company’s story and strategy as they connect and communicate with customers and one another.
Alignment throughout the customer experience … improves financial performance.
Companies that make story and strategy alignment a priority will deliver a superior customer experience and reap significant financial rewards. In fact, Bain & Company states, “Great customer experiences produce great business results. Look at companies such as Apple, Costco, American Express, Philips and Allianz. Different industries, different business models. But they have one thing in common — large and growing groups of passionate customer advocates, earned by delivering an experience competitors can’t match.”
The bottom line is this: Companies that successfully maintain alignment between their corporate story and strategy win. They win because their words and actions align, creating a superior experience that increases customer / employee acquisition, retention, loyalty and competitive differentiation.
This article originally appears in the “Perspectives” section of CEO Communicator: the digital magazine C-suite executives and business leaders read to achieve excellence in communications. To access additional articles, visit www.ceocommunicator.com.
