Clear another spot in the executive suite: the age of the chief customer officer has arrived. No longer can businesses take an “if you build it, they will come” approach to marketing – most business marketplaces are overcrowded with options for customers to choose.

If you don’t give a customer the experience they expect, that customer will likely go elsewhere.

That was the key theme at the 7th Annual Adobe Digital Government Assembly in Washington, D.C. While digital marketing has never been easier for businesses to participate in, expectations from customers have never been higher. This applies to all phases of the buying process.

That’s where a chief customer officer comes in, representing the needs and perspective of the customer to the rest of the C-suite. Here are five ways a CCO can help your business grow:

1. Seamless customer experience. The primary focus of a CCO is developing a single vision for customer contact across all platforms. Customers should get the same information and experience online, in person and over the phone. This should be the goal of all companies of any size, in any industry.
2. Optimize your digital presence. Marketers know what information sells, and web teams can build the interface. A CCO will create the intersection between information and interface where the customer expects to find it. Fact: nearly three-quarters of customer interactions begin online, bringing a heightened importance to your web presence. Also, more potential customers will visit your site on a mobile device than desktop, so make sure the site looks sharp on any device.
3. Don’t gamble – analyze effectiveness. It’s not just about being “data-driven” anymore, it’s about being data informed about human-centric design. Analyze how a customer uses your platform and place top pages closer to the homepage. Every important page should be three clicks or fewer from the homepage. For most companies, the average website visitor will only click to two pages, so make them count.
4. Personalize your approach. Invest in software that collects contact and mission information on your website visitors. Who are they, and why did they come to your site? A good CCO can pair that information with a robust customer relationship management tool to deliver automated content to fulfill needs. The more personalized the experience, the more likely the customer is to convert on a sale.
5. Consider apps that fill specific needs. Every business provides a service, but how can yours be captured in a mobile app? A CCO can help identify the biggest need (products, services, FAQs, news, information) that customers seek, then craft a user-centric mobile app to address that need. For example, the Transportation Security Administration built an app that answers the question:  what can, and cannot, be brought on a plane? The app not only delivers valuable information, it also frees customer service reps for less generic requests.

The CCO is still a new concept in the business world, but one with increasing importance. If you can’t allocate the resources necessary to hire another top executive, consider a customer-centric advisor, consultant, or existing staff member who can offer an outsider’s perspective.

Remember to keep the customer in mind during all phases of communication, and follow the data back to a more effective and efficient user experience.

At Loudoun Economic Development, your business is our business. We want to make sure Loudoun companies are successful, and if your company isn’t in Loudoun already, we’d like to discuss how moving here can contribute to your success. Start by calling Rick Morris at 703-777-0426, or email Rick today.