A Little Hyperbole Never Hurt Anyone

Sometimes we describe things the way we want them to be. My ad on the Silver Foxes Dating site says I am outgoing, spontaneous and a great conversationalist. I am none of those things – but I wish to be. It also says I am outdoorsy and adventurous. Could I write 25,000 words a month if I was any of that? Hell, I’m not even single.

So when we say something is real-time, we know that it isn’t true. But it’s something to shoot for. And when we talk about a 360-degree view of the customer, we know we are blowing smoke up our own OSS.

Twice yesterday at 4G World, in the span of a few minutes, I heard two people in a position to know say that we will never have that view. Patrick Surry from Pitney Bowes Business Insight, said flat out: “We will never have a 360-degree view of a customer. We only know a small portion of someone’s life." However, he added this: “But we can get better at remembering what our customers tell us and what they want from us so we don’t keep asking them over and over again."

I’d say that’s a good start. So while we’re reaching for a 360-degree view we may never reach, we may learn how to do a few other things better along the way, too.

Christopher Autry of Tektronix, said that while we will never have a complete view of the customer, we could develop the organizational agility to sift through mountains of data to come up with relevant ways of impacting customers.

See? We’re up to two new process improvements already.

So next time you hear the terms real-time, 360-degree view, flow-through, touchless, customer-centric, first-call resolution, fully integrated, open network or multi-vendor, don’t roll your eyes. Remember how important it is to have targets at which to aim and just play along.

E-mail me at tmcelligott@vpico.com or click on the comment button below.

(Editor's Note: To read more from Tim McElligott on the topic of customer experience, download the B/OSS September issue here .)