Connected strategies can become a powerful new source of competitive advantage. And connected technologies have greatly advanced over the recent past. Customers and employees are increasingly expecting well-designed digital experiences, a trend that certainly has further accelerated during the pandemic. Consequently, the question companies face currently is not a matter of “whether they should implement a connected strategy,” but a matter of “how.” When designing a successful connected strategy, the technological innovation is only one piece of the puzzle. In order to create a lasting competitive advantage, companies need to match the right technological solutions with the right customer needs. This article discusses four connected customer experiences that firms can create: 1) respond-to-desire; 2) curated offering, 3) coach behavior, and 4) automatic execution, to turn episodic interactions with customers into continuous relationships.
