As 2022 rolled on, economic uncertainty ratcheted up, notch by notch.
“The only pathway through this uncertainty is continued and accelerated innovation,” according to Judson Althoff, Chief Commercial Officer at Microsoft.
There is precedence for such a statement, with businesses accelerating digital transformation projects through the last crisis – the COVID-19 pandemic – as a means to survive.
Yet, Althoff also believes that if the pandemic taught the business world anything, it underlined the significance of resilience.
In his view, businesses fortified with digital capabilities proved more resilient.
However, there is a step beyond resilience that Microsoft believes will be critical in 2023. Althoff refers to this as “digital perseverance.”
What Is Digital Perseverance?
“Digital perseverance is the belief that an organization’s propensity to thrive in uncertain times depends on its own ability to harness and wield technology to serve its most important business outcomes,” states Althoff.
Unsurprisingly, he recommends that organizations invest in technology to progress their business processes and models to achieve this aim.
How? Well, Althoff suggests businesses focus on three aspects of digital performance. These include:
- Delivering a connected employee experience to maintain an engaged workforce.
- Providing contextual and personalized customer experiences by connecting data across sales, service, and marketing.
- Doing more with less by using tech to maximize efficiencies within the CX tech stack.
“Landing these objectives will help you deliver better business outcomes and achieve sustainable growth,” concludes Althoff.
Should Digital Perseverance Be a Critical CX Goal In 2023?
Despite the economic uncertainty, the challenges businesses face today are similar to those they’ve tackled for the past couple of years.
Prioritizing areas of innovation, figuring out the future of work and solving supply chain issues remain critical focuses for delivering excellent experiences in 2023. Cybersecurity is also still a pressing issue.
During the pandemic, businesses grappled with these challenges, and the idea of digital perseverance seems to be a roundabout way of Microsoft saying: “Don’t stop!”
Consider Microsoft’s five digital imperatives to enable such perseverance:
- Migrate to the cloud
- Empower fusion teams
- Unify data and apply AI models
- Collaborative business process
- Prioritize security
These are all familiar concepts. Yet, in creating a new mantra, Microsoft is perhaps stressing: “CX conservatism is the enemy! Take your foot off the gas, and you’ll fall behind!”
A clever marketing ploy? Most likely. Nonetheless, there is sound logic here. After all, innovation offered businesses a lifeline during the pandemic. Furthering the digital experience allowed businesses to stay in the game. Abandoning this approach during these current times of crises may well spell danger.
Moreover, customers are becoming more impatient, and loyalty is waning, as a recent Zendesk study suggests. As such, slowing digital transformation initiatives may risk increased customer churn.
So, whether this new buzzphrase is something that businesses buy into, the significance of safeguarding customer journey initiatives appears to be Microsoft’s covert message.
