1.
Thought Leadership Study by Altimeter Group on behalf of Amdocs
By Brian Solis
THE DIGITAL
CUSTOMER
EXPERIENCE
WHY THE FUTURE OF THE
COMMUNICATIONS INDUSTRY WILL PIVOT
AROUND CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

2.
THE DIGITAL
CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE
Executive Summary
Today’s customers don’t think in terms of channels nor do
they see departments. Digital customers simply want to
interact with service providers in a consistent manner —
wherever, whenever, and via whatever device they’re using.
Even though the customer is changing, business models
and approaches aren’t keeping up. Operators are not
fully equipped technologically or philosophically to
personalize customer touchpoints based on behaviors.
They have yet to shift investments from traditional,
expensive contact centers to building customer
connections in digital channels. As a result, they aren’t
providing customers with the integrated, seamless,
digital experiences they want.
Despite the fact that 68% of buyers will pay more for a
better customer experience, only 5% of customers feel
that vendors consistently exceed their expectations.1
Below is a sample of real customer feedback shared on a
service provider’s online message board that highlights
the disconnect:
“[Provider redacted], get a clue and hire some
people to A) ask your customers what WE think,
and B) fix your website, because it’s horrendous.
Think of the millions of dollars that could be
saved in live customer calls if your website
actually worked so that we could do all these
things ourselves.”
There are clear benefits for delivering a great digital
customer experience, but most operators still struggle to
adapt. Digital environments have evolved over time with
multiple vendors and technologies making it difficult to
deliver a seamless coherent online experience.
2
Even though the
customer is changing,
business models and
approaches aren’t
keeping up. Operators
are not fully equipped
technologically or
philosophically to
personalize customer
touchpoints based on
behaviors.

3.
Overcoming the environmental detractors requires
an integrated digital platform; however, investing in
technology alone is not the solution. It’s the why and
how behind digital channel usage that should inspire us
to think differently about our approach.
Operators that invest more in learning about their
customers’ digital behaviors, preferences, and
expectations will distance themselves from laggard
competitors. Our research found that any solution worth
its salt must begin with building and optimizing the
experience of the end user through testing and analyses.
Any change must be done from a holistic point of view,
with continuous monitoring of the right KPIs.
This puts multiple departments on the same data page,
all working toward common goals around improving
the customer experience (CX). Without technology on
the backend that can handle high transaction volumes
and connect multiple data sources, it’s impossible to
truly understand customer motivations, challenges, and
needs in the digital channels. An end-to-end view of
customer engagement leads to more informed channel
investments, higher digital channel usage, and increased
e-commerce conversion rates.
3
Operators that invest
more in learning about
their customers’ digital
behaviors, preferences,
and expectations will
distance themselves from
laggard competitors.

4.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
The Digital Customer Experience ..............................................................
Customer Experience Is the New Customer Service ...............................
“Invest in the Customer Experience, or You’ll Stay Stuck in the Past.” ....
Customer Acquisition + Customer Loyalty = Success ...............................
The Market Has Changed, and Service Perspective Must Too ...............
Great Service Leverages Multiple Digital Channels ..................................
The Power of Social Media as a Service Channel ......................................
Digital Service Is Better Than Traditional Service ......................................
The Digital Transformation Conundrum ....................................................
Reinventing the Customer Journey for the Digital Customer .................
Improving the Customer Experience Is an Opportunity for Businesses
to Be More Human ......................................................................................
The Future State of Customer Experience Starts With Leadership and Is
Enabled by Key Technology Partners ........................................................
Top Service Provider Investments for Competing in a Digital Economy
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CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE IS
THE NEW CUSTOMER SERVICE
Service providers are beginning to move attention
and resources toward improving customers
experiences, one of the most significant and
promising movements underway in business
transformation today. CX can not only optimize
and scale customer service and support for a new
generation of connected customers, it can also lay the
foundation for tremendous competitive advantage.
Customers are four times more likely to buy from a
competitor if the problem is service-related versus
price or product-related. Bain & Co. found that
customers are willing to pay more if they know
that they will get a better experience.2
Bain & Co.
also learned that a 5% reduction in the customer
defection rate can increase profits by 5–95%.3
Today, businesses are increasingly reacting to
customer experiences. Technology, human
capital, processes, etc., are positioned to
respond and scale with customer demand
and needs. But, this is too passive. When
companies invest in CX strategies and
roadmaps, they do so with the intention
of improving them without necessarily
appreciating what needs improving
and why.
Customer experience represents the
sum of all engagements a customer has
with a company during the customer
lifecycle at every touch point. Where CX
holds its greatest promise is in the design
of proactive experiences.
Businesses often don’t understand that technology
is not the complete solution to reducing negative
customer experiences any more than a script in a call
center effectively contends with consumer emotions.
If we assess the customer experience infrastructure,
we might find that there’s more of a prevailing
attitude to “deal with” customers or just resolve
their immediate problem and less of an approach to
improve overall customer satisfaction.
“You cannot create
experience. You must
undergo it,”
Albert Camus,
French Nobel Prize
winning author, journalist,
and philosopher

6.
WE RECEIVED A MESSAGE
FROM THE FUTURE. IT READS,
“INVEST IN THE CUSTOMER
EXPERIENCE, OR YOU’LL STAY
STUCK IN THE PAST.”
Customers have choices, and they’re exercising
them in ways that threaten existing operator models.
Outdated business philosophies and practices
combined with patchwork, unaligned technologies
make it difficult to not only compete for digital
customers, but also recognize how they’re different.
Unfortunately, when customer experience initiatives
are led by operations-oriented executives with little
CX expertise, it can result in decisions that neglect
innovation and focus instead on the status quo. This
leads to strategies that lean toward more legacy
operating plans and traditional forms of customer
communication, maintenance and acquisition,
such as investment in brick-and-mortar stores and
customer call centers.
Harry Bennett, RVP of Mobility, Digital, and Care
Solutions at Amdocs, helps leading telecom
service providers invest in technologies that not
only improve the scale and efficiency of customer
engagement, but also the overall customer
experience. Bennett is optimistic but admits that
change will take work. “Many executives are not
of the connected generations, so they invest in
what they know,” says Bennett. “They love to have
customers come in to touch and hold phones,
but that’s not of particular interest to Millennials
for example. It goes against the operator model
of fixed costs associated with stores. This is
counterintuitive to the digital era, which requires
less stores and more digital channel engagement or
mobile experience capabilities.”
Yoav Guez, VP of Services R&D at Amdocs, believes
there’s a cure for aging DNA. “When philosophies,
technologies, and processes are aging, it’s difficult
to come in with something completely fresh and
make it happen quickly,” says Guez. “We have to
understand the DNA of the organization to figure out
how to drive something that’s fast, smart, and agile
that will work within the existing company culture.”
LOYALTY DRIVES CUSTOMER
LIFETIME VALUE
Customer loyalty is not easily earned; poor customer
experience is a proven contributor to why customers
leave.4
Loyalty is built by delivering consistency,
by remembering customer’s preferences, and by
reducing the effort needed to complete tasks
throughout their journey with your company.
Exceptional customer experience is more important
than the value historically given to it. Somewhere
along the way, business has lost sight of the true value
of the customer and severe cost cutting has impacted
the way customers want to do business. This is now
becoming an issue, because yesterday’s customer has
radically different expectations and behaviors than the
customer of tomorrow — or, even today.
6
Loyalty is built by
delivering consistency, by
remembering customer’s
preferences, and by
reducing the effort
needed to complete tasks
throughout their journey
with your company.

7.
Admittedly, businesses haven’t lost track of the value
of the customer when it comes to revenue- — just
relationships. Customer support is no longer a form
of customer relationship management, retention,
or advocacy. In some companies, customer support
evolved into a “cost center” measured against ROI
rather than an investment in customer lifetime value
and fostering brand affinity.
Today, the state of customer service and ultimately
customer satisfaction is dismal at best. After just
one bad customer service interaction, 17% of
customers will leave your company for a competitor,
and 40% will leave after two mistakes.5
More so,
despite efforts to go “above and beyond,” only
5% of Americans said companies were exceeding
expectations when it came to customer service.6
Customers have the power to choose which
companies they spend their money with, and
there are usually several competitors to choose
from. Customers demand tailored products, better
services, and personal support at competitive prices.
This means that good products and services are
simply table stakes now. Customer experience can
be the key differentiator among competitors.
According to a recent report by Econsultancy, 70%
of companies say it’s cheaper to retain a customer
than acquire one and 49% say they achieve better
ROI by investing in relationship marketing over
acquisition marketing.7
Despite knowing this, service
providers largely prioritize customer acquisition as a
top business goal. Customer retention is, ultimately,
more profitable than customer acquisition and that’s
where effort must be focused.
THE MARKET HAS CHANGED,
AND SERVICE PERSPECTIVE
MUST TOO
When seeking service, today’s digital customers
generally prefer not to talk on the phone or go to the
store. When they do go to the store, they want to
get in and out quickly, as they have already amassed
an incredible amount of online information before
ever setting foot inside. Digital natives are more
likely to want to complete the purchase online, pick
it at the store, and then return online for information
on how to set up or activate a device.
When digital customers need help online, operators
need to make it simple and obvious, allowing
customers to complete business in the channel.
Traditional contact centers take on new roles by
providing online support, which has implications for
enabling service with newer technologies and for
agents who now need to be more skilled in
text responses.
As customers have become increasingly digital,
mobile devices have become their primary tool of
choice. As such, Guez believes that operators must
evolve to design with the mobile screen experience
top-of-mind, as demonstrated by leading industries,
such as banking and airlines do today. “Customers
are increasingly mobile first and expect their service
provider to be fully enabled, proactively anticipating
customers’ service and transaction needs,” says Guez.
However, when customers use a self-service app,
there are often gaps because delivering a meaningful
7
Customers have the power to choose which companies
they spend their money with, and there are usually several
competitors to choose from.

8.
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customer experience for mobile customers hasn’t
been the priority. All it takes is spending time with
digital/mobile customers to hear their frustration and
then developing a sense of empathy and urgency.
Here’s an example of a common complaint:
“My phone died yesterday, and I’ve been
trying unsuccessfully for the last 24 hours
to get a new phone and contract … I can’t
complete the order because once I log in, I
get the redirect loop. I had chat-help with
a sales person, and he gave me the number
for account services ... The line was picked
up by an answering machine telling me to
call from my phone (which I can’t since it
no longer works) or go to a store … Can
anybody help me with this, or do I need to
find a new provider?”
– Online Message Board
When we’re not wearing our professional hats, we
can absolutely relate to these typical consumer
problems and frustrations. After all, we’re all
consumers of other companies, and often they
do not meet our needs. We need to bring that
perspective inside our organizations.
GREAT SERVICE LEVERAGES
MULTIPLE DIGITAL CHANNELS
Web, mobile, email, social, and chat are having
a profound effect on customer behavior and
expectations. As customers have become more
connected, they have become more informed and
more demanding. They tend to be more impatient
in the age of Google and instant answers. They
want things their way. They want personalized
engagement on the device of their choice. If they
can’t get it from you, when and how they want it,
then they’ll find it elsewhere. A growing number of
customers will turn to search engines, online FAQs,
instant messaging, online forums, social media,
and YouTube rather than pick up a phone8
or send
an email. Knowing this, it’s not surprising that 72%
of consumers said they would replace traditional
channels with mobile apps if the same customer
service features were available.9
Many digital customers have multiple digital devices,
laptops, tablets, and smartphones. Hopping from
one to another throughout the day is normal.
However, being able to pick up where you left off is
nearly impossible. It’s these sort of expectations that
consumers across a variety of devices and channels
that should be teaching us how and where to deliver
the required functionality and value.
For example, when a connected customer has
a problem, they may solve it differently than we
expect. Many CX strategists expect customers to
jump through the service hoops that are put in place.
But for connected customers, the call center is a last
resort, as is the company website. Both were created
for a different era of engagement, not the least of
which is helpful to the connected customer.
From the end-user perspective, service provider
websites and apps seem to deliver incredibly
“unnatural/non-intuitive” user experiences. We’ve
repeatedly heard about the inconsistency or
the malfunctioning of service provider websites
throughout every step of the customer journey,
resulting in frustrated customer comments like
this one:
After all, we’re all
consumers of other
companies, and often they
do not meet our needs.
We need to bring that
perspective inside our
organizations.

9.
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“This website is far and away the most
difficult, non-user friendly, complicated,
convoluted, unnecessarily circuitous site I
have ever seen in my life. And it’s the ONLY
site I have ever encountered that logs you
out every time you click from one tab to
another. It is absolutely maddening. Do
they have a department called “Customer
Experience?” If not, they sure as shooting,
should. Do they have a department called
Quality Assurance? Are they measured
on customer satisfaction? Do they even
measure customer satisfaction? I seriously
doubt it.”
– Online Message Board
The great threat and opportunity inherent in an era of
connected consumerism is that shared experiences
travel faster, farther, and reverberate longer than
ever before. Connected customers live in their own
EGO-system, one where they are at the center of
everything they do online. Not only do customers
want a more connected, efficient, and personalized
approach to service and engagement, but they also
believe they’re entitled to it, and when they don’t
receive it, they’re quick to share with their networks.
THE POWER OF SOCIAL MEDIA
AS A SERVICE CHANNEL
Gartner reports that a failure to respond to
customers on social media could lead to as much
as a 15% increase in churn rate.10
In addition,
consumers are 50% more likely to share bad
customer service experiences on social media than
post about positive experiences.11
Add to that, more
than 88% of consumers are influenced by other
consumers’ online comments.12
Here’s an example of a negative customer
experience that traverses the Web and slowly but
inevitably influences other consumers along the way:
“I’ve always found the [provider redacted]
website nearly impossible to navigate, but
this week I had an experience so egregiously
bad that I made a YouTube video to
demonstrate how terrible the website is.
The customer service rep who helped me
with my issue said that [provider redacted]
monitors their calls and therefore should be
aware that customers and even reps have
difficulty navigating the site.”
– Online Message Board
We all know that customers are going to share
negative experiences; it’s human nature. They do
so because they’re upset and may feel wronged,
belittled, and/or undervalued. These shared
negative experiences can have a tremendous
impact on brand sentiment, word-of-mouth
referrals, and customer satisfaction.
On the flip side, research shows that loyal customers
that engage with companies over social media spend
20% to 40% more money with those companies than
other customers.13
DIGITAL SERVICE IS BETTER
THAN TRADITIONAL SERVICE
We have to get a jump on this consumer-led push
to starting most interactions from their always-
connected digital devices. Expecting customers to
put up with clunky 10-year-old websites is becoming
downright dangerous.
Austin Teague, services product manager at Amdocs,
similarly noted that antiquated intentions may hinder
progress among operators. “Customers see the
opportunity of digital with market-leading examples
from Amazon, the Airlines, and banking industries,
but the only thing operators seem to be interested
in is keeping people on their website and avoiding
the call center,” says Teague. “That’s their digital CX
support model — containment online and reduction
of problems from the digital experience.” The key

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to increasing digital adoption is continuous testing
and optimizing while making help for customers
only a click away. Global consulting firm McKinsey14
tracked the customer service journeys of consumers
traversing key customer support/service touchpoints
to resolve commercial or technical issues. This
activity is illustrated in the graphic above.
According to McKinsey’s research, roughly 11% of
those who started and ended their service journey
through traditional channels (the “traditionalists”
as defined by McKinsey) achieved an overall
satisfaction rate of 57%. Customers who underwent
journeys that involved a series of traditional and
digital channels (about 74%) shared a satisfaction
rate that was only slightly higher (four to five points)
than that of the traditionalists.
However, 15% of connected customers who started
and ended their service journeys through digital
channels reported much higher satisfaction levels
(19 points higher than that of the traditionalists).
McKinsey’s data introduces compelling evidence
that digital solutions (putting aside cost factors) drive
higher customer satisfaction.15
Figure 1

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THE DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION
CONUNDRUM: WHAT’S
PREVENTING COMPANIES
FROM ACTING
Digital mobile technology, the Internet of Things,
wearables — are perhaps the most significant trends
pushing business and innovation forward. To keep
up, executives need a digital transformation strategy
that encourages their organizations to improve
and optimize processes and services, as well as
to introduce new models, systems, and ways to
compete for digital customers.
In a telling e-commerce report published by
Intershop, 83% of service providers said change was
driven by customer demand and expectations.16
Yet, digital adoption among operators remains low
despite significant investment over the past 20 years.
So, what’s preventing service providers from
successfully exploiting digital transformation? In our
research, we identified four core obstacles:
1. Distributed Ecosystem:
From desktop to laptop, from dial up to broadband,
from feature phones to smartphones, customers
have become increasingly connected. The digital
channel ecosystem for engagement now spreads to
include multiple platforms, technologies, features,
and services. The typical digital ecosystem now
includes nearly 30 vendors and applications. This
leads to inefficiencies across the board due to:
a. High TCO for omni-channel
deployment and disconnected services
b. Long time to market for innovative
monetization features
c. Inconsistent customer experience
across channels
d. Lack of a single unified view of the
customer and touchpoint repository
2. Misaligned Internal Organizations:
Without a (resourced) digital leader championing
collaborative efforts, operators are weighed down
with too many digital projects operating in disparate
silos. They lack a connected technology solution
to provide the comprehensive data needed for
decision-processing and personalization.
a. A notable misalignment exists between
business and IT on strategy, roadmap,
and implementation of technologies and
services. This leads to competing KPIs
between departments and working groups,
with no united front that truly understands
how better servicing the connected
customer improves the bottom-line.
b. Marketing vs. care and lack of full lifecycle
strategy for customer experience that
transcends all channels and touchpoints
is a typical organizational problem with
marketing focused on branding and care
being focused on cost to serve.
Amdocs’s Bennett shared his views on how to align
ROI with new customer-focused frontiers across
departments. “Net Promoter Score (NPS), as one
example, can be used to create traction as it’s not
always just about call center cost,” says Bennett.
“Metrics have to align with what they’re measured
on in each particular group because ‘what gets
measured, gets managed.’ Unfortunately, I haven’t
seen that alignment of digital metrics across silos yet.”
3. Missed Monetization Opportunities:
Heightened interruption to e-commerce transactions
leads to low conversion rates (often as low as
2%, according to Amdocs), as well as missed
opportunities to upsell and cross-sell relevant
products and services. To date very little has been
done to address these problems.
a. The most common “solution” is simply
pushing digital customers to convert via call
center engagement or waiting for them to

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return to digital channels to complete their
fractured experience. With mass incentives
aimed at luring customers away from
existing contracts, anything that impedes or
degrades the customer experience will send
customers to competitors.
b. When customers have a seamless,
stress-free, and easy-to-navigate digital
experience, it becomes easier and more
efficient to purchase/activate their services
online. This results in shorter time to revenue
than in offline channels.
4. Technology Limitations:
Few technology solutions offer a comprehensive
view of the cross-channel customer journey data that
yields a better understanding of when/where/why
customers are dropping off. Without such a holistic
monitoring and reporting solution, service providers
cannot solve for the real CX problems that can
eventually lead to optimized revenue generation and
drive more people to digital channels. One of the
biggest challenges is that almost one-half (41%) of
operators find it incredibly difficult to deliver intuitive
and user-friendly interfaces and experiences across
multiple touchpoints, including online stores and
mobile apps.17
REINVENTING THE CUSTOMER
JOURNEY FOR THE DIGITAL
CUSTOMER
As McKinsey demonstrated, when touchpoints are
modernized and the supporting processes and
systems are adapted to how digital customers want
to do business, everything from conversions to sales
to satisfaction increases.
This requires investing in entirely new, intuitive, and
native technologies to serve the digital customer in
every step of the journey.
Connectivity is part of everyday life and, as a
result, the customer is now in control. Half of all
of your customers engage with an average of two
touchpoints in the discovery and purchase phases of
the journey. And, more than one-third engage with
an average of three. Other research from Appinions
shows that shoppers can consult as many as 10
throughout their decision-making.18
This highlights the need for consistency across
touchpoints, something customers cite as the most
important feature of multichannel experiences. That
means personal preferences must translate across
channels, and activity in one touchpoint must be
consistent and native across the others.
The good news is that all of this is identifiable,
removing the mystery in what you need to do next.
Without investing in context at the right time in the
right place, you can kiss one-third of your subscribers
goodbye as they will be unsatisfied with your digital
content when researching your products or services
Connectivity is part of
everyday life and, as
a result, the customer
is now in control.
Half of all of your
customers engage
with an average of
two touchpoints in the
discovery and purchase
phases of the journey.

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IMPROVING THE CUSTOMER
EXPERIENCE IS AN
OPPORTUNITY FOR BUSINESSES
TO BE MORE HUMAN
Unfortunately, many executives still see technology
as the only way of increasing operational efficiencies,
margins, and scale. This narrow view hinders the
potential of digital transformation. Instead, we
must use new technology to enhance customer
relationships and experiences.
Amdocs’ Guez believes that service providers
should rethink the definition and promise of CX.
“Customer experience has been defined one way in
the communications industry, while outside industries
and customers define it differently,” says Guez. “We
need to think about how to provide an experience
that takes service providers to the level of Amazon or
others that are top-notch in their industry, rather than
benchmark against ourselves.”
Understanding technology’s relationship with
customer behavior presents an opportunity to
make business more human. Companies must
implement the right technology platforms to get a
clearer understanding of the customer’s thinking and
behavior. Some of the questions that can be used to
accomplish this include:
• How are we segmenting our customer base?
• What personas uniquely define the targeted
experiences for our customers?
• What are their most likely customer
journey paths?
• What are the touchpoints they frequent, how
do they use them, and with what devices?
• What are their expectations, what do they
value, and how do they define success?
• How are they influenced, and by whom?
How and whom do they in turn influence?
This level of digital transformation represents the
future of business through the re-alignment of, or
investment in, technology and business models to
more effectively engage digital consumers at every
touchpoint in the customer experience lifecycle.
THE FUTURE STATE OF
CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE
STARTS WITH LEADERSHIP
AND IS ENABLED BY KEY
TECHNOLOGY PARTNERS
If customer experience is the sum of all interaction
throughout the lifecycle, in every moment of truth,
service providers must explore a holistic solution that
“leaves no interaction behind,” as coined by Amdocs.
This means that when digital customers pause their
transaction or are interrupted and re-engage on other
channels, service providers must ‘remember’ where
they left off and allow the customer to pick up the
journey on any device in any channel.
Examining customer journeys allows service providers
to better understand and act on the fall out and
disruptions within a larger marketing and monetization
ecosystem. Partnering with the right technology
vendor offers decision makers a holistic view of all
customer interactions and creates insight needed
to optimize each touchpoint experience. The key is
to understand the customer as well as the business
needs, and create the right ecosystem to deliver
the right solution, with the best-in-class partners,”
says Sharon Alalouf, Digital Service Business Lead
at Amdocs. “A good vendor can both understand
the task at hand, build the solution and manage the
ecosystem. The vendor doesn’t necessarily has to
have the expertise in each and every aspect of the
design and development process, but must have the
right vision, partnerships and operational capabilities
to flawlessly deliver the entire package, in a way that
is transparent to the service providers.
Also, the right technology vendor should assist
service providers in tracking and acting upon each

14.
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engagement opportunity in order to increase customer satisfaction and, in turn, sales, when e-commerce
conversion rates are increased.
“Every monetization opportunity must be seized and captured by the service provider so customers don’t
slip through the cracks and onto competitors,” says Manoel Menashe, Director of Service Innovation and
Development at Amdocs. “If operators aren’t tracking which interrupted customers are left behind and why, it’s
impossible to implement a solution that solves for the core problem(s).”
This is where the role of leadership is so crucial. An executive sponsor must inspire, from the top-down, the
importance of consolidating customer relationship technologies. This support ensures that appointed digital
leaders will be given the manpower and monetary resources to build a digital hub (or “center of excellence”)
with the foundational technologies needed to integrate multiple customer snapshots across the organization.
A holistic view of customer engagement leads to more informed channel investments, higher digital channel
usage, and increased e-commerce conversion rates.
Leading the way toward digital excellence, where customers are fully enabled to do most interactions using their
devices requires operators to undertake digital transformation initiatives. While the effort is challenging and
seemingly infinite, the benefits are profound for ambitious leaders, providers, and also customers. The following
recommended actions should be considered:
Increase digital adoption to make it easy for all customers to participate.
Improve digital e-commerce experience and raise conversion rates.
Maximize profitability by monitoring (KPIs) and encourage continuous improvements.
Improve data collection to identify cross/up-sell opportunities.
Enhance data and analytics capabilities to create a unified customer view and full customer
preference profile.
Accelerate time to market for new products and services.
Improve customer satisfaction with an active Voice of the Customer program that acts on
customer feedback.
Deliver consistency of experience across channels.
Start a program of proactive personalization.
Optimize operational efficiency — simplify, reduce customer effort, and make user-facing
processes easy to do.
Reduce silos — build a unified digital strategy across the organization.
Reduce call center operational cost by increasing digital engagements.
Simplify and standardize third-party participation in the digital ecosystem.
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TOP SERVICE PROVIDER INVESTMENTS
FOR COMPETING IN A DIGITAL ECONOMY
The path to success requires nothing less than complete digital transformation using the following waypoints
to guide your journey:
Map customer journeys: With the right data, the entire digital presentation can provide opportunities for
optimization, personalization, and engagement. Start by assessing customer behaviors, expectations, and
values for a unified customer view. Form a data collection and insights team as part of the digital transformation
workgroup. Create new role/s necessary to collect, analyze, and help data tell a meaningful story.
Form a digital transformation team: Identify candidates for a cross-functional transformation team. Assess
the processes, policies, and systems that prevent success in engaging the digital customer. Pinpoint what
it would take to overcome hurdles. Develop a RACI model for the cross-functional group and an ongoing
collaboration schedule and reporting process. This enables prioritization and delegation of projects.
Choose the right vendor and technologies: A centralized team of digital experts on your partnering team
will offer a full view of all interactions from across channels, helping to identify the roadmap to digital maturity.
Successful service providers also require a visibility layer that aggregates all interactions in a repository and
provides insights that show key challenges and opportunities for enhancing customer experiences and driving
digital adoption.
Develop a roadmap to accelerate digital capabilities: Chart a path to digital maturity and omni channel
guidelines by creating accountability for digital solutions around e-commerce, personalization, business
process management, device management, digital content management, and multi-modal communication
and collaboration to genuinely engage and serve connected customers.
Invest in an efficient and meaningful customer experience: Create a smart interaction resolution center to
handle real-time interactions that will encourage and convert a greater volume of monetization opportunities
via cross/upsell promotions, campaign promotions or to facilitate seamless purchases. Additionally, there
must be a centralized customer information hub that will serve customers by enabling them to get information
digitally, obtain help, manage accounts and perform most engagements using their device.
CONCLUSION
One of the biggest movements in business today, including efforts in CX, is “digital transformation,” the act
of rethinking and reinventing vision, processes, systems, and technologies to compete in a digital economy.
Beyond customer experience, digital transformation sets out to improve every aspect of business, internally
and externally, to become informed, inspired, and agile.
Although technology is not the end-all-be-all solution to solving a service provider’s customer experience
and support issues, the right technology can empower digital leaders with the ability to not only survive
digital Darwinism, but thrive. In doing so, successful operators will deliver valuable customer experiences that
improve retention, acquisition, relationships, monetization opportunities, and overall competitiveness in a
digital economy.

16.
16
ENDNOTES
1
http://about.americanexpress.com/news/
docs/2014x/2014-Global-Customer-Service-
Barometer-US.pdf
2
http://beyondphilosophy.com/15-statistics-that-
should-change-the-business-world-but-havent/
3
http://www.bain.com/Images/BB_Prescription_
cutting_costs.pdf
4
http://about.americanexpress.com/news/
docs/2014x/2014-Global-Customer-Service-
Barometer-US.pdf
5
http://dailyinfographic.com/social-customer-
service-infographic
6
http://about.americanexpress.com/news/
docs/2014x/2014-Global-Customer-Service-
Barometer-US.pdf
7
http://oursocialtimes.com/70-of-companies-say-its-
cheaper-to-retain-a-customer-than-acquire-one/
8
www.smh.com.au/it-pro/business-it/pulling-the-
plug-on-call-centres-20130508-2j6m6.html
9
http://www.blueriotlabs.com/2014/design-user-
experience/mobile-apps-can-be-great-for-business/9
http://dailyinfographic.com/social-customer-service-
infographic
10
http://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/2101515
11
http://www.marketingcharts.com/online/bad-
customer-service-interactions-more-likely-to-be-
shared-than-good-ones-28628/
11
http://www.marketingcharts.com/online/bad-
customer-service-interactions-more-likely-to-be-
shared-than-good-ones-28628/
12
http://econsultancy.com/blog/9958-88-of-
consumers-consult-reviews-when-making-a-purchase
13
http://www.bain.com/publications/articles/putting-
social-media-to-work.aspx
14
http://www.mckinsey.com/insights/marketing_
sales/why_companies_should_care_about_
ecare?cid=DigitalEdge-eml-alt-mip-mck-oth-140
15
Higher satisfaction at lower costs: Digitizing
customer care By: Francesco Banfi, Boris Gbahoué,
Jeremy Schneider, McKinsey
16
http://www.intershop.com/e-commerce-report
17
http://www.ecommerce-manager.com/en/item/
the-nine-biggest-factors-driving-e-commerce-
change-in-the-telco-sector
18
http://blog.appinions.com/pdfs/Marketing%20
through%20Trust%20-%20Buyer%27s%20Journey.pdf
DISCLAIMER
ALTHOUGH THE INFORMATION AND DATA USED IN THIS
REPORT HAVE BEEN PRODUCED AND PROCESSED FROM
SOURCES BELIEVED TO BE RELIABLE, NO WARRANTY
EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED IS MADE REGARDING THE
COMPLETENESS, ACCURACY, ADEQUACY, OR USE OF THE
INFORMATION. THE AUTHORS AND CONTRIBUTORS OF
THE INFORMATION AND DATA SHALL HAVE NO LIABILITY
FOR ERRORS OR OMISSIONS CONTAINED HEREIN OR
FOR INTERPRETATIONS THEREOF. REFERENCE HEREIN TO
ANY SPECIFIC PRODUCT OR VENDOR BY TRADE NAME,
TRADEMARK, OR OTHERWISE DOES NOT CONSTITUTE
OR IMPLY ITS ENDORSEMENT, RECOMMENDATION, OR
FAVORING BY THE AUTHORS OR CONTRIBUTORS AND
SHALL NOT BE USED FOR ADVERTISING OR PRODUCT
ENDORSEMENT PURPOSES. THE OPINIONS EXPRESSED
HEREIN ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE.

17.
Brian Solis, Principal Analyst
Brian Solis (@briansolis) is an award-winning author, prominent blogger, and
keynote speaker. Solis works with enterprise organizations and technology
vendors to research the state and direction of markets, competitors, and
customer behavior. Through the use of proven frameworks and best practices,
Solis analyzes trends, opportunities, capabilities, and areas for improvement to
align new media initiatives with business priorities.
AUTHOR
17
About Amdocs
For 30 years, Amdocs has ensured service providers’
success and embraced their biggest challenges. To
win in the connected world, service providers rely on
Amdocs to simplify the customer experience, harness
the data explosion, stay ahead with new services and
improve operational efficiency. The global company
uniquely combines a market-leading BSS, OSS, and
network control and optimization product portfolio
with value-driven professional services and managed
services operations. With revenue of $3.6 billion in
fiscal 2014, Amdocs’ workforce of more than 22,000
serves customers in over 80 countries worldwide.
Contact info:
Amdocs Headquarters
1390 Timberlake Manor Parkway
Chesterfield, MO, 63017
info@amdocs.com
www.amdocs.com
@amdocs
314.212.7000
About Altimeter Group
Altimeter is a research and consulting firm owned
by Prophet Brand Strategy that helps companies
understand and act on technology disruption. We give
business leaders the insight and confidence to help their
companies thrive in the face of disruption. In addition
to publishing research, Altimeter Group analysts speak
and provide strategy consulting on trends in leadership,
digital transformation, social business, data disruption,
and content marketing strategy.
Contact info:
Altimeter Group, A Prophet Company,
One Bush Street, 7th Floor
San Francisco, CA 94104
info@altimetergroup.com
www.altimetergroup.com
@altimetergroup
415 363 0004