A consistent customer view and experience is essential for both B2B and B2C companies. Businesses such as Nationwide, Vanguard and USAA have achieved this consistency. For example, customers can interact with Nationwide via mobile apps, email, or Amazon’s digital assistant Alexa. In any case, the message and experience are always the same. Customers can ask Alexa anything from when their next insurance premium is due to when their claim is scheduled to be reviewed. If Alexa can’t answer the customer’s question, she connects him or her with customer service. If she can’t understand what the customer is saying, she alerts Nationwide’s system which automatically calls the customer back. And the call will be consistent with the phrasing and tone the company uses across all channels.16 Mutual fund advisor Vanguard also has created a consistent and compelling omnichannel CX. A challenge for many retail financial companies is understanding which investments make the most sense for specific customers. Vanguard created its virtual Personal Advisor to do just 17 that. The Advisor is personalized, easy to use and, when appropriate, connects the customer to human financial advisors, thereby reinforcing the firm’s commitment to providing low-cost guidance for financial planning. To develop these experiences, Vanguard used its own business design methodology. Sharing context As John Mercante, Vanguard’s CIO, says, “The process allows Vanguard to take an iterative approach and leverage an experimentation-based and customer data design process.” The iterative development allowed Vanguard to across all touchpoints test individual components of the service with small groups of early saves customers time and adopters to improve it before it was launched. And the company’s IT allows them to define architecture was configured to help the design team test, iterate and reuse components of the service in other offerings. the experience they need and want. Before it developed its app, USAA’s offerings looked the same to all customers. Now, personalized landing pages show those tasks and activities the individual customer most frequently conducts. To make the CX seamless, USAA has created a contact handoff system through the mobile app that connects users to a service representative. The representative can see relevant data about the customer before he or she is connected so the agent can prepare for the conversation. Sharing context and customer data across all touchpoints 18 saves customers time and allows them to define the experience they need and want. 16 Nationwide, Nationwide is on Amazon Alexa, accessed May 23, 2018, https://www.nationwide.com/amazonalexa.jsp 17 Forbes, Forbes CIO Innovation Award: Vanguard CIO Helps Drive Development of Digital CFO, March 22, 2016, accessed May 23, 2018, https:// www.forbes.com/sites/peterhigh/2016/03/22/forbes-cio-innovation-award-vanguard-cio-helps-drive-development-of-digital-cfo-idea/ 18 Nectarom, The Best in Banking Personalization: USAA’s Innovative Customer Service, January 16, 2017, accessed May 23, 2018, https://nectarom. com/2017/01/16/best-banking-personalization/ 10