Q. What is your perspective on the premise that the customer is now

in control?Munish Gupta: We are seeing a very different market than what it used to be. The customer is truly asking for something different...customer centricity from busi-nesses. Our perspective is that customer data should drive the relationship and insights.

Q. Are you seeing this in B2B, B2B2C and B2C environments?

Gupta: Yes. We are seeing it across the board. It’s not just B2C. The reason this trend originated in B2C is because of the consumer experience and the phe-nomenon that they are now more connected than ever through social channels, devices and communities. Part of why this is happening is the consumerization of IT.

Q. Is a focus on the customer causing a cultural shift

or some other paradigm changes in companies?

Gupta: Absolutely! And because of this cultural shift, there’s also an adjustment in company strategy. A lot of companies started out as physical stores, and now

they’re trying to bring the customer experience into the

digital space. In doing this, they

have to develop a strategy. They have to think about how they develop their product. How do they engage with their customers and partners? It’s not just about the value chain process anymore. It’s truly about how you manage the customer and the partner experience. The key piece to enable this is data insights.

Q. Do marketing or operational tactics need to change for an organization to

become customer driven?Gupta: If you start looking at your operations tactics or the marketing practice, you have to look at the front office and back office, then orchestrate a vision for keeping the customer as a focal point. Customers are social and mobile all the time. They want to look at what information is coming to them and how relevant it is. You have to think about how to personalize the experi-ence so the information you’re sharing with customers is relevant, drives value and drives revenue.

Q. How can enterprises encourage customers to share a certain level of

detail without being too intrusive? Gupta: The customer is always willing to share data if he or she sees real value. The key is to give a benefit in return. The other aspect that is really important is to give users the flexibility of an opt-out option. We’re seeing more and more customers increasing their own profiles, whether through the Internet or social media. When we talk about the power of the customer, we are already see-ing them building their own data profiles. T —J.E.

MAKE THE CONNECTIONMunish Gupta, the global markets leader for CRM and Cloud for Cognizant, shares his insights on keeping a customer focus.

SPECIAL SECTION

“The customer is always willing to

share data if he or she sees real value.”

—Munish Gupta, global markets leader for CRM and Cloud

for Cognizant

Teradata Magazine l Q3/2014 l ©2014 Teradata Corporation l AR-6988