Does your enterprise own these new skills?

1. You have used services of design architect to design your office promise
2. You have used services of interior designer to design your office interiors
3. You have used services of graphic designer to design your soft images , logo , stationery 
4. You have used services of industrial designer to design your manufacturing set up
5. You have used services of product designer to design your products even ; 
6. You have used services of fashion designer to design your clothes

Designers are only used by companies & individuals for self use and benefits. However in a era of customer experience where every company is in service business , unless companies uses designing skills of following two class of designers, competitive advantage wont be achieved by use of all other designers. They are ;

1. Customer Experience Designers
2. Service Designers 

To an extent their role over laps but there is a clear cut need for their skills to design what is called excellent , delightful & memorable customer experience. 

Service Designers (SD) actually design the services how that will be delivered. Its about intangible ways in which customer feels WOW !! while availing the services. 

Customer Experience (CX) Design is a large canvas which includes HOW the experience will be created , unfolded at all touch points.  

Forrester Research Consultant , Kerry Bodine has written about interplay of CS & SD in her recent article  HOW DOES SERVICE DESIGN RELATE TO CX AND UX?

CX covers entire customer journey while SD covers each of the touch points separately & how actually services are delivered. Unless proactively designed services & customer experience will be listless , plain, undifferentiated and  many a times frustrating for customers. 

Its time businesses MUST embrace CX & SD skills - In house or outsourced. 

You are EXPOSED !!!

Your company may be working in SILOs but customers see through the company as one entity or brand. This is the reason companies are at greater risk of being exposed. 
Many enterprises may think that only front-end people and front-end outlets are being exposed in front of Customers. 

Customer experiences your enterprise in following ways during their journey. 

Every-time they touch your enterprise you are exposed. 

Touch Points	Exposes (Indicative not conclusive list)
Advertising / Sales Website	Branding, Communication , Product/Service Conceiving Capability
Word Of Mouth	How you have dealt with your previous & existing customers, customer policies posts sales , product & service qualities
Product/Service Display/Demo	Manufacturing , Engineering , Service Capability
Front end people	Training , HR Policies
Back-end Processes	How your business process are designed & aligned to customer needs- like delivery, billing, packaging, queue management, admission process.
Outlet/Website for Transactions	Design & display capability , ease & convenience capability , safety policy, people policy
Company Policies	Return, exchange , store location policy
Product/Service Usage	Manufacturing , Engineering , Service Capability
After Sales Responsiveness	Customer Policy, Company Culture

Whatever the enterprise does at the back-end invariably touches the customer.  

When Mr Zubin Mehta will perform in Kashmir on 7th Sep, in front of the audience, he is aware that they are in front of their audience and their preparation will be in tune with that. There is however no difference be it audience or customer but difference lies with symphony orchestra conductor and business enterprise conductors ie CXOs. 

One is aware and others are not aware that they are in-front of the customers and are exposed to them whatever /where-ever they do. 

Become aware that your enterprise is staging a show in front of your customers & prepare accordingly. Remember author duo - Pine & Gilmore - Work is a theater, every business a stage.