skills and philosophies own their piece of the puzzle while harmonizing with other customer interactions outside of their responsibility? And how does an organization build stronger relationships with customers more predictably, interaction by interaction?
To build strong internal partnerships and cross-functional collaboration, you must start to speak the same language and have common approaches for making sense of what all your disparate work produces. Four concepts are critical to getting on the same page: channel, touchpoint, ecosystem, and journey. For orchestrating experiences, it’s critical to define these concepts consistently within a team, group, or an entire organization. They can serve as the connective tissue for creating more integrated, effective experiences across time and space. Let’s start by looking at channels—the enablers of customer interactions.
CHAPTER 1
Understanding Channels
Channels Don’t Exist in Isolation
Channels Reflect Interactions, Information, and Context
Changing the Channel-Centric Mindset
The concept of channels pervades the modern business organization—for example, channel team, channel strategies, cross-channel, multichannel, omnichannel, channel preference, channel ownership, and on and on. Ideally, channels create connections to communicate and interact among people. However, they can also become silos that separate and create barriers between people, teams, and priorities.
From Theory to Reality
In the classic sense, a channel is a construct through which information is conveyed, similar to a waterway. Just as the Panama Canal delivers ships and cargo from one ocean to another, a communication channel connects the information sender with the information receiver.
In the world of designing services, a channel is a medium of interaction with customers or users (see Figure 1.1). Common channels include physical stores, call centers (phone), email, direct mail, web, and mobile (see Table 1.1). Behind these channels sit people, processes, and technologies. Channel owners count on these resources to reach their customers, deliver value, and differentiate them from their competition.
In addition, these channel owners are often evaluated and rewarded on the success of their individual channel metrics, which can be a detriment to connecting channels across an organization.
FIGURE 1.1 Understanding and aligning with others on your channels is a foundational step toward orchestrating experiences.
TABLE 1.1 COMMON CHANNELS
| Physical Store | Digital | Customer Service | Marketing |
| Signage | Web | Call Center | Broadcast |
| Kiosk | Mobile | IVR | |
| In-Store Screens | Mobile Web | Live Chat | |
| Environmental Displays | Native App Email Live Chat SMS/Messaging | Chat Bots | Direct Mail Digital Marketing Social Media SMS/Messaging |
Designing end-to-end experiences necessitates stepping into these channel-org dynamics. As an orchestrator, you need to understand how deeply engrained channel thinking (vertical ownership) can deter innovation and value creation. Your objective is to reframe channels as coordinated role players in the greater story of serving customers’ journeys (horizontal servitude). The following four concepts will arm you to take on this challenge:
• Organizations are structured by channels.
• Channels don’t exist in isolation.
• Channels are defined by interaction, information, and context.
• Channels should support the moment.
Structured by Channels
All companies start somewhere to market, deliver, and support their products and services to customers. For example, Lowe’s Home Improvement started as a small storefront in a small town. Sears sold watches by mail order catalogs. UPS distributed paper forms filled out in triplicate to pick up, transfer, and deliver packages accurately. Netflix sent discs by mail. Amazon sold books on the web.
Over time, companies adapt and expand to engage with customers in new ways and new channels. Take Lowe’s Home Improvement, a U.S. retailer, as an example. For decades, Lowe’s primarily interacted with its customers through hundreds of retail stores and thousands of associates supported by television, radio, newspaper, outdoor and direct mail marketing, and advertising. In the 1990s, Lowe’s (and its competitors) began moving into the digital realm both online and in the store. Now, two decades later, Lowe’s has an expansive digital footprint including websites, apps, kiosks, associate tablets, and even a wayfinding robot (see Figure 1.2) that exists alongside the same channels that Lowe’s has operated in from the first day it opened its doors. Lowe’s answers customer questions through online chat, Twitter, in store aisles, and on the phone. It promotes sales on radio, via Google AdWords, in direct mail, and on physical and digital receipts. It teaches how to do home improvement projects in workshops, on YouTube, and in iPad magazines. That’s a lot of channels.
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