Welcome to 2012: The Year (or Decade?) Of The Customer

I came across this discussion on Focus this morning and thought it would be the perfect way to start off 2012 here on the Customer's 1st blog. 

As we saw throughout 2011, customers are increasingly empowered to share their experiences (be it via Twitter, Mobile Apps, or elsewhere online) leading to the need for a holistic digital customer experience strategy. As we conducted our TCEL podcast series this past summer, this need was repeatedly confirmed by our industry experts.

Going back to the original Focus discussion, the first poster posits "customers are finally feeling their own power. Bank of America and Netflix are two great examples of when customers said "No!"" And it's certainly true that the digital world provides myriad opportunities to do so. This calls to mind my other main takeaway from our Storyteller Spotlight Series and all of our exploration in 2011: that the need to make a more personal, human connection with customers in this highly digitized world (perhaps by "walk[ing] a mile in your customer's shoes.") is more important that ever.

So, will 2012 be the year of the customer? Is this "The Decade of The Customer"? What do you think?

Michelle LeBlanc is a Social Media Strategist at IIR USA with a specialization in marketing. She may be reached at mleblanc@iirusa.com.