The communication of the future: more digital, more human, more emotional
COLUMN Digitalization is not just a technological challenge. Above all, it requires innovation in the way we manage our companies and communicate with customers. But even as we embrace the necessary technological advancements, we must not lose sight of our humanity.By Anne M. Schüller*A new era of communication has dawned. We talk to bits and bytes called Siri or Cortana or Alexa. And as soon as they've been trained a bit, our digital assistants respond sensibly, politely and well-behaved. We have also been talking to robots for a long time. Digitized machines give us not only information, but also commands. algorithms listen to us, they understand us, turn it into big data, and then provide us with what they think we like. It's not just nice neighbors and bad-tempered bosses that talk to us; we can also talk to instruction manuals, shop window displays and passing cars.Machines talk to cell phones - and sensors talk to everything that has sensors. A piece of tinplate explains to the next free machine tool in person and as if by itself what it is to become. And while it is being processed in this way, it has a chat with other sheets.What does this mean for communications work?The digital transformation that is overtaking us at a crazy speed of change is giving communication a completely new face. It is materializing in a global network of billions and billions of intelligent devices, machines and objects that correspond with each other, with people and with their environment via sensors and apps.This "Internet of Things" will completely change the way we live and work. Everything that can be digitized will be digitized (Carly Fiorina). Everything that can be automated will be automated. And everything that can be networked will be networked with each other.How does this happen? Not smoothly and linearly, but in leaps and bounds and disruptively. Disruptive? In contrast to evolutionary concepts and continuous change, this is understood to mean the usually abrupt destruction of traditional business models and established value chains. Because something truly new does not emerge from the continuation of what already exists, but from the ordering of chaos.Digital fitness - a must from now onSocial media and their network effects, which have been with us since the early noughties, came along on comparatively gentle paws. However, they brought us a paradigm shift in the course of which the power of companies, organizations and institutions shifted to the people.What does that mean? In the meantime, it is primarily the company's own customers who, through their online chatter, decide whether new customers come and buy. And their own employees, through their voices on the web, play a decisive role in deciding who wins the best talent.But while the majority of providers do not even begin to grasp the extent of this development and many managers are still completely lacking an awakening experience, the next stage has already been ignited. Digitization is just turning on the turbo. The transition from a linear to an exponential era is catapulting us forward. And it's not the fast, the big and the unscrupulous who are ahead this time, but the digitally fit. More or less all industries are affected. The Cassandras of the economy say that companies still have five years at the most. Anyone who is not thoroughly digitized by then will be consigned to the graveyard.Without humanity we would only be machinesDigitization affects every area of a company. It will soon be what customers indispensably expect. In other words, it triggers satisfaction at best, since it is a mandatory program. But, as with dancing: True enjoyment only arises in the free space of freestyle, i.e., where there is empathy, dedication, and passion, in other words, a quasi obsession for the customer's needs.Money beckons primarily in the enthusiasm zone. But where technocrats operate, there is a danger that everything revolves around systems, processes and data, as well as analyzing, monitoring and measuring. The human aspect of the customer relationship often falls by the wayside. Humanity is expressed in emotionality, in usefulness and in sensuality. It shows a cheerful face to cold technology. It ensures reputation, identification, loyalty and the willingness to recommend - and thus also for new good customers. My latest book, "Touch.Point.Sieg.," is all about these facets, because in the end, and this is my conclusion, the true communicative successes take place beyond Big Data and algorithms. It is not analytics and mathematics, but people skills and empathy that lead to the goal, especially in digitalized times.The book on the subjectTouch.Point.Sieg.Kommunikation in Zeiten der digitalen TransformationGabal Verlag 2016, 380 pages, hardcover, 29.90 EuroISBN: 978-3-86936-694-4To order: http://www.touchpoint-management.de/bestellung-touchpointsieg.html *Anne M. Schüller is a management thinker, keynote speaker, multiple award-winning bestselling author and business coach. The graduate in business administration is considered Europe's leading expert on touchpoint management and customer-focused business management. She is one of the most sought-after speakers in the German-speaking world. In 2015, she was inducted into the Hall of Fame of the German Speakers Association. Her clientele includes the elite of German, Swiss and Austrian business. Her Touchpoint Institute trains certified touchpoint managers. Further information: www.anneschueller.de and www.touchpoint-management.de
