To close the customer intimacy gap, many businesses are relying on digital technologies to boost engagement and create a on-to-one dialogue.— File Photo

by Le Thu Ngan

SINGAPORE (Biz Hub)– Most senior business executives in various industries expect extensive collaboration with customers in the next five years, according to IBM's latest C-Suite study series, which provides an insight into how they see the business landscape changing.

The study, titled "The Customer-activated Enterprise," said customers have become the new business advisors to top executives.

Done by the company's Institute for Business Value, it revealed that 60 per cent of polled executives plan to seek the counsel of customers to proactively set their agendas in the next three to five years, up from 43 per cent now.

However, one-third of CEOs worry that, despite showing an increased interest in customer-driven pursuits, the rest of the study is out of touch with customers.

In a press release, Bridget van Kralingen, senior vice president of the company's global business services, said: "our research with C-suite leaders over the past decade has shown that organisations have steadily shifted to embrace more open and collaborative models of working.

"Six years ago, organisations did not envision their own customers as strong catalysts for change. Today, this trend has been reversed and CEOs are providing their customers a seat at the table to shape their business strategy."

The study found that business leaders are breaking down internal and external barriers to open up new paths of collaboration, innovation, and growth.

A growing number of top executives believe that customers' influence should extend beyond traditional activities such as developing new products.

Furthermore, more businesses are turning to customer advisory boards to set strategic direction, share best practices, and better understand market segments.

As the business landscape changes, 54 per cent of C-suite executives want to target customers as individuals within the next three to five years.

To close the customer intimacy gap, many businesses are relying on digital technologies to boost engagement and create a on-to-one dialogue.

The latest study was carried out following 4,000 face-to-face interviews with CEOs and top executives from 70 countries and 20 industries world-wide.

It was released earlier this week at the IBM's InterConnect 2013 being held in Singapore.— VNS