Jeff Gilleland

The marketing buzz over the past several years has been all about managing the customer experience. Intuitively we all understand that successfully managing the customer's experience is the key to building a durable and profitable customer franchise. And, as more and more products and services become commodities, it's only logical that companies focus on differentiating the customer's experience as a primary source for competitive advantage.

What is customer experience management (CEM) and how is it different from customer relationship management (CRM)? CRM often focuses on a single product or channel transaction—the short-term. Conversely, CEM focuses on holistically managing customer interactions across products and channels over the customer's lifecycle—the long-term. The goal of CEM is to move a customer up the affinity scale from satisfaction to loyalty to advocacy. And today, where a customer can influence millions with the click of a mouse, advocacy is...