Accenture, From Welcome to the Switching Economy: “Consumers everywhere have a wealth of information at their fingertips, giving them more control than ever regarding who gets their business. They know they have choices and switch providers when frustrated with their experiences. The result is the emergence of what Accenture calls the Switching Economy: the $5.9 billion of consumer-oriented commerce that’s annually up for grabs globally due to dwindling consumer satisfaction with and loyalty to their established providers. According to Accenture’s 2013 Global Consumer Pulse Research, which included more than 13,000 consumers in 33 countries, 66 percent of consumers globally have switched providers because of poor experiences in at least one of ten industries surveyed. Welcome to the Switching Economy. An overwhelming majority of consumers (85 percent) said they switch providers because companies simply don’t make it easy to do business with them. It’s not for lack of effort on providers’ part. However, most companies have failed to keep up with consumers’ expectations and behaviors because they have been playing “not to lose” when developing their customer relationships. Instead, companies must play to win. That starts with recognizing that the traditional sales and marketing ‘funnel’ is out of synch with consumers today and adopt a new model that is aligned with how consumers behave in today’s digital world—a model that enables companies to understand and keep pace with today’s all-powerful and ever-changing consumers who don’t. We introduced this theme and shared findings from Accenture’s 2013 Global Consumer Pulse Research in our report “Digital Customer: It’s time to play to win and stop playing not to lose,” recognize and reward companies that meet them on their terms and punish those that don’t. One of the key elements of this new customer model is effectively leveraging social media. Social media has substantially evolved from its primary early use as a way to keep up with what friends are doing. It is now a valuable “window into the world of consumers,” enabling companies to listen to consumers, understand what they think and want, and use that insight to engage them in relevant and interesting interactions. Indeed, leading organizations are using the power and reach of social media to harness insights, create relevance, hone relationships and target stakeholders in a more meaningful and trusted way. “