Sep 5, 2019
Chris Spears founded Arke Systems in 2005 and, taking advantage of the opportunity to decide “who he was in the organization,” designated himself Chief Marketing Technology Officer. The company offered back-end systems support – web platform, CRM system, and email capability development and integration – for the clients of digital agencies.
The problem? Arke had no control over design or strategy . . . or over getting dumped when the customer-facing digital agency got dumped for failure to deliver expected outcomes.
The solution? Five years ago, Arke pivoted and launched a long-view, strategy/results-driven, technologically integrated experience design practice, developing marketing programs with strategies and design work predicated on producing consistent, measured, and predictable desired results.
The company had to redefine its customer base from the digital agencies that needed back-end services to targeted end users – small to medium-sized companies interested in providing better customer experience. Arke’s new clients, initially, were small companies, which provided proof of concept for the larger companies that came on as clients over the years. These small companies provided proof of concept for the larger companies that came on as clients over time.
Arke had to change the way it thought about and presented its value proposition, where it went to find customers, and how it approached them. The growth process was organic: the company researched what customers wanted, hired the best person with the relevant technical skillset to provide those outcomes, sold results to customers, and grew a team around each technology specialist.
The company differentiates itself on its technological depth, using only a narrow selection of best-in-class technologies. This focus allows it to provide a more nuanced solution for each client or stage in the “journey,” utilizing back office data “threaded through the website,” to guide the customer and to manage and optimize results.
Chris was interviewed at Arke’s 4th Annual CX Summit, “Transforming Digital Experiences to Digital Business.” He can be reached on LinkedIn, at Arke Chris, by email at: cspears@arke.com, or on his company’s website at arke.com.