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Compared to the general business evolution that has taken place in the midst of (and as a result of) the birth of the Internet, it’s pretty fair to characterize the state of business-to-customer communications (either B2B or B2C) as being Neanderthal on the evolutionary scale (admittedly, some knuckles are dragging on the ground more than others).

Think about it for a moment. Despite the advent of various channels of digital communication businesses have at their disposal - email, SMS, MMS, RSS, IM, etc. – can we really say that these tools have been used to dramatically improve the way businesses serve their clients? Are we seeing the use of these digital channels explode in new or innovative ways that provide a revolutionary new customer experience?

Sure … I appreciate getting text message alerts from the airline when my flight is delayed, or an RSS feed on breaking news in the tech sector, but these types of communication improvements are incremental at best. Having said that, all the pieces are in place for dramatic change, much in the same way that the commercialization of the Web and new web technologies set the stage for the Web 2.0 evolution.

The business-to-customer communication evolution I’m alluding to will be much more impactful than discrete text message notifications or RSS feeds. It will exploit the full potential of digital messaging channels in a collective manner to bring about a whole new level of interaction between a business and its customers. One where the business understands (through customer preference and behavior) how and when it should communicate with its customers to produce the best results. And over time, as the business optimizes its communication with customers using a collection of digital messaging channels, the communications (and by extension, the relationship) between business and customer will become more seamless and mutually beneficial.

So how will this evolution ultimately come about? Before every vendor and his brother respond to this posting with claims that they’ve got what it takes to make this a reality, let me say this: The evolution I’m talking about will not come from a vendor. Sure, we (the technology/solution vendors) will provide the tools, but the real and tangible evolution will come from innovative businesses with the foresight to combine and leverage digital communication channels in unique ways that drive net-new customer interaction models. By definition, these interaction models will form the basis for developing and maintaining relationships between businesses and customers, and will therefore become (once perfected) invaluable intellectual property for the business.

How do you see this playing out? Will innovative new interaction models allow businesses to forge durable relationships with their customers, or, will other forces facilitate loosely coupled relationships? Let me know your thoughts.