Competition is advancing, and customer expectations are evolving. For many, such a reality is a significant cause for concern. Yet, the increasing ease of access to customer insights enables data-driven decision-making, paving the way for companies to use CX as a competitive advantage.
Analyst studies support such a strategy, with a 2021 Forrester Research study finding that the revenues of experience driven businesses grew 1.7 times faster than other companies. In 2018, this figure was lower at 1.4.
Interestingly, the research also suggests that experience driven businesses will prioritise investments in cross-channel experience design, data integration/management, and personalisation.
Regarding the latter, Andy Watts, a Senior Accounts Director at Odigo, senses a change in the approach of leading CX innovators. He says:
“Many businesses are no longer thinking of personalisation from the perspective of tactical segmentation. Instead, they are taking it to a more granular level, connecting disparate systems, third-party data, and AI technologies to understand the preferences and behaviours of specific customers. In doing so, they can make real-time insight-driven decisions around the individual.”
Such a level of CX maturity is a distant dream for many. After all, creating a data lake, enhancing customer intelligence, and providing relevant, valued experiences is no picnic in the park.
Yet, if a company can reach this point, they may make behavioural recommendations, optimise omnichannel strategies, and engage in predictive personalisation that reimagines CX and inspires deeper customer relationships.
Delivering Personalisation Across the Customer Journey
Personalisation drives better customer outcomes across many stages of the customer journey.
For starters, consider the browsing stage of an online customer journey alone. Harnessing the power of customer data, businesses can add personalisation through the use of:
- Unique landing pages – Combining data such as the customer's location, the website they are bouncing from, and previous web page visits, companies can present a unique landing page to the customer.
- Recommendation engines – Identifying the needs and desires of customers – based on previous purchases, website searches, and demographic data - helps present relevant product and service recommendations.
- Relevant pricing and offers – Using algorithms that assess a customer’s purchase history, searches, and pages viewed, companies can target individuals with special promotions and discounts to enhance their value.
To take this strategy to the next level, consider the addition of a focused virtual assistant. Such a bot can reach out to customers with a proactive offer when a customer revisits a particular product's web or social media page, for instance. Doing so may increase the chances of conversion.
Yet, companies can get more creative. Watts pinpoints the Domino's Pizza bot as a particularly innovative and extremely simple example. He says: “When you’ve finished your order, a bot appears on the screen providing real-time updates of the pizza being made, being cooked, and then out for delivery, tracking the entire process and engaging people through automated, relevant updates.
Bots may also enhance service touchpoints within a customer journey. Automatically retrieving customer data from various enterprise systems, the technology can deliver a personalised service that offers real-time answers to specific queries and concerns.
Other AI-driven technologies also increase personalisation in the contact centre. A prominent example is predictive routing, which harnesses customer and agent data to pass customers through to the person best equipped to meet their individual needs.