The 14th-century literary masterpiece, The Divine Comedy, starts with a journey.
"Midway upon the journey of our life I found myself within a forest dark, For the straight-forward pathway had been lost," wrote the poet Dante Alighieri.
The narrator is fortunate. Confronted with deeply uncomfortable feelings about the unknown, he meets a man who guides him to a better place. His journey becomes an orchestration of places and people, each providing answers and insights.
While far from the philosophical questions of the medieval period, the customer journey of today can be likened to finding oneself in a jumble of menus, voice and chatbots, with calls routed to several agents. All with no guarantee that the customer will get the correct answer.
Both these stories share a common theme. The main character in the Divine Comedy is helped by a stranger who guides him to a deeper understanding of life’s questions.
Whereas today, CX teams bring an orchestration of data, technology, and humans to help customers on their journey find the answers they need.
"Data is going to personalize and make every experience more efficient and effective," said Charlie Godfrey, Senior Director of Strategic Business Consulting at Genesys. "It's about getting people to the right answer."
To Visualize Is to Understand
Real-time journey analytics, data management, and orchestration capabilities are the tools to enhance customer experiences. Dubbed 'Experience Orchestration Platforms', these solutions add value to agent and customer interactions.
"The only way we can truly understand the customer journey is by visualizing the events that are happening," said Godfrey.
"With visualization tools, we can see the whole situation. We can measure it, understand the friction points, and find a path to success."
Come, Let Us Reason Together - For Our Customers
Shifting to an orchestration platform requires the buy-in from all the stakeholders: leaders from across various departments and C-level executives. But it is challenging to get them in a room.
"The biggest challenge is the organizational silos," said Godfrey.
"Everything comes down to one truth. It's the customer. It's their experience and their journey. Everyone has to understand they're part of this big picture and to plan for it holistically."
Visualizing Is Not Like Flipping a Switch
It's critical to design a phased approach with a specific goal.
"Set a strategy based on a people-centric experience," said Godfrey. "Who's going to break down the silos? Everyone must be aligned and facing the same direction. Get all stakeholders to agree."
