As the world begins to open up, the incredible velocity of digital growth experienced since 2020 seems to be running out of steam. Don’t get sucked into a binary view of the future, but plan for continued change and upheaval.
Some customers prefer to spend their time online, others enjoy interacting in the real world, and still others seek hybrid experiences where something new emerges in the middle. The surest way to grow in a post-pandemic economy is to organize around customers and information that reveals behaviors, preferences and expectations as tastes, times and trends change.
Regardless of shopping paradigms and platforms, digital-first behaviors have definitely changed between 2019 and 2022. And research already shows that almost two-thirds (61%) of customers plan to spend more time online than before the pandemic. The solution is to not react every time a new twist occurs. By organizing around customer data and information, businesses will become resilient. These “Customer 360” companies will always be in step with the evolution of the market and, over time, they will even be able to anticipate change.
Customer experience, a priority for business transformation
Understanding the customer becomes the most direct route to delivering innovative, value-added customer experiences (CX) in real time. Now couldn’t be a better time to have this conversation. According to a new report released by Harvard Business Review Analytics Services (HBRAS) in partnership with Salesforce, customer experience is the number one priority for business transformation. According to the study, 88% of senior executives say their company’s future success is defined by a comprehensive and consistent view of their customers across channels and platforms.
The study shows that excellent customer communication is based on two essential pillars: knowledge and commitment. Yet only 17% of executives rate their company as excellent in both knowledge and engagement or excellent at one and good at the other. In addition, only 15% of companies say they have a unified view (360°) of customer data and the organizational structure necessary to exploit this information.
The key to being truly customer-centric is not just assembling a 360° view of the customer. It’s also about organizing around data-driven insights, from across the consumer journey, to deliver meaningful engagement when it matters most to customers. This is not an overnight process, but it is possible with the right leadership, steps and support.
On the basis of this study, we decline a series of steps to be followed to move the essential functions from a remote operational state to a real customer orientation. Organizations need an overlapping, cross-functional approach to connecting Customer 360 to insights, and then connecting insights to actionable processes that facilitate remarkable customer engagement. Here are the 8 steps to creating a customer-unified business where data, insights and engagement deliver customer experiences with competitive advantage:
1. Listen to your customers
Integrate customer listening into your business to capture customer feedback at every step of their journey with your brand. Establish a baseline for quality based on your business goals and customer expectations. Act on this information transversally. It is an approach that is called “the voice of the customer” (or “voice of the customer” in English).
2. Set the standard for end-to-end customer experience
What would your customers say about their experiences if they had to answer a satisfaction survey? Do these reviews meet your standards or those of your customers?
In the report, Rob Goodman, vice president and program manager of customer relationship management (CRM) at Pacific Life Insurance, reminds executives that the experiences customers expect can be influenced by the best engagement in any sector.
“Customers base their expectations on other companies in other industries, not just yours,” says Rob Goodman. “You can’t just be good enough. »
3. Define a framework to translate data into actionable insights
Delivering unified customer experiences requires comprehensive data. For this, companies must establish a social contract with customers to encourage the exchange of data for value-added experiences. Continually earning customer data and building trust requires applying insights that continue to connect, improve, and personalize their experiences. Don’t skimp on mining and organizing data, extracting meaningful insights, and applying that insight to deliver useful, usable, and enjoyable experiences.
- Unify customer data sources to get a holistic view of customer interactions.
- Implement an enhanced data program that connects new or missing data points to a unified data platform for a single, comprehensive view of the customer.
- Bring out relevant and timely information that informs the actions of teams and functions.
- Deliver personalized customer experiences at scale.
4. Connect all the dots with technology
Invest in smart, automated, and integrated technology systems that connect data into a single unified view to help employees be more productive. “Our goal was to operate as one company with shared visibility of every relationship and touchpoint,” says Rob Goodman. “We needed to organize customer data across the company into a single, unique identifier for each customer, so that our marketing, sales, and service teams had a single view of the customer and all of their information. »
Pacific Life’s Data Hub brings together data from key business units, then works in concert with its CRM platform to create a unified 360° view of the customer.
5. Create a CX and Data Integration Steering Committee
Include stakeholders from business and analytics functions. A customer or experience manager, or anyone willing to bring disparate groups together can lead this group, focusing on implementing data integration and customer experience in your organization. In fact, companies that are at the forefront of customer experience are twice as likely to have a customer experience manager leading their CX efforts as companies that have made less progress, according to the recent HBAS survey.
Pacific Life recently created this role, says Rob Goodman in the report: “Identifying this role has helped recognize the need to assess the voice of the customer holistically across each touchpoint, rather than in silos. in a single domain.
6. Decide what is essential
Assess and prioritize the most valuable and critical customer touchpoints to prioritize for digital transformation. Which customer touchpoints have the biggest impact on the business? Organize relevant data sources into a single source so that every team can address critical decision points.
7. Empower every employee with customer experience skills
Give employees access to information and skills to engage them more. Implement employee training programs on CX success and data literacy. Ensure unified access to relevant data sources and dashboards, and continually emphasize the value of data-driven insight by backing it with a center of excellence.
8. Empower every employee
Prioritize collaboration in department-level goals and initiatives. Empower people at all levels of the organization to take ownership of the decisions that fall within their purview and take action based on data.
At a time when the world is opening up but digital behaviors are still progressing, getting a 360 degree view of customers is just the start. Data-driven insights bring out the human side of data and reveal opportunities to engage with customers in ways that are more personal, useful, innovative, and even enjoyable.
Source: ZDNet.com