Customer Decision Platform – Part 1

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by

aeadmin
in , , ,

Introduction

This is the first of a multiple part series of articles describing my vision on the evolution of Next Best Action platforms. Moving from a point solution to an integral foundation of all customer facing touchpoints.

Streaming

Real-time streaming is the future of data integration.  Moving data from a source to target in real-time will provide the next generational leap in productivity. Why? We live our lives in real-time – not in batches. Platforms should suit the way we live, not the other way around.

Proactive NBA

Organising and transforming real-time streams is a fundamental foundation of being able to gain event-driven insights. Insights are vital pieces of knowledge enabling meaningful change. Like a puzzle the “insight” picture becomes more clear over time. Context represents the background and landscape of these insights. Hence, Contextual Insights are a core ingredient that enable actionable proactive decisions.

For example, Andrew is expecting a delivery of a new Zell (a fictional technology solutions company) laptop during the 12pm to 2pm time slot on a Saturday. He rearranged his schedule to accommodate. At 10am he gets a call from Zell. Unfortunately the driver will be delayed until 7pm. However the customer service representative adds a £150 voucher to his account for the inconvenience. Although not happy with the delay, he is satisfied that the time lost was compensated. Andrew will purchase from Zell again as well as retain his premium service subscription. Customer saved

Proactive interactions add greater value to customers than reactive. Why? Time is saved by preparing Customers for future events based on their needs. Prevention is better than cure.

Zell used real-time insights to make the proactive decision of calling Andrew about the delay. They combined this with a voucher calculated based on the delay severity, loyalty and laptop costs.   The importance of real-time proactive communication is saving customers time and reducing stress and worry in adverse situations. Some companies understand this. However they usually miss the step of offering compensation. That missed step increases churn.

In order to make this level of service consistent across all product lines and services requires a holistic customer strategy. A strategy delivered through next best action (NBA).  NBAs would need to direct each and every customer facing channel. So this NBA platform would operate at the enterprise coordinating the actions of various “point” customer facing systems.

Introducing the Customer Decision Platform. This enhances the Customer Data Platform concept by creating Customer  decisions in real-time using Next Best Action technology. Customer Decision Platform delivers on the vision of a True enterprise NBA system. This paper examines using Customer Decision Platforms as part of your real-time customer experience strategy.  

In summary, a Customer Decisioning Platform delivers Enterprise level Decisions. These decisions will lead to coherent actions. Actions that will save time for the Customer and increase their loyalty.

Questions to reader

  1. How do you treat your customers when they receive bad service? For example : Reactively or Proactively?
  2. How much of your data is streamed vs batched?
  3. What key capabilities are required by you to exercise enterprise wide customer engagement strategies?