Today’s connected consumer has multiple devices (i.e. tablets, mobile phones, laptops) and they expect to be able to communicate with companies on any of them at any given time. This change in consumer behavior and expectations is mandating that enterprises adjust rapidly and engage consumers on “their terms” to build brand loyalty and drive sales. To meet this tall challenge, enterprises need two capabilities: predictive analytics, to anticipate what the customer wants, and omnichannel service, which enables context to be maintained as a customer crosses channels (e.g., from a laptop to a smartphone) and devices. Combining both of these capabilities enables a predictive omnichannel experience.
Predictive Analysis
Predictive analytics is the ability to use big data to anticipate what customers want. For example, with the holiday travel season approaching, if a consumer books a flight and car rental and the flight is cancelled or changed, the consumer should be contacted with new flight reservations and car rental arrangements. This would ultimately save the consumer time and frustration. By using predictive analytics to predict why customers are contacting their company and anticipating their next request, businesses can address needs quickly and easily. Predictive analytics helps create a personalized and insightful interaction with the consumer.
Omnichannel is the ability for consumers to seamlessly move their conversation and engagement with a business from one channel, such as the mobile Web, to a phone conversation to social media, all while maintaining the full context and history of their interactions. Moving between channels and devices is a common practice, as 90 percent of consumers use multiple screens sequentially to complete a task, according to a Google Research Study.
Consumers Have Changed and the Enterprise Needs to Adapt
Contrary to popular belief, customers actually want companies to mine their interactions for insightful, actionable data. If this level of data analysis doesn’t happen, customers will continue to be confronted with frustrations and challenges when it comes to customer service interactions. A recent survey released by [24]7 found that 77 percent of smartphone owners say that a major source of frustration with customer service is the lack of context and customer history. Today’s consumers crave personalized, specialized treatment. They want to feel their business is valuable to the company. Understanding the who, what, when, and why about the customer—via predictive analytics and omnichannel capabilities—leads to more selling and better business outcomes. Predictive analytics is powerful because it enables companies to anticipate their customers’ needs quickly and correctly. A customer should never have to repeat why he or she is calling during the interaction. If companies want to stay in line with their customers’ expectations, they need to adopt the right technology solutions that will ultimately reduce the time and effort that the customer (and the company) have to put in at the end of the day.
Don’t let your company lag behind the competition by not taking advantage of your customers’ data and using it to enhance their experience. Enterprises that don’t stay ahead of today’s connected consumer will have dissatisfied customers, lose their loyalty, and ultimately fade away as a business.