NEXT GENERATION CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE

The short answer is probably something like “deepening the interplay between AI, personalization, and data” – but let’s be honest, there’s an inherent creep factor buried in there.

For instance, I refer you to the scenes in the movie “Minority Report” where the hero can’t stay incognito because every public holoboard he walks by loudly hails him by name and offers him a deal on some product or other that he’s assumed to be interested in.

So let’s call that a signpost for “how far is too far?” Yet survey after survey shows that today’s customers want to do business with companies that save them effort and make them feel valued. Proactively personalizing what you offer your customers is an obvious way to provide them with convenience and value.

But how can you do it without going overboard?

For personalization to be most effective, it needs to be quick and unobtrusive (which is why the Internet of Things will be a big player in the AI portion of the next generation of CX – but further speculation on that is an answer for another day).

One solution that can achieve this kind of personalization is an omnichannel customer experience, where all your customer data is collected and stored in real time across all of your channels so that the experience is both seamless and effortless.

Omni-channel is recognized as the gold standard of customer experience; however, it’s proven complex to implement that, for many companies, it’s still considered next gen. In fact, 69 percent of organizations surveyed still rank capturing and analyzing customer data as a top challenge when it comes to customer experience.

Yet the benefit of omni-channel CX is too great to prioritize for the undefined “later.” Your business should be working through the challenges omni-channel CX presents today for a stronger customer service for the future.

Here’s the result: When all data is readily available, your AI can identify key moments to proactively engage with customers as they interact with your brand, considering both their current goal and their previous interactions, to guide them into an easy, personalized customer experience regardless of what channel they’re in.

And that’s powerful.