Customers use multiple channels to interact with the companies they do business with.
As such, it’s critical for companies to be able to follow the thread of a customer’s interactions from one channel to the next (e.g. product research on a company’s web site, followed by a call to the company’s contact center). When customers have inconsistent experiences across the different channels they use, this can lead to frustration, dissatisfaction, and desertion.
Leading organizations are integrating advanced analytics into multichannel CRM to identify and target high-value prospects, deliver relevant marketing campaigns to customers, and optimize the customer experience to tighten customer relationships and build loyalty.
Unfortunately, too many other companies struggle to achieve this as customer data is often siloed between different functions and channels, thus preventing decision makers from gaining a 360-degree view of their customers. This prevents business leaders from developing a full understanding of their customers’ preferences and needs, as well as the types of channels they prefer to use for different actions and the experiences they’re seeking.
The need for cross-channel integration has to be championed and driven by senior leadership. CEOs and other CXOs must consistently communicate the benefits of pooling together customer insights from multiple channels and other sources, including transactional data and unstructured data from customers’ social comments. This can be accomplished, in part, through pilot projects where customer data is shared and analyzed between channels and by building on successful deployments.
To help convince line managers and other stakeholders the value of sharing customer data across channels, companies can also recast their incentive programs. Instead of applying historical models where employees and managers are rewarded solely for the success of growing customer revenues in their own channels, companies can create rewards programs where multi-channel customer growth is encouraged and rewarded among managers and other stakeholders.
Companies that are able to analyze and act on the full range of insights that customers share through their multichannel experiences position themselves to deliver more relevant and meaningful customer experiences that lead to greater credibility with customers and ultimately tighter, more loyal relationships. Companies that are able to use advanced analytics with CRM data effectively create opportunities to beat their competitors to market with products and services being demanded by their customers.
