The (un)predictability of customer behaviour

Companies and organisations increasingly invest in digital marketing. In all sorts of ways it is made as easy and appealing as possible for consumers to do business with the organisation. Unfortunately, research shows that they often get stuck or abandon the process. The causes of this vary and are not always immediately clear. A missed opportunity! Thanks to predictive analytics, the contact centre has become the ideal place to seize this opportunity.

The mistake many organisations make is that they pay insufficient or no attention to these kinds of signals, or are simply too late to react, whereas it often suffices to simply give the user a nudge at the right time to help them along in their customer journey. But when is the right time? And how do you approach the customer? With an offer, user tips, or general assistance? Another consideration is whether to use a bot or a 'human' employee. The fact is that every customer's preferences are different. Not only that, but they also change constantly. But to what extent is customer behaviour predictable? Nothing is as changeable as humans, right?

Big data

If your organisation uses an omnichannel contact centre platform, you have access to a central source of customer data. A LOT of customer data. In addition, there are countless third-party datasets that relate to, for example, customer and purchasing behaviour, health, sentiment, and demographic data. After all, big data is big business nowadays!

The more data you have, the more insights you can discover. How do users navigate the customer journey? Which steps lead to a successful result, such as a purchase or finding the right information? But also: is there a pattern in the customer journeys of those who 'drop out'? Knowing your customers and their needs will help you respond to and build a long-term relationship with them.

Predict and influence

A ‘predictive analytics’ tool uses past data to predict future events. It uses AI to analyse large amounts of historical and real-time data from all corners of the organisation – and beyond. Not only to map the customer journey but to better predict customer behaviour based on that. With this knowledge, you can make every interaction much more effective and personal. For example, by giving the customer an impulse at the right time through the deployment of an employee or bot, or by making an offer that is appealing to the customer at that time.

But predictive analyses are also bearing fruit within the contact centre. They enable the WFM team to deploy resources smarter and more productively. They also provide support teams with the insights needed to resolve customer issues quickly and accurately. Much more efficient for customers and employees!

Hyper-personal

So it's about being able to offer every customer or user the right message, at the right time and through the right channel. About understanding the needs of each of them, preferably before they are aware of them themselves. We call this hyper-personalised marketing.

Bol.com and Amazon apply this, for example, by suggesting additional products based on what is currently in your virtual shopping cart (real-time) or on what you purchased previously (historical). Spotify does it for music and Netflix for movies and series. Even your smartphone uses similar technology, for example by predicting what the next word will be in the message you’re composing.

These predictions get better over time, as the tools continue to learn and adapt based on the data entered into them.

Are surveys a thing of the past?

Many companies and organisations have traditionally used surveys to gain insight into the customer experience. While these still provide a valuable means of collecting customer insights, they typically only cover a small fraction of the customer base and are based on past experiences, rather than looking ahead to future customer needs. As a result, they fall short as a management tool for responding to customer needs in a personal and scalable way.

Predictive analytics allow you to anticipate customer behaviour to capture opportunities and to address any problems before they arise. This enables you to interact with your customers proactively instead of reactively, and also much more personally. The result is a much better customer experience, less attrition and a positive impact on the business results!

Curious about how you can improve the customer experience (and business results!) with the help of a solution that helps you predict and respond to customer behaviour? Let us know! Our experts are happy to tell you more about it.

Whitepaper 'From the pit lane to pole position'

The customer experience has become the competitive tool of choice, and in a world where customer behaviour and customer needs are changing at breakneck speed, the need for innovative technologies and automation in the contact centre is increasing. Those who do not invest in innovation run into an unbridgeable deficit.

In our whitepaper ‘From the pit lane to pole position: The urgency of customer-centric innovation in the contact centre’, we discuss the different ways AI and other technologies can be applied in contact centres. They help to find the right balance between man and machine, and between scalability and ‘personal touch’, in order to optimally serve the customer.

Don't get stuck in the pit lane, invest now in the technology that puts your company in pole position. We are happy to help you on your way.