A customer called Sophia goes into a store. There she comes across a screen by Acme Cosmetics that asks if she wants to get a free analysis done of her skin that will recommend the perfect makeup just for her skin tone? She inputs her email, smiles into the HD camera, and gets her picture snapped. A day later she gets an email mentioning a skin tone classification and offering her a product kit specifically for her skin tone containing a base, concealer, blender, lip color, and blusher and guaranteed to last 4 months of daily use. The kit is selected via an algorithm based on over 4 dozen data points that assess Sophia’s skin tone and other characteristics and match them with the cosmetic already shown to work. This accuracy means Sophia is guaranteed to look brilliant and fresh daily without overdoing it. Sophia gets a 10% discount on the kit if she orders through a mobile app. Sophia downloads the app and logs in using the same email she supplied Acme. The app, which already has Sophia’s information, recommends different looks based on Acme’s cosmetics according to the occasion. The app now notifies Sophia every week on new looks in season keeping her engaged with willful content. Based on what Sophia buys the app learns more about her and starts recommending choices of products and looks that result in high conversion rates.
Acme cosmetics does not exist. Well not yet. But if it did it would be the fastest-growing cosmetics company in your country, steal the most lucrative customers from its competitors and get the cool buzz so desperately craved by consumer companies. This example is a great use case to show innovation, how digitization can create agile challengers that can destroy digital laggards, but most critically it’s an example of a company that understands the customer journey and tailors its engagement accordingly.
A typical ideal customer journey in the digital world as depicted below starts with a customer evaluating a product, considering it, deciding to buy it, adopting it (which is the process of using it and enjoying it), advocating it often on social media, and after repeat purchases bonding with it; they can’t imagine their life without it.
What Acme cosmetics has done is hacked the consumer journey. It used its superior understanding of how customers use products in its category and entered straight at the “Decision” stage. From there it guided the customer journey in a controlled manner. If Acme cosmetics has products that delight the customer, the customer will be stuck in the loyalty loop from Decision to Bonding with a high Customer Lifetime Value (CLV) despite comparatively lower acquisition costs.
As customers get younger their preferences are more digital. What seems like an effort to organizations to pivot to their behaviors, is the very effort that keeps them in the game. Based on our experience with companies dealing with millions of customers at scale in the digital landscape we feel there are three key factors to keep in mind as you engage with customers based on their journeys.
- Clean data using technology: You cannot start knowing your customers without cleaning the data you house about them. Master data management which allows for a clear picture and 360 degree view of who your customers are and how they interact with you, how much they are actually worth to you, why and when they transact is critical. Not only for maximizing your strategic, operational and marketing efforts but also for approaching customer journeys. Emerging markets where banks, telecom, energy and retail giants have quickly automated and added products and technology ad hoc to keep pace with growth often have clean data issues. One bank we worked with was shocked to find that many of their customers had up to 14 different profiles within the bank and for planning and profit and loss purposes considered him as 14 people!
- Personalization and contextualization: Knowing more about the customer and knowing where he interacts with you becomes key to “intervening” and “hacking” him. Once you have an accurate data based view of your customer we suggest you augment it with primary research and investments in advanced analytics to create personas. These are demographic based super profiles that include customerbehaviors. Demographic information like “Professional, 38, disposable income of 30,000 USD a year, lives in upscale area” is superimposed with insights into why he has been buying. This allows you to build categories like:
- Early adopter: His life is run by discovery and being first to adopt something partially because he likes to be on thecutting edge and because his social status as an influencer demands it and because he likes to stand out form the crowd.
- The Materialist: He is driven by what people think of him and perceptions are critically important to him.
- The Grinder: He’s stuck in a routine. He doesn’t like to take chances. He is mainstream.
And so on (An ideal number is 7-10 personas). Advanced analytics and technology across social, mobile and other channels allows you to personalize your approach to the right psychographic segment. The app in Acme cosmetics, which uses personalization to start the customerjourney and then bond with the customer based on understanding what you buy (again personalization), is a great example. To the early adopter you will pitch new products or radical reinventions (In case of men’s hair products for example the foamless gel), to The Materialist you will reach out to his need for status and for The Grinder you will appeal to his need for security. Your ability to use this knowledge to insert yourself powerfully into the customer journey guarantees your digital survival.
Contextualization takes this concept further and applies it to the physical scape. A Hotel that understands you based on your previous visits knows when you have used your key card to enter your room and turns your TV on with your favorite channel on screen. Telecom companies that have you tagged as an Early Adopter realize when you have entered the mall using GPS tracking and send you an sms about an offer valid only for an hour on a 10% discount on the latest and greatest mobile set…. And so on!
3. Lastly and often the toughest piece is the human piece inside your own organizations. In our experience focus on two key internal areas is necessary to become a company that starts understanding and acting on its knowledge of customer journeys. Changing processes so that a solution design team is at the heart of product and services creation, and staffing that team with people who have a core digital skill set.Marketing, Operations, Analytics, Software engineering and UX Designers will form the core Solution design team that reports to the business manager tasked with monetizing bank’s investments into Customer Journey technologies by creating new products and services. All these people need the one killer digital skill set of “failing fast”. This whole team works as a giant A/B testing machine that used analytics and understanding of customer to launch products and services in a control area and quickly discards or scales it based on performance. This innovation factory drives the entire organization and makes it agile. But it needs to be able to fail fast.
Companies often know “how product investments are selected and actioned” is a broken process and needs to change. They feel there is a better way. We know that way is to invest in technology, people and culture based on customer journeys. Engage with your customers based on personalized interactions and create for them innovative memorable experiences. Know their journeys so well you hack that journey before your competitors even know the customer exists.
