As customer experience becomes crucial for business success, simply enabling omnichannel engagement is not enough to underpin better CX – what really matters is how data from those omnichannel engagements is analysed and used to enhance decision-making and workflows.
So says Luke Willemse, Sales and Marketing Manager at Decisioneering, a data engineering and AI specialist, and local partner of Medallia – a leading real-time experience management platform.
Willemse says traditional CX operates across multiple levels and channels, challenging efforts to understand the customer, their journey and their sentiment.
“When various engagement channels aren’t connected, it’s impossible to achieve a comprehensive 360-degree view of the customer. This limits the organisation’s ability to act effectively and intervene accurately when needed. To ensure accountability, comprehensive CX insights must reach the right people within the organisation, enabling them to take timely action and track these actions as they occur,” he says.
Willemse says accountability and action – and ultimately better CX – happen when channels are integrated and then trigger and track actions across the organisation.
“For example, if a customer has complained on social media, organisations need to be alerted to this, with rules established on who should respond and by when, and how the situation should be escalated,” he says.
However, the integration required to achieve this can be a significant challenge, he says. “Many organisations operate within fragmented data environments, where multiple sources can be difficult to consolidate. While integration is possible, the speed and efficiency with which it’s achieved are crucial. We must consider things like, are these data sources communicating effectively and is the information generated actionable and insightful?”
He says: “Medallia adds a top layer across the various engagement silos, to collate all the data and deliver immediate insights. For example, the organisation can immediately see how many times a customer visited a social media page before going to the site. It helps you see the weakest links and where to focus. It also helps ensure that customers reach the right people in the organisation.”
For employees, this offers a win-win, he adds. “In customer-facing roles, things get busy and it can get difficult to keep track of multiple orders. If we create a workflow where if a customer complains, we can identify keywords in the message, or sentiment from a call, and automatically hand the client over to customer service, it creates less friction. Everything moves more smoothly and employees don't have to spend time doing handovers,” he says.
“By taking on true omnichannel integration, we enhance our understanding of the customer and their overall journey. While many solutions claim omnichannel integration, only a few can genuinely deliver on this promise. This is why we partner with Medallia, as they are one of the few platforms that provides comprehensive omnichannel integration, enabling seamless accountability and actionable insights to drive improvements in your overall net promoter score.”
Willemse notes that achieving enterprise-wide buy-in is also essential for CX success. “Without everyone’s buy-in, the success of a CX initiative can be compromised, as it’s only as strong as its weakest link. Even if 99% of the organisation is on board, the remaining 1% can hinder the initiative’s success. Today, CX has reached the boardroom level, encompassing every level of the organisation – not just customer service,” he says.
“With years of expertise in data integration and CX, Decisioneering has partnered with industry-leading solutions like Medallia to deliver true omnichannel integration and CX value,” he says. “Our approach empowers organisations to achieve full accountability and elevate their CX KPIs through deeper data insights, real-time actionable triggers and enhanced customer experience initiatives.”
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