Businesses should go on the offensive now to implement personalization at scale, create innovative marketing approaches, and adopt differentiating technology and best-in-class security to deliver enhanced post-pandemic customer experiences, according to technology research and advisory firm Information Services Group (ISG).
Any business that didn’t already have a strong need to use technology to improve operational costs or customer service will definitely have one now, the company warned. According to John Westfield, a partner at ISG Consumer Services, “The opportunity exists to create a whole new set of industry-wide standards. Offensive-minded organizations will scale capabilities and introduce new paradigms in ways that didn’t seem possible even one year ago.”
In fact enhanced customer loyalty programs, buoyed by innovative ways to find and communicate with customers, are set to encourage new forms of customer interaction as pandemic restrictions are lifted around the world.
As a result, businesses should now start to identify which processes can remain remote and which ones can be automated, and then leverage artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to capitalize on customer data.
Businesses of all sizes will also need to ensure that their social collaboration tools, IT infrastructure, privacy, security and productivity standards and governance can meet sustained virtual demand.
“It’s time to abandon “it’s been this way for years” norms and drive changes in every aspect of customer experience,” Westfield concluded. “Jointly developed and delivered innovation will take vendor relationships into the future, and dynamic pricing for different customer segments will increase loyalty and revenue. Going on the offensive and shifting investments into specific business outcomes is what’s required now.”
