A Practitioner’s Guide to Customer Engagement via
Multi-Channel Journey Design
How Customer Analytics & Insights Enrich Customer Journey Design
A Practitioner’s Guide to Customer Engagement via
Multi-Channel Journey Design
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©2015-2016 Hypatia Research Group. All Rights Reserved. “How Customer Analytics & Insights Enrich Customer Journey Design: Benchmarks,
Best Practices and GalaxyTM Vendor Evaluations.” www.hypatiaresearch.com ∎ 781-862-5106 NOTICE: Information contained in this publication has been sourced in good faith from primary, secondary and end-user research and is believed to be reliable based upon our research methodology and analyst’s judgment. Ultimate responsibility for all decisions, use and interpretation of Hypatia Research Group reports or publications remains with the reader, subscriber or user thereof.
Executive Summary
How Customer Analytics & Insights (CEA&JD) Enrich Customer Journey Design
In this age of digital engagement, interaction, and commerce, analyses of customers’ interactional and
transactional behaviors with the goal of creating
actionable business insights are essential in designing
effective multi-channel customer journeys. Business
intelligence applications and dashboards are useful for
reporting and providing historical or near-real time
guidance and trends. However, transforming massive
amounts of customer information (structured and
contextual) into actionable insights is a significant
challenge for organizations of all sizes, across all
industries and all geographies.1 (See “Delivering Big Data
Analytics Insights: Why Choose Between Accuracy, Agility or
Speed?”)
Why do organizations seek to design effective multi-
channel customer journeys? Customers demand it.
Technology has enabled consumers to use multiple
channels to interact at the time, place, and manner of
their preference. In order to defend or retain market
share and to potentially increase top line growth and
cost reductions, businesses are compelled to respond
to customer demands.
Leveraging multi-channel customer analytics & insights
to enrich customer journey design has the potential to:
Optimize omni-channel2 customer
interactions and engagement;
Enhance employee engagement via “guided
intelligenceTM “(e.g. a version of next best
offer);
Improve the customers’ purchase (commerce) experience;
1 See “Delivering Big Data Analytics Insights: Why Choose Between Accuracy, Agility or Speed?” 2 Omni-channel versus multi-channel: omni-channel is the use of all physical channels (offline) and digital channels (online) which offers a seamless, innovative and unified customer experience. Multi-channel is the use of three or more channels of engagement.
MARKET Research Approach
Hypatia Research Group applies quantitative &
qualitative methodologies to evaluates Market-
drivers, Actions, Responses, Knowledge,
Expertise, and Technology enablers (MARKET)
that influence corporate behavior in specific
business environments. These terms are defined
as follows:
Market Pressures — external forces that
impact an organization’s market
position, competitiveness, or business
operations;
Actions — the strategic approaches that
an organization plans in response to
industry pressures;
Responses—how organizations address
business challenges;
Knowledge & Expertise—competencies,
skills and processes required to execute
corporate strategy;
Enabling Technology— key functionality
of technology solutions required to
support an organization’s enabling
business practices.
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Best Practices and GalaxyTM Vendor Evaluations.” www.hypatiaresearch.com ∎ 781-862-5106 NOTICE: Information contained in this publication has been sourced in good faith from primary, secondary and end-user research and is believed to be reliable based upon our research methodology and analyst’s judgment. Ultimate responsibility for all decisions, use and interpretation of Hypatia Research Group reports or publications remains with the reader, subscriber or user thereof.
Segment, profile, predict and prescribe best practices for optimal types of customer
engagement;
Mitigate identity theft, fraud & risk, (See “Customer Identity Authentication: Best Practices in
Avoiding Identity Theft, Fraud & Risk.”);
Improve operational business processes through a customer-centric lens.
Customer Analytics and Insights
Insights gleaned from business intelligence reports and
dashboards are worthwhile for decision support, early
warning signals or identifying trends that warrant
further investigation before taking action. However,
advances in analytical technology (cognitive and
machine learning) for example—combined with the
proliferation of customer engagement channels has
created the potential to fuel omni-channel customer
journey design.
At present, there are five main types of advanced
analytics:
Descriptive-Identifies customer segments
using metrics such as frequency, lifetime
value, or behavior, in order to create
propensity models.
Diagnostic-Explores causal relationships like root cause analysis to better understand why
customers purchase or pass on offers.
Predictive-Uses customers’ past behavior with seasonal or lifestyle triggers to model and
predict future behavior.
Prescriptive-Optimizes knowledge from aforementioned three advanced analysis techniques
via synthesis, and “what if?” or Monte Carlo simulations to suggest best outcomes in the form of
guidance.
Cognitive-Bridges the gap among machine learning (automated self-learning from experience
and the ability to identify associations), the potential of Big Data and practical decision-making
in real time with confidence scores that reflect the accuracy of responses.3
It should come as no surprise that enterprise-level omni-channel customer analytics, similar to Big Data
Analytics (BDA), encompass numerous information sources, multiple technologies (software and
hardware), nimble business processes and specialized human expertise in advanced analytics. Not
3 In the consumer world, pieces of cognitive analytics form the core of artificial personal assistants such as Apple’s Siri® voice recognition software and the Google Now service, as well as the backbone for the Xbox® video game system’s verbal command interface in Kinect®.
“Everyone says that their solution is
the best for ‘next best action’ or ‘real-
time decisioning’ which involves
statistical modeling, ingesting data
in motion, streaming analytics.
Different products have strengths in
certain areas, but need to stretch to
accomplish all that is necessary. The
devil is in the details….build
requirements first and then look
around and see which products may
be appropriate for your exact goals.”
-- Associate Director, Verizon
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©2015-2016 Hypatia Research Group. All Rights Reserved. “How Customer Analytics & Insights Enrich Customer Journey Design: Benchmarks,
Best Practices and GalaxyTM Vendor Evaluations.” www.hypatiaresearch.com ∎ 781-862-5106 NOTICE: Information contained in this publication has been sourced in good faith from primary, secondary and end-user research and is believed to be reliable based upon our research methodology and analyst’s judgment. Ultimate responsibility for all decisions, use and interpretation of Hypatia Research Group reports or publications remains with the reader, subscriber or user thereof.
surprisingly, this Hypatia Research Group study found that global organizations are successfully utilizing
various analytical techniques in the form of these types of engagement.
Figure 1: How Customer Analytics Will Improve Journey Design Processes?
Source: ©2015-2016 Hypatia Research Group, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Through the lens of customer engagement, the practical applications of these advanced analytical
techniques should be viewed as:
Descriptive-Who is the customer?
Diagnostic-Why are they engaging with your brand?
Predictive-What are they likely to want?
Prescriptive-How can your brand best engagement with them?
Cognitive-When the customer engages with your brand, your brand knows why, what they
likely want, and how best to engage with them based on numerous previous experiences.
Perception Versus Reality
It has never been a better time for organizations that seek to enhance their customer-centric interactions
and business processes via multiple channels and preferred touch-points. Performance improvements, cost
efficiencies and cloud delivery mean that enabling software and services have never been more accessible...
Conversely, it has never been a more challenging time to select optimal software-based technologies,
services and/or solutions. Why?
Currently there are more than 500 software tools, applications, systems and solutions on the market. Each
value proposition claimed is a theme or variation on supporting “customer experience management”, or on
improving the “customer experience”. Confusing is that these options encompass multiple software
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©2015-2016 Hypatia Research Group. All Rights Reserved. “How Customer Analytics & Insights Enrich Customer Journey Design: Benchmarks,
Best Practices and GalaxyTM Vendor Evaluations.” www.hypatiaresearch.com ∎ 781-862-5106 NOTICE: Information contained in this publication has been sourced in good faith from primary, secondary and end-user research and is believed to be reliable based upon our research methodology and analyst’s judgment. Ultimate responsibility for all decisions, use and interpretation of Hypatia Research Group reports or publications remains with the reader, subscriber or user thereof.
categories--everything from customer relationship management, contact center, voice of the customer,
digital marketing, business process management and workflow, text analytics and social media intelligence
to workforce optimization, scheduling and contact center solutions.
Figure 2: Perception: Customer Experience vs. Customer Engagement?
Source: ©2015-2016 Hypatia Research Group, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Research Approach
Hypatia Research Group surveyed more than 1000 global executives directly involved with extrapolating
and applying customer insights with goals such as growth acceleration, service and support enhancement,
customer acquisition and retention improvements.
Input from 566 respondents that actually use, recommend,
influence, hold budget or veto power over the purchase of
enterprise customer analytics, customer insights, customer
engagement and journey design process software were
included in our analysis of how, why or when organizations:
Invest in customer analytics and journey design
software solutions—and how much is budgeted
through 2018?
Measure productivity and effectiveness of
customer analytics and journey design initiatives
and how often?
63.3%
acknowledge a
difference.
“We are pioneers in this space
and required a solution that is
highly flexible, configurable
and customizable.”
--Prakash Muthukrishnan CIO,
PurchasingPower.com
63.3%
acknowledge a
difference.
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Best Practices and GalaxyTM Vendor Evaluations.” www.hypatiaresearch.com ∎ 781-862-5106 NOTICE: Information contained in this publication has been sourced in good faith from primary, secondary and end-user research and is believed to be reliable based upon our research methodology and analyst’s judgment. Ultimate responsibility for all decisions, use and interpretation of Hypatia Research Group reports or publications remains with the reader, subscriber or user thereof.
Prioritize specific customer analytics and journey design initiatives against software selection
criteria?
Commit a percentage of company revenues to customer analytics and journey design program
investment?
Realize a return on investment (ROI)?
Evaluate and ultimately select specific customer analytics and journey design vendors or
consulting firms?
Our Assessment: Galaxy Vendor Evaluations
Hypatia Research Group has benchmarked the current state of vendors who offer customer analytics and
journey design solutions for its 2015-2016 Galaxy rankings. We believe that enterprises will be best served
by applications, solutions and tools that demonstrated the
following features and capabilities:
Multi-channel digital marketing;
Multi-channel customer engagement & commerce;
Real-time interaction management;
Customer analytics and insights dashboards with
visualization;
Multi-channel business process visualization;
Operationalizing analytics by embedding them
within customer engagement workflows; and
Highly adaptable business process workflow configuration;
Our research and analysis reveals that the types of customer analytics utilized are just as important as the
business processes developed when combined with the ability to execute on these insights. In other words,
customer analytics and insights deliver the “Who”, “What”, “Why”, “How “and “When”, however, the
decision to act on this insight in a manual, semi-automated or fully automated fashion is often a key catalyst
for innovation, organizational and cultural change.
Customer engagement analytics and journey design solutions range in price from $50,000 to more than
$1M for an enterprise deployment. On average, most large enterprises (greater than $2B in revenues) cited
investments ranging from $250,000 up to $2M. Mid-market ($100M to $2B in revenues) and small
enterprises (less than $100M) most often reported investments ranging from $25,000 up to $250,000. Our
analysis finds that enterprises have plans for steady investments in these solutions from 2016 throughout
2018. Organizations should carefully evaluate how investment in these solutions will enable them to either
maintain market-share and steady growth over the next decade.
About Hypatia Research Group
Hypatia Research Group takes an end-user approach to business and technology research. Similar to
Consumer Reports, our industry experts provide end-user organizations with objective independent
primary research assessments as decision-support in evaluating various enabling technologies, service
providers and consulting firms. To maintain its independence and impartiality, Hypatia Research Group
“We are pioneers in this space
and required a solution that is
highly flexible, configurable
and customizable.”
--Prakash Muthukrishnan CIO,
PurchasingPower.com
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©2015-2016 Hypatia Research Group. All Rights Reserved. “How Customer Analytics & Insights Enrich Customer Journey Design: Benchmarks,
Best Practices and GalaxyTM Vendor Evaluations.” www.hypatiaresearch.com ∎ 781-862-5106 NOTICE: Information contained in this publication has been sourced in good faith from primary, secondary and end-user research and is believed to be reliable based upon our research methodology and analyst’s judgment. Ultimate responsibility for all decisions, use and interpretation of Hypatia Research Group reports or publications remains with the reader, subscriber or user thereof.
does not engage in syndicated research sponsorships4, accepts no outside advertising, provides no free
samples, and utilizes proprietary research techniques to evaluate vendors.
Why this focus on actionable insight? Knowledge for the sake of knowledge without a purpose is outside
our mission.
Since 2001, Hypatia Research Group has defined Customer Intelligence Research by how businesses use
software technology and/or service providers to capture, manage, analyze and apply customer insights to
enhance performance and to accelerate growth. We believe our comprehensive primary research approach
to guiding end-users on their investments in software and services qualifies us to provide practitioners
with expert independent and objective analysis, best practice guidance and benchmarks.
Founded in 2001, Hypatia’s motto has been calculating results. Our research methodology, a hybrid
approach that combines qualitative and quantitative input from end-users, benchmarks the business return
on investment realized by organizations of all sizes. http://www.HypatiaResearch.com
4 Vendors may license distribution rights to Hypatia Research Group studies after completion, or engage in semi-custom research projects, but may
not commission syndicated studies.
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©2015-2016 Hypatia Research Group. All Rights Reserved. “How Customer Analytics & Insights Enrich Customer Journey Design: Benchmarks,
Best Practices and GalaxyTM Vendor Evaluations.” www.hypatiaresearch.com ∎ 781-862-5106 NOTICE: Information contained in this publication has been sourced in good faith from primary, secondary and end-user research and is believed to be reliable based upon our research methodology and analyst’s judgment. Ultimate responsibility for all decisions, use and interpretation of Hypatia Research Group reports or publications remains with the reader, subscriber or user thereof.
Table of Contents
Executive Summary ................................................................................................................................................................................ 3
How Customer Analytics & Insights (CEA&JD) Enrich Customer Journey Design ................................................... 3
Customer Analytics and Insights .............................................................................................................................................. 4
Perception Versus Reality ........................................................................................................................................................... 5
Research Approach ........................................................................................................................................................................ 6
Our Assessment: Galaxy Vendor Evaluations .......................................................................................................................... 7
About Hypatia Research Group ................................................................................................................................................ 7
Introduction: Customer Analytics & Journey Design .............................................................................................................. 12
Why Customer Analytics AND Journey Design? ................................................................................................................... 12
Research Methodology, Approach & Vendor Rankings..................................................................................................... 14
Survey Respondent Profiles ..................................................................................................................................................... 14
Chapter One: Business Realities ...................................................................................................................................................... 19
Perception and Reality .................................................................................................................................................................... 19
Performance Metrics ................................................................................................................................................................... 19
Current Environments ................................................................................................................................................................ 21
Reality Meets Ability ........................................................................................................................................................................ 24
Chapter Two: Change Happens........................................................................................................................................................ 25
Prioritizing and Implementing Real Change .......................................................................................................................... 25
Budget Holders and Direct Accountability ......................................................................................................................... 27
Chapter Three: Vendor Landscape Evaluations ....................................................................................................................... 30
Hypatia Research Group 2015-2016 Customer Analytics and Journey Design Evaluation Methodology ... 30
Galaxy Leaders ............................................................................................................................................................................... 31
Satellite Competitors: ................................................................................................................................................................. 32
Nebulae Contenders: ................................................................................................................................................................... 33
Chapter Four: Show Me the Data-Driven Results .................................................................................................................... 36
Business ROI Evaluations .............................................................................................................................................................. 36
Verizon Reduces Customer Effort and Costs with Journey Analytics ..................................................................... 37
Mattel, Inc. Builds Toys and Customer Journeys ............................................................................................................. 40
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Best Practices and GalaxyTM Vendor Evaluations.” www.hypatiaresearch.com ∎ 781-862-5106 NOTICE: Information contained in this publication has been sourced in good faith from primary, secondary and end-user research and is believed to be reliable based upon our research methodology and analyst’s judgment. Ultimate responsibility for all decisions, use and interpretation of Hypatia Research Group reports or publications remains with the reader, subscriber or user thereof.
Numbers Reveal Tangible Results ......................................................................................................................................... 41
Chapter Five: Future Considerations ............................................................................................................................................ 43
Reasons for Investment .................................................................................................................................................................. 43
Customer Information Lives Throughout and Beyond the Enterprise .................................................................. 44
Investment Varies Greatly ........................................................................................................................................................ 45
Finding Competitive Advantage ............................................................................................................................................. 46
Checklist for Consideration ........................................................................................................................................................... 49
Conclusion ............................................................................................................................................................................................ 51
About the Author ................................................................................................................................................................................... 52
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©2015-2016 Hypatia Research Group. All Rights Reserved. “How Customer Analytics & Insights Enrich Customer Journey Design: Benchmarks,
Best Practices and GalaxyTM Vendor Evaluations.” www.hypatiaresearch.com ∎ 781-862-5106 NOTICE: Information contained in this publication has been sourced in good faith from primary, secondary and end-user research and is believed to be reliable based upon our research methodology and analyst’s judgment. Ultimate responsibility for all decisions, use and interpretation of Hypatia Research Group reports or publications remains with the reader, subscriber or user thereof.
Table of Figures
Figure 1: How Customer Analytics Will Improve Journey Design Processes? ............................................................... 5
Figure 2: Perception: Customer Experience vs. Customer Engagement? ........................................................................ 6
Figure 3: Perception: Type of Customer Analytics Utilized for Journey Design?*...................................................... 13
Figure 4: Respondents by Geography ........................................................................................................................................... 15
Figure 5: Respondents by Role ........................................................................................................................................................ 15
Figure 6: Respondents by Company Size ..................................................................................................................................... 16
Figure 7: Timeframe of Usage .......................................................................................................................................................... 16
Figure 8: Respondents by Industry / Sector .............................................................................................................................. 17
Figure 9: Respondents by Function ............................................................................................................................................... 18
Figure 10: Perception: Customer Experience vs. Customer Engagement? ................................................................... 20
Figure 11: Perception: Importance of Software Usage to Business Results ................................................................. 21
Figure 12: Importance of Multi-Channel Information Sources .......................................................................................... 22
Figure 13: Ability to Map Multi-Channel Customer Journeys ............................................................................................. 23
Figure 14: Four-Pronged Approach to Prioritizing Real Change ....................................................................................... 25
Figure 15: Prioritized Business Challenges for Investment & Deployment .................................................................. 26
Figure 16: Accountability for Business Benefits & Return on Investment .................................................................... 28
Figure 17: Ability to Transform Customer Insights into Multi-channel Journey Processes? ................................ 29
Table 1: Vendors Evaluated 2015-2016 ...................................................................................................................................... 31
Figure 18: Hypatia’s 2015-2016 Galaxy of Customer Analytics & Journey Design Software Vendors .............. 32
Table 2: Example of IBM Predictive Customer Intelligence with IBM Commerce ..................................................... 34
Figure 19: Marketing Function: Ability to Measure Return on Investment .................................................................. 36
Figure 20: Benefits of Leveraging Customer Analytics to Improve Journey Design .................................................. 41
Figure 21: Why Invest in Customer Analytics & Journey Design Software ................................................................... 44
Figure 22: Investments Planned 2016-2018 ............................................................................................................................. 45
Figure 23: Comparison of Information Sources: Big Data, VOC and Customer Analytics ....................................... 46
Figure 24: Current Delivery Environments ................................................................................................................................ 47
Figure 25: Maturity Models: Using Customer Insight to Enrich Journey Design Processes ................................... 48
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Best Practices and GalaxyTM Vendor Evaluations.” www.hypatiaresearch.com ∎ 781-862-5106 NOTICE: Information contained in this publication has been sourced in good faith from primary, secondary and end-user research and is believed to be reliable based upon our research methodology and analyst’s judgment. Ultimate responsibility for all decisions, use and interpretation of Hypatia Research Group reports or publications remains with the reader, subscriber or user thereof.
Introduction: Customer Analytics & Journey Design
Why Customer Analytics AND Journey Design?
Insights gleaned from business intelligence reports and dashboards are worthwhile for decision support,
early warning signals or identifying trends that warrant further investigation before taking action.
However, advances in analytical technology (cognitive and machine learning) for example—combined with
the proliferation of customer engagement channels has the power to fuel omni-channel customer journeys.
In fact, our research validates that enterprise-level omni-channel customer analytics, similar to Big Data
Analytics (BDA), encompass numerous information sources, multiple technologies (software and
hardware), nimble business processes and specialized human expertise in advanced analytics.
At present, there are five main types of advanced analytics:
Descriptive-Identifies customer segments using metrics such as frequency, lifetime value, or
behavior, in order to create propensity models.
Diagnostic-Explores causal relationships like root cause analysis to better understand why
customers purchase or pass on offers.
Predictive-Uses customers’ past behavior with seasonal or lifestyle triggers to model and
predict future behavior.
Prescriptive-Optimizes knowledge from three previous advanced analysis techniques via
synthesis, and “what if?” or Monte Carlo simulations to suggest best outcomes in the form of
guidance;
Cognitive-Bridges the gap between machine learning (automated self-learning from experience
and the ability to identify associations), the potential of big data and practical decision-making
in real time with confidence scores that reflect the accuracy of responses.5
5 5 In the consumer world, pieces of cognitive analytics form the core of artificial personal assistants such as Apple’s Siri® voice recognition software and the Google Now service, as well as the backbone for the Xbox® video game system’s verbal command interface in Kinect®.
Key
Fin
din
gs
Analytical advances in technology combined with the proliferation of
customer engagement channels have created the potential to fuel omni-
channel customer journey design.
High levels of market fragmentation exist due to lack of “blended” customer
engagement—competitive advantage is seized by savvy businesses with a
fully integrated enterprise-level customer strategy.
Omni-channel customer analytics encompass numerous information sources,
multiple technologies (software and hardware), nimble business processes
and specialized human expertise in advanced analytics
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©2015-2016 Hypatia Research Group. All Rights Reserved. “How Customer Analytics & Insights Enrich Customer Journey Design: Benchmarks,
Best Practices and GalaxyTM Vendor Evaluations.” www.hypatiaresearch.com ∎ 781-862-5106 NOTICE: Information contained in this publication has been sourced in good faith from primary, secondary and end-user research and is believed to be reliable based upon our research methodology and analyst’s judgment. Ultimate responsibility for all decisions, use and interpretation of Hypatia Research Group reports or publications remains with the reader, subscriber or user thereof.
Through the lens of customer engagement, the practical applications of these techniques should be viewed
as:
Descriptive-Who is the customer?
Diagnostic-Why are they engaging with your brand?
Predictive-What are they likely to want?
Prescriptive-How can your brand best engagement with them?
Cognitive-When the customer engages with your brand, your brand knows why, what they
likely want, and how best to engage with them based on numerous previous experiences.
Figure 3: Perception: Type of Customer Analytics Utilized for Journey Design?*
Source: ©2015-2016 Hypatia Research Group, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
*Multiple responses possible. Will not =100%
Some software vendors offer solutions with templates and features that facilitate creating specific types of
algorithmic models6 such as customer retention for retail and telecommunications, or identity fraud for
banking and medical claims management. Not surprisingly, our research found that global organizations
are successfully applying various analytical techniques (based on the five detailed above) in these types of
engagement.
6 Inclusive of cognitive and machine self-learning models
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Best Practices and GalaxyTM Vendor Evaluations.” www.hypatiaresearch.com ∎ 781-862-5106 NOTICE: Information contained in this publication has been sourced in good faith from primary, secondary and end-user research and is believed to be reliable based upon our research methodology and analyst’s judgment. Ultimate responsibility for all decisions, use and interpretation of Hypatia Research Group reports or publications remains with the reader, subscriber or user thereof.
Operationalizing analytics by embedding models within customer engagement workflows facilitates brand
consistency and optimizes personalization through automation. Evaluate how, and if this might shorten
time to value when implementing customer analytics, customer journey design and customer engagement
programs. (See Chapter Three: Galaxy Vendor Evaluations)
Our research and analysis reveals that the types of customer analytics utilized are just as important as the
business processes developed when combined with the ability to execute on these insights. In other words,
customer analytics and insights deliver the “Who”, “What”, “Why”, “How “and “When”, however, the
decision to act on this insight in a manual, semi-automated or fully automated fashion is often a key catalyst
for innovation, organizational and cultural change.
Research Methodology, Approach & Vendor Rankings
Why this focus on actionable insight? Knowledge for the sake of knowledge without a purpose is outside
our mission. Since 2001, Hypatia’s Research Group’s motto has been calculating results. Our research
methodology, a hybrid approach that combines qualitative and quantitative input from end-users,
benchmarks the business return on investment7 realized by organizations of all sizes.
Hypatia Research Group takes an end-user approach to business and technology research. Similar to
Consumer Reports our industry experts provide end-user organizations with objective independent
primary research assessments as decision-support in evaluating various enabling technologies, service
providers and consulting firms. To maintain its independence and impartiality, Hypatia Research Group
does not engage in syndicated research sponsorships8, accepts no outside advertising, provides no free
samples, and utilizes proprietary research techniques to evaluate vendors.
Along with our trademarked Hypatia9 Research Group GalaxyTM evaluation rankings of vendors that offer
enterprise level CEA&JD software solutions, this study provides end-user organizations with an analysis of
why companies invest in CEA&JD, what tangible benefits are possible, and what metrics can be used to
measure the ROI of these initiatives.
Survey Respondent Profiles
More than 566 global respondents with functions primarily in merchandising, marketing, customer service
and support, operations, business analysts and IT completed our survey.
Company size encompassed: large enterprise with revenues greater than $2B (54%), mid-market (44.6%)
and small enterprises with less than $100M in revenues (1.4%). Geographic breakdown: (47%) North
America, (33.9%) EMEA, (18.7%) Asia Pacific and (0.4%) South America.
7 From enabling technologies and services providers
8 Vendors may license distribution rights to Hypatia Research Group studies after completion, or engage in semi-custom research projects, but may
not commission syndicated studies.
9 Hypatia of Alexandria, (c.370-415 AD) a professor of astronomy, mathematics and philosophy, invented several scientific devices--the astrolabe, plane-sphere, and hydro-scope (hydrometer).
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Best Practices and GalaxyTM Vendor Evaluations.” www.hypatiaresearch.com ∎ 781-862-5106 NOTICE: Information contained in this publication has been sourced in good faith from primary, secondary and end-user research and is believed to be reliable based upon our research methodology and analyst’s judgment. Ultimate responsibility for all decisions, use and interpretation of Hypatia Research Group reports or publications remains with the reader, subscriber or user thereof.
Figure 4: Respondents by Geography
Figure 5: Respondents by Role
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Best Practices and GalaxyTM Vendor Evaluations.” www.hypatiaresearch.com ∎ 781-862-5106 NOTICE: Information contained in this publication has been sourced in good faith from primary, secondary and end-user research and is believed to be reliable based upon our research methodology and analyst’s judgment. Ultimate responsibility for all decisions, use and interpretation of Hypatia Research Group reports or publications remains with the reader, subscriber or user thereof.
Figure 6: Respondents by Company Size
Figure 7: Timeframe of Usage
Source: ©2015-2016 Hypatia Research Group, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
*Summed by timeframe, not software category.
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Industry breakouts: Retail/CPG (22.3%) financial services (14.1%) manufacturing (11.7%) and consumer
good & electronics (10.2%) comprised the largest industry sectors representation followed by
telecommunications and media (7.4%).
Figure 8: Respondents by Industry / Sector
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Figure 9: Respondents by Function
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Chapter One: Business Realities
Perception and Reality
In 2015, more than 500 software companies consider themselves providers of “customer experience
solutions. Fewer than 100 self-identify as providers
of “customer engagement solutions”. Is there really
a difference between the two and how does one
know which will benefit the brand as well as
consumers of the brand’s products or services?
Which approach will reduce customer churn,
enhance customer acquisition and retention and
ultimately enable a brand to grow?
Our analysis illustrates that while vendors are
keeping their options open as to whether they
provide customer experience or customer
engagement solutions, the majority of actual
business users see a difference between the
two. More importantly, customer engagement
offerings are gaining traction because they are
seen as a more tangible—and measurable.
(Figure 10)
Performance Metrics
While customer experience management is an
important concept—one that emphasizes
customer-centricity as an overall enterprise
goal—customer engagement is where theory
meets practice in terms of quantifiable
business results. Critical considerations include:
Key
Fin
din
gs
More than 500 software companies consider themselves providers of
“customer experience solutions. Fewer than 100 self-identify as providers of
“customer engagement solutions”;
The tide is shifting in favor of customer engagement which is seen as a more
tangible—and straightforward performance to measure;
The ability to effectively map and engage with customers during multi-
channel journeys is dependent on real-time analysis of numerous
information sources.
“At NICE, we consider both
experience and engagement as
interconnected. While there might be
nuances between the two, ultimately
the point of goal of each is to improve
the overall customer interaction.”
--Spokesperson, Nice Systems
“Customer experiences are summations
of recent experiences with the brand,
and can be either direct interactions (e.g.,
website, call center, or through actual
usage of the product/services) and they
can also be indirect (e.g., social
mentions, community websites, or any
3rd party mentions).”
--Director, SAP
“At NICE, we consider both
experience and engagement as
interconnected. While there might be
nuances between the two, ultimately
the point of goal of each is to improve
the overall customer interaction.”
--Spokesperson, NICE Systems
“Customer experiences are summations
of recent experiences with the brand,
and can be either direct interactions (for
example, website, call center, or through
actual usage of the product/services)
and they can also be indirect social
mentions, community websites, or any
third party mentions).”
--Director, SAP
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How does one measure the overall customer experience with a brand?
Over what duration or timeframe? Which channels will be measured?
Do the key performance metrics correlate to actual changes in retention, acquisition, market-
basket size, customer lifetime value, top-line or bottom-line results?
Are cost reductions and/or agent productivity part of the business benefits realized?
Do customer loyalty and satisfaction performance metrics directly correlate to top or bottom-
line results, market share or customer value?
Figure 10: Perception: Customer Experience vs. Customer Engagement?
Source: ©2015-2016 Hypatia Research Group, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Some companies have adopted Net Promoter Scores (NPS) as a means of measuring customer experience
during customer interactions. However, our assessment is that this NPS is really a measurement of
customer interaction and engagement at a single point in time and most often is used for professional
development to coach contact center agents and customer support professions. Moreover, our assessment
is that NPS does not directly correlate to larger corporate goals such as top or bottom-line results. In fact,
popular methods used to quantify the corporate benefits of NPS scores are often based on soft qualitative
benefits or with the assistance of “fuzzy logic”10.
10 Fuzzy logic has been extended to handle the concept of partial truth, where the truth value may range between completely true and completely false.
63.3%
acknowledge a
difference.
63.3%
acknowledge a
difference.
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Current Environments
At least 90% of respondents cited the software categories illustrated below as important or critical to their
businesses. Obviously understanding the customer is central to these organizations, however not everyone
surveyed showed evidence of maturity in utilizing these enabling technologies. Given the recent emergence
of customer journey mapping and design processes, it is not surprising that only 37.9% consider this
software category critical while nearly 50% reported customer engagement and interaction software as
critical. Most surprising is that 5% of respondents do not utilize any of these technologies at all.
Figure 11: Perception: Importance of Software Usage to Business Results
Source: ©2015-2016 Hypatia Research Group, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Businesses are slowly moving from a fragmented organizational and software environment to one that has
visibility across customer channels of interaction. Several drivers for this change include:
Customer expectations for a seamless, frictionless interaction regardless of the channel they
select;
Ubiquitous use of smart phones and other mobile devices;
Advances in customer data integration techniques and proliferation of open application
program interfaces (APIs);
Enhancements to dashboards and the ability to configure them by role, function or industry;
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Redesign of workflows and use of business process automation to configure and/or automate
repeatable processes;
Realization that customer engagement intelligence doesn't reside only in a CRM application: It
lives throughout & beyond the enterprise11
Organizations acknowledge that customer information, whether from consumers, clients, partners,
suppliers or third-party data providers and aggregators, has high importance to business operations and
customer engagement. That these specific information sources align quite closely with information sources
cited as important for Big Data Analytics12 as well as for operationalizing voice of the customer analytics is
significant.13 Whether historical, behavioral or in the moment, customer information converted into
operationalized customer intelligence through the use of rules-based algorithms, models, and/or advanced
analytical techniques—such as predictive, prescriptive or machine learning—supports personalized
customer engagement.
Figure 12: Importance of Multi-Channel Information Sources
Source: ©2015-2016 Hypatia Research Group, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
11 See Next Generation CRM; All About Business Process Excellence ©Hypatia Research Group. 12 See Delivering Big Data Insights: Why Chose Among Accuracy, Agility or Speed? ©Hypatia Research Group. 13 See Operationalizing Voice of the Customer ©Hypatia Research Group.
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©2015-2016 Hypatia Research Group. All Rights Reserved. “How Customer Analytics & Insights Enrich Customer Journey Design: Benchmarks,
Best Practices and GalaxyTM Vendor Evaluations.” www.hypatiaresearch.com ∎ 781-862-5106 NOTICE: Information contained in this publication has been sourced in good faith from primary, secondary and end-user research and is believed to be reliable based upon our research methodology and analyst’s judgment. Ultimate responsibility for all decisions, use and interpretation of Hypatia Research Group reports or publications remains with the reader, subscriber or user thereof.
Hypatia Research Group believes that all investment in customer engagement solutions should reduce the
customer's effort, be seamless, and encourage interaction via all preferred channels while providing
stakeholders analysis and multichannel visibility into customer preferences, behaviors and purchases.
Moreover, we would encourage organizations to use this customer analysis and insight to:
Improve enterprise level operational business processes (from communications, pricing, and
marketing to billing to services);
Proactively guide marketers, sales professionals and contact center agents on the next best
action for customer engagement and/or offer management;
Transform into a truly anticipatory customer-centric enterprise by replacing inside-out
(resource optimization) business processes with purpose-built business processes designed
from the outside-in (customer centric).
Hypatia Research Group defines a business as customer-centric when its corporate environment organizes
its offerings, operational processes, pricing models, and customer engagements and interactions around
the requirements, preferences and future desires of its customers. Our assessment is that getting from
point A to Z still challenges many of the businesses surveyed. The chart below illustrates why. Visibility
across all channels of engagement is lacking for nearly fifty percent of organizations.
Figure 13: Ability to Map Multi-Channel Customer Journeys
Source: ©2015-2016 Hypatia Research Group, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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Best Practices and GalaxyTM Vendor Evaluations.” www.hypatiaresearch.com ∎ 781-862-5106 NOTICE: Information contained in this publication has been sourced in good faith from primary, secondary and end-user research and is believed to be reliable based upon our research methodology and analyst’s judgment. Ultimate responsibility for all decisions, use and interpretation of Hypatia Research Group reports or publications remains with the reader, subscriber or user thereof.
Reality Meets Ability
It has never been a better time for organizations that seek to enhance their customer-centric interactions
and business processes via multiple channels and preferred touch-points. Performance improvements,
cost-efficiencies and cloud delivery mean that enabling software and services have never been more
accessible. Conversely, it has never been a more challenging time to select optimal software-based
technologies, services and/or solutions. Why?
A year ago, we found that 70% of organizations were able to interact with customers across more than 10
channels14—however less than 20% of these businesses did so in a “blended” or seamless manner. For
example, customers could call a 1-800 number but if online ordering or a store purchase was made, each
interaction was distinct15 from the others. In short, each interaction was tracked and/or stored in a
separate data base without being linked to a customer account.
Currently 50% of respondents reported having visibility across all channels of engagement—quite an
improvement in twelve months. However, in the pursuit of a competitive advantage and enterprise level
customer centricity, further advancement needs to occur. The challenges associated with these
advancements will be detailed in the following chapter entitle “Change Happens”.
14 See Operationalizing Voice of the Customer: 2014-2015 GalaxyTM Vendor Evaluations. ©Hypatia Research Group 15 Customer information is stored in distinct or siloed data repositories or legacy systems and not integrated or ‘blended’ for a 3600 view of the customer’s information.
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Chapter Two: Change Happens
Prioritizing and Implementing Real Change
Anyone who has ever sat in a cross functional business meeting attended by line of business functions
(sales, marketing, customer service, finance, and/or merchandising), members of the IT department and
business analysts, data scientists and data engineers knows that Peter Drucker was right. "Culture eats
strategy for breakfast". Identifying, defining and meeting business requirements for improving customer
journey workflows with a goal of increasing revenues AND reducing customer effort that involve multiple
enabling software applications may require a four-pronged approach.
Figure 14: Four-Pronged Approach to Prioritizing Real Change
Organization
Business Process Innovation
Technology
Business Transformation
Key
Fin
din
gs
Customer expectations for a seamless, frictionless interaction regardless of
the channel they select;
Ubiquitous use of smartphones and other mobile devices;
Advances in customer data integration techniques and proliferation of
application program interfaces (APIs);
Transforming into a truly proactive customer-centric enterprise requires
process design that is outside-in (customer focused), rather than inside-out
(employee focused).
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All respondents indicated that building a business case to justify investment in additional software to
upper management is the top challenge they face (24.5%). This was followed by lacking budget or
appropriate tools to analyze customer information and to create or enhance existing journey design
(18.5%). Creating or applying the most appropriate performance metrics came in third at 16.8%.
Shifting a corporate culture from the inside-out (resource optimization) to the outside-in (customer-
centric) requires changing a cultural mindset long defined by major business objectives (MBO) aligned with
functions, roles, teams, and/or departments. Global organizations confirmed that revamping organizational
structures and cultural change are high priorities when seeking to engage with customers more effectively.
16.7% cited transformation of a siloed organizational business structure and cultural mindset
as priority one;
11.1% cited determination of how to organize internally cited as priority one.
Figure 15: Prioritized Business Challenges for Investment & Deployment
Source: ©2015-2016 Hypatia Research Group, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Moreover, Hypatia Research Group would encourage organizations to use this customer analysis and
insight to transform into a truly proactive customer centric enterprise. This requires rethinking and
innovating business processes design from the perspective of the customer (outside-in) taking into account
their preferences first, rather than the organizational or employee focus (inside-out)—which emphasizes
optimization of resources from the corporate perspective solely.
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Best Practices and GalaxyTM Vendor Evaluations.” www.hypatiaresearch.com ∎ 781-862-5106 NOTICE: Information contained in this publication has been sourced in good faith from primary, secondary and end-user research and is believed to be reliable based upon our research methodology and analyst’s judgment. Ultimate responsibility for all decisions, use and interpretation of Hypatia Research Group reports or publications remains with the reader, subscriber or user thereof.
Hypatia Research Group defines a business as customer-centric when its corporate environment organizes
its offerings, operational processes, pricing models, and customer engagements and interactions around
the requirements, preferences and future desires of its customers. Our assessment is that getting from
point A to Z still challenges many organizations.
Figure 16: Prioritized Business Initiatives
Source: ©2015-2016 Hypatia Research Group, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Acquiring functional expertise in customer analytics and journey design via external resources is the top
priority for a majority businesses (52.5%). Investment in software as a service—both managed programs
as well as subscription based delivery—in addition to engagement with a consultancy, marketing services
provider or agency as the top means by which they seek to address business challenges delineated in
Figure 16.
Budget Holders and Direct Accountability
In several previous large scale studies, our analysis showed that the budget holders were not always
accountable or responsible for the business results derived from investment in software. This was
delegated to direct reports or cross-functional teams tasked with accomplishing certain goals—with or
without direct management involvement.
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Seeking to improve customers retention rates, loyalty levels combined with a desire to increase cross-sell,
up-sell, favorable reviews and referrals are now an appealing reason for senior and executive management
involvement in all customer engagement initiatives. Contrasting sharply with other studies, executive
management often holds budgetary discretion as well as responsibility for business benefits which bodes
well for the success of these initiatives.
Primarily accountable:
CEO / COO / CFO
CMO / CCO
Division head / Business Unit Manager
Figure 16: Accountability for Business Benefits & Return on Investment
Source: ©2015-2016 Hypatia Research Group, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Surprisingly, a large percentage of organizations (34.9% to 47.1%) report that they are able to transform
customer insights into multi-channel journey processes for specific business use cases nearly 100% of the
time. (Figure 16). However, these are accomplished through retrospective reports and dashboards rather
than in near-real time. One telecommunications company cited significant improvements in reducing
customer effort through changing business processes such as onboarding, sales, billing, scheduling and
communications without the use of advanced analytical techniques, although consultants were engaged for
more than 6 months to analyze and recommend changes to customer facing business process workflows
relating to interaction, engagement, service and post-sales support.
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Figure 17: Ability to Transform Customer Insights into Multi-channel Journey Processes?
Source: ©2015-2016 Hypatia Research Group, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Bottom-line: Leveraging customer analytics and insights to enhance journey design can be accomplished
without specialized software, nonetheless, customer expectations for a seamless, frictionless interaction
regardless of the channel they select often serves as a catalyst for software investment. Moreover,
operationalizing analytics by embedding these models within customer engagement workflows facilitates
brand consistency and optimizes personalization through automation. Evaluate how, and if this might
shorten time to value before investing in customer analytics, customer journey design and customer
engagement software or services.
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Best Practices and GalaxyTM Vendor Evaluations.” www.hypatiaresearch.com ∎ 781-862-5106 NOTICE: Information contained in this publication has been sourced in good faith from primary, secondary and end-user research and is believed to be reliable based upon our research methodology and analyst’s judgment. Ultimate responsibility for all decisions, use and interpretation of Hypatia Research Group reports or publications remains with the reader, subscriber or user thereof.
Chapter Three: Vendor Landscape Evaluations
Hypatia Research Group 2015-2016 Customer Analytics and Journey Design Evaluation
Methodology
Hypatia Research Group has benchmarked the current state of vendors who offer customer analytics and
journey design solutions for its 2015-2016 Galaxy chart. We believe that enterprises will be best served by
applications and solutions that demonstrated the following features and capabilities:
Advanced analytical techniques;
Multi-channel customer engagement & commerce;
Real-time interaction management;
Customer analytics and insights dashboards with visualization;
Multi-channel business process visualization;
Operationalizing analytics by embedding them within customer engagement workflows; and
Highly adaptable business process workflow configuration;
As a result, we have reserved our highest scores for the vendors that clearly understand the value of these
clear capabilities:
Supporting the ability to visualize and analyze drivers or best practices for single customer
journeys across multiple channels of engagement;
Supporting the ability to visualize and analyze drivers or best practices for segments or clusters
of customer journeys across multiple channels of engagement;
Providing a technical foundation for configuring, modifying, or orchestrating business process
workflows based on customer insights or customer analysis, purchase history, customer
journey analysis and tracking across time scale, i.e. the duration of a customer’s journey;
Support near-real time or in-the-moment customer engagement based upon various embedded
analytical techniques such as, but not limited to; adaptive interaction, predictive next best
Key
Fin
din
gs
An integrated approach responds to the clear understanding that the days of
siloed information are dead and gone;
High levels of fragmentation still exist among users’ perception and
understanding about how to apply insights across multiple journeys and
within business processes;
Operationalizing analytics within customer engagement workflows
facilitates in-the-moment customer engagement;
Galaxy Leaders evidenced the most comprehensive offerings and clear
roadmap vision for multi-channel customer engagement and journey design
processes.
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action, contextually aware interaction, automated behavioral targeting, or prescriptive
guidance.
These capabilities are important because they serve two inexorable trends in enterprise computing. First,
an integrated approach responds to the clear understanding that the days of siloed information are dead
and buried. Enterprises have begun to understand that in order to comprehend interdependent activities of
their organization; they must create a holistic view of their data. This holistic 3600 view compiles
information from multiple departments to create the single version of the truth. The alternative is to have
varying departments applying analysis to their own data – reflecting each one’s focus and expertise, rather
than that of the whole – and insisting that their individual truth translates to the enterprise’s truth. This is
no longer a viable approach.
Table 1: Vendors Evaluated 2015-2016
Galaxy Leaders
Twelve dimensional criteria comprised the scoring for Hypatia‘s GalaxyTM rankings and our overall
assessment of these software providers. Each vendor was evaluated by range of offering and corporate
product/service roadmap and vision charted on the vertical
axis and maturity, execution strength, global reach and
number of customers charted on the horizontal axis. Weighted
modeling ensured that only 15% of top scoring vendors would
land within the Galaxy Leadership orbit.
Planet size illustrates estimated company revenues for
customer analytics and journey design offerings from a
relational perspective. Large software vendors such as IBM, Oracle, SAP and SAS have multiple offerings—
some of which are packaged synergistically with customer analytics and journey design software while
others are licensed separately. For example, Salesforce.com has many software solutions and booked an
estimated $5.37b in 2015. However, only software revenues aligned with our categorization of customer
engagement and journey design were used in creating this chart.
Other aspects of the companies and their products were derived from end-user interviews, product
demonstrations and vendor briefings. There are a handful of vendor suites/platforms that scored high in
key areas such as customer base, range of functions, stability, and long term product vision.
“This investment is one of the
expenses that is controllable.”
--CFO, Verizon
“This investment is one of the
expenses that is controllable.”
--CFO, Verizon
“This investment is one of the
expenses that is controllable.”
--CFO, Verizon
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Top vendors have the most comprehensive offerings, exhibited a roadmap with frequent new product or
feature releases, a clearly-defined product methodology and vision for multi-channel customer engagement
and journey design processes. Services are an important component of a top provider, and that translates
into several types of services, not just tech support or implementation but enterprise level innovation,
consulting and operationalization of business process mapping as well.
Figure 18: Hypatia’s 2015-2016 Galaxy of Customer Analytics & Journey Design Software Vendors
Source: ©2015-2016 Hypatia Research Group, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Satellite Competitors: Vendors in this orbit have reliable solutions for customer analytics but scored
slightly lower on quantitative criteria such as installed customer base, category maturity, geographic reach,
and robustness of functionality, ease of use or industries served. In fact, large companies with significant
revenues that did not place in the Galaxy Leadership orbit this time around are Pega Systems and Teradata.
Only five percentage points separated the highest scoring vendors from the lowest in this grouping with
Adobe, SAS and SDL vying for top position in the Nebulae. More importantly, just 2.5% in scores separated
this competitor group from the Galaxy vendors. However, without a purpose-built, enterprise level
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solution for customer analytics and customer journey process optimization, combined with significant best
practices, knowledge transfer and consultancy partnerships, placement in the Galaxy Leader orbit eluded
these competitors in our 2015-2016 Galaxy rankings. Bottom-line: Each has commendable solutions that
should be evaluated prior to making a final selection.
Nebulae Contenders: These vendors offer either customer analytics or customer journey mapping tools—
with scores that reflect a smaller, less integrated product strategy roadmap and vision than vendors in
either of the two previous categories. Other criteria impacting scores may have included a focus on only
three or fewer industry sectors, less than 20 current customers, or a limited global reach. With the
exception of Infor and Oracle (premium pricing in place), companies should consider these vendors if
complimentary to other legacy tools currently in place, or if constrained by budgets. For example, cloud-
based solutions such as ClickFox, Customer Matrix and Thunderhead all offer pricing and functionality that
small to mid-sized businesses are likely to find feasible for their budgets.
IBM–Galaxy Leader
Formally launched in 2014, Predictive Customer Intelligence, IBM’s offering for customer analytics brings
in-depth analytic capabilities to IBM Commerce, a core offering within IBM Global Business Services’ (GBS)
‘Next Best Action’ signature solution. Solutions and modules evaluated for this study encompassed:
IBM Predictive Customer Intelligence—gathers customer information—both contextual and
historical—from numerous internal and external sources and models customer behavior in
real-time for “next best action” recommendations for execution via the customer’s preferred
channel of engagement. Automated
recommendations are “scored” and deployed
through appropriate channels of engagement.
Key capabilities of the solution include:
o Predictive analytics that anticipate the
behavior of individual customers based
on an all-inclusive profile;
o Decision management and optimization
engines that convert predictive model
scoring into an appropriate action;
o Real-time scoring to generate real-time
predictions in-the-moment of
interaction;
o Customer lifetime value optimization
based upon interactional and
transaction engagement.
o IBM Predictive Analytics (powered by IBM SPSS portfolio)—provides the fundamental
predictive software products that are available integrated within Predictive Customer
Intelligence or as a stand-alone tool.
“We see “customer engagement”
as the organizations tactical,
informed and often proactive
interface with a customer at any
given touchpoint…“customer
experience” is the customer’s
holistic view of all “customer
engagements” and will be
affected positively or negatively
with each engagement.”
--IBM Spokesperson
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Best Practices and GalaxyTM Vendor Evaluations.” www.hypatiaresearch.com ∎ 781-862-5106 NOTICE: Information contained in this publication has been sourced in good faith from primary, secondary and end-user research and is believed to be reliable based upon our research methodology and analyst’s judgment. Ultimate responsibility for all decisions, use and interpretation of Hypatia Research Group reports or publications remains with the reader, subscriber or user thereof.
IBM Commerce— is comprised of software assets from across the IBM Commerce Marketing,
Customer Analytics, eCommerce and Merchandising portfolios including Customer Experience
Analytics.
o IBM Customer Experience Analytics—quantifies and visualizes omni-channel customer
journeys with intuitive visualization and drill down capabilities for exploring journeys
at both the individual and aggregate level.
Few vendors evaluated for our GalaxyTM demonstrated the ability to ingest omni-channel customer
information, transform it into actionable insight, and to automate the execution of a customized
engagement based upon the customer’s preferred channel of interaction while aligned with overall
corporate goals. This portfolio of solutions illustrate an adaptive interaction type of customer engagement
that is both dynamically and context-aware, allowing the customer’s preferences—as determined by a
model—to guide the customer journey. (See Figure 3: Perception: Type of Customer Analytics Utilized for
Journey Design) A model repository includes prebuilt algorithms for:
Acquisition Models
Campaign Response Models
Churn Models
Customer Lifetime Value Maximizer (GBS)
Market Basket Analysis
Price Sensitivity
Product Affinity Models
Segmentation Models
Sentiment Models
Up-sell/Cross-sell Models
Table 2: Example of IBM Predictive Customer Intelligence with IBM Commerce
©2015 IBM, used with permission.
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Best Practices and GalaxyTM Vendor Evaluations.” www.hypatiaresearch.com ∎ 781-862-5106 NOTICE: Information contained in this publication has been sourced in good faith from primary, secondary and end-user research and is believed to be reliable based upon our research methodology and analyst’s judgment. Ultimate responsibility for all decisions, use and interpretation of Hypatia Research Group reports or publications remains with the reader, subscriber or user thereof.
Pricing for an enterprise scale customer analytics and journey design solution will likely be on the higher
side—inclusive of consulting, software licensing, integration and deployment. However, organizations
should evaluate this vendor against their list of business requirements and certainly request value-based or
shared-risk pricing from any vendor short-listed.16
Partners: In addition to collaboration with major systems integrators and management consulting firms,
IBM collaborates closely with these partners for business analytics strategy and implementation programs.
Aviana
Ironside
Presidion
QueBIT
Revelwood
Rosetta
Customers: Numerous industries such as financial services, consumer products, retail and
telecommunications have deployed IBM’s customer analytics portfolio of products as represented by C-
Spire Wireless, Ufone Verizon, and XO Communications.
Geography: Worldwide
Website: http://www.ibm.com/analytics/us/en/business/predictive-customer-intelligence/
16 Pricing models include: Fixed Price, Time and Material (T&M) and Risk-Reward.
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Chapter Four: Show Me the Data-Driven Results
Business ROI Evaluations
With (24.5%) of global respondents indicating that building a business case to justify investment in
additional software to senior management is the top challenge they face, followed by lacking budget or
appropriate tools to analyze customer information and to create or enhance existing journey design at
(18.5%), Hypatia Research Group acknowledges the nascent nature of applying customer analytics to
multi-channel customer journey enrichment.
Noteworthy is that global businesses are doing a better job at measuring return on investment and benefits
realized from customer engagement programs. More than fifty-three percent (53.4%) are consistently able
to achieve this goal, while another twenty-one percent (21.2%) accomplish this at least fifty percent (50%)
of the time. Lack of consensus on which performance metrics to use and lack of processes in place on how
or when to measure are just some of the reasons businesses are unable to calculate ROI consistently.
Figure 19: Marketing Function: Ability to Measure Return on Investment
Source: ©2015-2016 Hypatia Research Group, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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Innovations in technology such as cloud, mobile devices and advanced analytics affect business processes and multi-channel data integration—key elements of customer engagement efforts.
Complexity in customer engagement and ecommerce has increased due to channel expansion combined with customer expectations for a seamless experience.
High levels of fragmentation exist due to lack of “blended” customer engagement—Competitive advantage is granted to savvy businesses with a fully integrated enterprise-level customer strategy.
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Verizon Reduces Customer Effort and Costs with Journey Analytics
Verizon Wireless is a wireless communications company that connects people and businesses with
advanced wireless technology and service available. The company launched one of the first 3G wireless
broadband network in North America and the first tier-one wireless provider to build and operate a 4G LTE
network. Serving more than 135 million subscribers and operating in more than 1,700 retail locations in
the United States, while offering global voice and data services in more than 200 destinations, Verizon is
the nation’s largest wireless company. Verizon Wireless is wholly owned by Verizon Communications Inc.
and is headquartered in Basking Ridge, N.J.
Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) is a global leader in delivering broadband and other wireless and
wireline communications services to consumer, business, government and wholesale customers.
Business Driver for Investment
Verizon’s wireline services17, FIOS18 fiber optic service and its
wireless subscription services for mobile phones and devices
were all part of a self-service solutions business unit that
provides support to customers via interactive voice response
(IVR), mobile, and online channels.
Call volumes from the company’s FIOS subscribers were growing so fast the call center struggled to handle
all of them efficiently, cost-effectively and with the right level of customer satisfaction. In 2008, with 1.9
million wireline customers, the volume of calls continued to grow until it reached 60% of all customer
service calls per month. In 2008, with 1.9 million wireline customers, the volume of calls continued to grow
until it reached 60% of all customer service calls per month while the cost of servicing calls had risen to
$15 each. This triggered the business need to
reduce customer service and support calls without
negatively impacting service levels.
Consider that for telecommunications companies,
an 18 month contract for smart phone service
averages about $110 per month. In every
customer service and support interaction,
whether online, phone, or email, there is potential
to retain or gain approximately $2,000USD
annually. For Verizon Wireless, with 135 million
17 Between 2005–2010, Verizon divested wireline operations in several states in order to focus on its wireless, FiOS internet and FiOS TV businesses.
18 Verizon FiOS is a bundled Internet access, telephone, and television service that operates over a fiber-optic communications network to more than 6 million people in 13 states. (2014 statistics)
“This investment is one of the
expenses that is controllable.”
--CFO, Verizon
“The devil is in the details….build
requirements first and then look
around… which is the best fit for your
organization as it is painful and
expensive to make the wrong selection.”
-- Associate Director, Verizon
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subscribers, just a one-half of one percent (0.005%)
increase in customer churn or retention is worth an
estimated $1.3B in revenues.
Vendor Selection
Verizon considered a variety of software vendors—
those with advanced analytical tools or turn-key
solutions for the customer service and support functions
such as NICE Systems, Pegasystems and The SAS
Institute. Overall, this telecommunications provider
wanted a solution that would resolve their current call
center issues and then expand to an enterprise level
with big data analytics. Ultimately, IBM was selected for
several reasons:
Telecommunications sector expertise
Big data and advanced analytics domain knowledge
Attractive engagement model bundled with tools and professional guidance
While several executives from the IT department were involved in building the business requirements and
vetting the various options, the final decision to invest was made by the president of operations and the
chief financial officer. You read correctly—the CMO did NOT hold the budget for customer analytics and
journey design software or participate in the selection process.
Bottom-line: IBM offered a single provider, modular solutions
approach whereby Verizon could pick and choose from a
portfolio of software along with consulting advisory while
others offered a bundled approach. A la carte pricing benefits
the buyer and packaged or bundled deals give the advantage to
the seller. In this instance, IBM chose to offer pricing that
benefited the customer and the project was implemented within
four months in late 2014. An on premise deployment situated in
various primary data centers was installed for differing regions
of service with standby data centers ready for recovery or other
types of requirements.
Operating Environment
Verizon determined that it would be more cost effect and
increase customer satisfaction levels if they could address
customer service issues in a more proactive manner. Reducing customer effort by improving customer
interaction experiences required they analyze all of the network system data, identify connectivity issues
and assess what the customer has already done to remedy issues online via IVR, chat, email, self-service or
community forums prior to routing them to an agent. In fact, if the problem is connectivity, Verizon is able
“On average, each mobile
phone customer that is
retained or migrates
represents an estimated
$2,000 annually to telecom
providers. Proactive customer
support can be the difference
between capturing or
retaining consumers.”
--Hypatia Research Group.”
“Everyone says that their solution is
the best for “next best action” or
real-time decisioning” which
involves statistical modeling,
ingesting data in motion, streaming
analytics etc.… Different products
have strengths in certain areas, but
need to stretch to accomplish all
that is necessary.”
-- Associate Director, Verizon
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to perform customer journey analytics and determine what the probability is for a customer calling in for a
certain problem based on their online behavior.
Other process changes made include enterprise operational enhancements that positively impact customer
approval metrics—measured via metrics such as customer satisfaction index (CSAT) customer effort score
(CES), customer retention, and proactive intent identification —as well as realizing higher revenue figures.
Business Benefits
Measurement of performance metrics began in the second half of 2014 without an auditable baseline set
prior to deployment. Specific business benefits were tracked:
Time customers spent in the interactive voice response unit (IVR) decreased by 67% after
proactive customer intent identification analytics were installed within the customer journey
processes. Reducing customer effort has had a positive impact on Verizon’s customer (CSAT);
Continuous refinement of the “proactive intent identification” model when at least (60%) of
customers say yes to the first prompt offered to them on IVR or other self-service options. Sixty
percent accuracy is required to ensure that the model is precise and accurate enough to satisfy
customers and reduce call center costs;
Reduced call center volume by 30% saving approximately $15 per call without negatively
impacting service levels.
Continued Engagement
Verizon wireless continues to engage with IBM through
investment in analytics as a service. Data scientists are
harvesting customer journey data and identifying
correlations among marketing, online demonstration
registration, channel interactions, and geographic data along
with call center information in order to create micro-
segmentation for targeted marketing programs.
“Ultimately, some components
were provided by IBM, some
were custom-built and some
were already in place.”
---- Associate Director, Verizon
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Mattel, Inc. Builds Toys and Customer Journeys
The Mattel family of companies (NASDAQ: MAT) is an American based multinational leader in the design,
manufacture and marketing of toys and family products. Mattel's portfolio of best-selling brands include
Barbie®, Hot Wheels®, Monster High®,
American Girl®, Thomas & Friends® and Fisher-
Price® brands; Little People®, Power Wheels®,
MEGA® Brands, and RoseArt®. Mattel's
companies employ approximately 31,000 people
in 40 countries and territories and sell products
in more than 150 nations. Worldwide
headquarters are located in El Segundo, Calif.
Business Challenge
With multiple global brands that appeal to
consumers at various life stages such as toddler
(0-3 years old), four to five year old (4-5), six to seven year old (6-7), and eight or more (8+), combined
with numerous types of toy products such as action figures, dolls, DVD’s, games and outdoor play, the
company determined that providing a seamless, connected customer experience at a global scale would be
the optimal way to stay in touch with their customers. To that end, Mattel embarked upon a massive
transformation with digital marketing and listening to the voice of the customer at the center of its
innovation. Technologically, the company was challenged by its global scale, multiple brands, products and
diverse channels—
indirect sales channels
such as retail stores or
catalogues in addition to
direct to consumer
marketing encompassing
multichannel
communications channels.
Vendor Selection
One of the key
requirements in selecting
a vendor was the ability to
map, analyze, and engage
with the customer journey
across every channel and touchpoint. Only a handful of vendors offered all three capabilities. Ultimately,
Mattel selected Salesforce.com because it enabled everyone involved to work off of the same platform.
Brands are no longer siloed which means individual journeys, aggregated journeys, and journeys by
“The number one toymaker in the world
stays on top by simply listening to its
customers. Marketing Cloud and
Journey Builder allow Mattel to create a
lifelong, cradle-to-collector relationship
which sets customers on a magical,
multi-branded path of play.”
--Heather Nykolaychuck, Director of
Digital Marketing, Mattel
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channels of engagement are visible to stakeholders. Along with Journey Builder, Mattel chose to implement
Marketing Cloud.
Results & Lessons Learned
Mattel is now able to glean insights from across products, customer journeys, campaign interactions and
numerous channels of engagement from social media, Instagram, SMS mobile message, and/or email and is
using these data points to inform their product development, marketing and advertising investments. The
company expects to deliver exceptional connected and relevant experiences to their customers on any
device or platform.
Numbers Reveal Tangible Results
Hundreds of respondents reported the highest return on investment in customer analytics and journey
design solutions & processes—at more than 5% of operational budgets—via these performance metrics:
Customer Service & Support Enhancements (32%)
Top Line Revenue Increase (31%)
Customer Retention (31%)
Customer Acquisitions (30%)
Customer Advocacy, Loyalty or Satisfaction Enhancements (30%)
Figure 20: Benefits of Leveraging Customer Analytics to Improve Journey Design
Source: ©2015-2016 Hypatia Research Group, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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Consider that for telecommunications companies, every 18 month contract for smart phone service
averages about $110 per month. In every customer service and support interaction, whether online, phone,
or email, there is potential to retain or gain approximately $2,000US annually. For a telecommunications
company with more than 135 million subscribers, just a one-half of one percent (0.005%) increase in
customer churn or retention may be worth an estimated $1.3 billion in revenues. Benefits as illustrated
above are quite significant in supporting business case justification for investment
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Chapter Five: Future Considerations
Reasons for Investment
CRM analytics is often acknowledged as a type of business intelligence that most often provides historical
reporting in the form of dashboards, operational reports, sales forecasts and/or account segmentation
among others. While historical reporting and data visualization are highly useful in illustrating what has
occurred and in certain instances can be used to perform "what if?" planning scenarios, it is not based on
advanced analytical techniques such as predictive modeling. In addition, CRM analytics is often based on
customer information residing in a system or multiple CRM systems of record, thus, financial information
and purchase history along with other relevant customer information may be lacking unless it is ported
into a customer information hub or business intelligence application for analysis. (Click here for more on
"Realizing the Downstream Benefits of Effective Customer Data Management")
In contrast, customer analytics is often utilized for near or real-time20 decision support for marketing,
merchandising, ecommerce, customer service and support and sales when multivariate dimensions are
required. For example, criteria or dimensions such as time-frame (duration), product/service purchase
history, purchase amount, customer lifetime value, and cross-sell or up-sell guidance are largely dependent
on advanced analytical techniques. Customer analytics combined with appropriate algorithmic models,
business process rules and workflows has the potential to enhance engagement by being contextually
relevant, in the moment and in the channel of customer preference.
19 See Next Generation CRM; All About Business Process Excellence ©2014-2015 Hypatia Research Group. 20 May also refer to in-the-moment
Key
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Enterprise customer analytics is dependent on numerous information
sources from multiple channels, legacy systems of record, mobile devices,
cloud, and streaming data--inclusive of interactional and transactional
information as well as externally purchased third-party data;
Operationalizing analytics by embedding them within customer engagement
workflow drives competitive advantage;
Expertise in advanced analytics combined with well-defined goals, an
operationally executable plan, and clear definitions for measurable
performance metrics and cross functional resources able to execute on this
plan are critical to success;
Realization that customer engagement intelligence doesn't reside only in a
CRM application: It lives throughout and beyond the enterprise19
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Customer Information Lives Throughout and Beyond the Enterprise
In today's omni-channel, customer-obsessed marketplace, businesses need to embrace the reality that
customer information does not only reside in a CRM system--it lives throughout and beyond the
enterprise. The proliferation of customer interaction channels serve as a catalyst for investment in multi-
channel software solutions. From mobile phones, tablets, computers, in store, catalog, SMS, social networks,
and online forums, customers are able to interact with businesses when they want, how they want and for a
variety of reason. Converting both unstructured (contextual) and structured (data) information into
actionable insight and responding to customers according to their preferences with customized
information is a challenge for most organizations. However, enabling technologies based upon advanced
analytics combined with customer engagement solutions such as digital marketing, contact center, sales
and ecommerce solutions may provide support for overcoming this challenge.
Not surprisingly, a majority of respondents (57.6%) plan to invest in customer analytics and journey design
software in order to proactively engagement with customers. Slightly more than half (50.5%) will invest in
order to create customer personas for personalized engagement and (44.5%) reported that enhancing
profits by optimizing customer journeys was reason enough to invest. Noteworthy is that enhancing a
customer’s experience was not a primary reason for investment. (Figure 10)
Figure 21: Why Invest in Customer Analytics & Journey Design Software
Source: ©2015-2016 Hypatia Research Group, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
*Multiple responses possible. Will not =100%
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Investment Varies Greatly
Currently there are more than 500 software tools, applications, systems and solutions on the market. Each
value proposition claimed is a theme or variation on supporting “customer experience management”, or
improving the “customer experience”. These options encompass multiple software categories--everything
from customer relationship management, contact center, voice of the customer, digital marketing, business
process management and workflow, text analytics, social media intelligence to workforce optimization,
scheduling and customer service development tools.
Adding to this complexity, organizations need to determine what exactly they hope to accomplish on their
road towards operationalizing customer-centric21 focus. The reasons are simple—products and solutions
have become highly commoditized in our global eco-system. Elevating engagements with customers is a
proven strategy for acquiring and retaining customers, increasing share of wallet and maintaining loyalty.
Figure 22: Investments Planned 2016-2018
Source: ©2015-2016 Hypatia Research Group, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
21 HRG defines a business as customer-centric when its corporate environment organizes its offerings, operational processes, pricing models, and
customer engagements & interactions around the requirements, preferences and future desires of its customers.
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Customer engagement analytics and journey design solutions range in price from $50,000 to over $1M for
an enterprise deployment. On average, most large enterprises (greater than $2B) cited investments ranging
from $250,000 up to $2M. Mid-market ($100M to $2B in revenues) and small enterprises (less than
$100M) most often reported investments ranging from $25,000 up to $250,000. Illustrated in the chart
below are plans for steady investments in these solutions from 2016 throughout 2018.
Finding Competitive Advantage
From the line-of-business perspective, marketing has certainly become more data-driven, with marketers
and others relying on dashboards, lead scoring, and metrics such as customer annual value or lifetime value
to inform their marketing strategy and planning cycles. However, at the heart of any modern marketing
application, though, is the intelligent use of customer information. Multisource information gathering and
Big Data insights will have a positive impact on marketing. For example, more information often translates
into higher model accuracy and confidence levels when analyzing large amounts of information.
With a tolerance of approximately ~+5%/-5% among the various information sources utilized for each of
the three initiatives illustrated in Figure 23—namely customer engagement analytics, enterprise level voice
of the customer, and big data insights—it remains clear that analysis of multi or omni-channel customer
information is at the core of any effective customer-centric initiative.
Figure 23: Comparison of Information Sources: Big Data, VOC and Customer Analytics
Source: ©2015-2016 Hypatia Research Group, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
*Multiple responses possible. Will not =100%
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Our research analysis shows that larger enterprises ($2B or more in revenue) use more than eight
information sources when analyzing enterprise data, and rely on this information for a variety of business
purposes—marketing among them.
This also points to a change in priorities for marketers, who
have shifted from tactical to strategic goals. In the recent past,
marketers often focused on personal major business
objectives, such as number of click-through rates, content
views and downloads, social community or webinar
registrations, or conference attendee numbers. Now that
budgets and resources are tighter, marketers have become
better at justifying their contributions to the organization at a more strategic level. Our research shows that
marketers are much better at tracking metrics that align with corporate or business unit goals, such as
customer retention, share of wallet, increase in profits, customer engagement and cost reductions.
In short, big data analysis techniques may very well improve personalization, accuracy, relevancy, and
results for marketers when effectively performed.
Figure 24: Current Delivery Environments
Source: ©2015-2016 Hypatia Research Group, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
*Multiple responses possible. Will not =100%
“Better Data Quality + Multiple
Types of Information Sources
May = Competitive Advantage”
--Hypatia Research Group
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Organizations have shifted to the cloud for investment in customer facing software solutions. While some
take a hybrid approach—with some deployments on premise, some cloud based and differentiate by
geographic location, business unit or division, at fifty-one percent (51.1%) the shift is real. Only twenty-
eight percent (28.6%) use on premise delivery solely.22
Maturity Models
In this emerging business process supported by enabling software technologies, Hypatia Research Group
identified several significant differences among levels of maturity with corresponding benefits and return
on investment for each.
Figure 25: Maturity Models: Using Customer Insight to Enrich Journey Design Processes
Source: ©2015-2016 Hypatia Research Group, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
22 Multiple deployments within large enterprises account for the percentage total not adding up to 100%.
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Top Performers: Are more likely to use one software solution to help us analyze and visualize customer
journeys and another to modify and configure customer journey processes.
Both software products are sourced from the same vendor.
Consider the use of all customer touch-point information for analysis as critical (67%)
More likely to prioritize goals as customer engagement improvements (58.9%)
Maturing: Use one software solution to help us analyze and visualize customer journeys and another to modify customer journey processes easily.
Software solutions are sourced from different vendors.
More likely to use all customer touch-point information for analysis (64%)
More likely to prioritize goals as customer engagement improvements (55.2%)
Average: Use software automation to facilitate analysis and visualization of customer journeys; however business analysts or IT resources actually configure or orchestrate customer journey design changes.
Software solutions are sourced from different vendors.
More likely to prioritize goals as customer engagement improvements (38.2%)
Likely to use all customer touch-point information for analysis (38%)
Nascent: Create customer journey maps manually after viewing dashboards or reports and have business analysts or IT configure or orchestrate customer journey design changes.
Software solutions are sourced from different vendors.
Likely to prioritize goals as customer engagement improvements (28.3%)
Likely to use all customer touch-point information for analysis (30%)
Checklist for Consideration
While every organization will have its unique requirements in regards to utilizing customer analytics to
enhance customer journeys, due diligence should include consideration of the following:
Why will enhancing or optimizing the customer journey benefit the business and should
customer analytics be employed to engage with customers in a more relevant, context-aware,
and proactive manner? Where and when will this be deployed in a customer journey process?
Understand how advanced analytical techniques will support the creation of actionable insights.
Know what is possible, what to expect, and which business benefits will be realized from the
use of customer analytics. For example, what type of customer analytics will optimally enhance
a customer’s journey? Will the interaction be ‘guided’, scripted, or dynamic via techniques as:
o Adaptive interaction?
o Contextually aware?
o Predictive next best action?
o Prescriptive guidance?
o Cognitive computing or machine learning?
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Best Practices and GalaxyTM Vendor Evaluations.” www.hypatiaresearch.com ∎ 781-862-5106 NOTICE: Information contained in this publication has been sourced in good faith from primary, secondary and end-user research and is believed to be reliable based upon our research methodology and analyst’s judgment. Ultimate responsibility for all decisions, use and interpretation of Hypatia Research Group reports or publications remains with the reader, subscriber or user thereof.
What types of customer journeys should be automated and at the individual level or by
aggregated groupings (clusters or segments)?23 Examples include:
o Customer onboarding;
o Customer lifecycle journeys;
o Purchase journeys;
o Service and support;
o Account management;
o Etc.…
Cross functional planning and executive buy-in is critical for success and necessary in order to
secure budgets, build consensus and to drive accountability for the overall success of this
initiative. Identify the stakeholders for this initiative such as:
o Who is accountable for results?
o Who holds the budget?
o Who holds veto power, influence or sponsors the project?
Determine which and how many information sources are critical, important, secondary, tertiary
or non-essential. While using numerous information sources may yield higher accuracy or
confidence levels, ensure that all are actually relevant to the business goals at hand. Moreover,
evaluate the use of data at rest in addition to streaming data sources;
Integration of private/public cloud, hybrid cloud/on premise and/or online with offline
information sources will require standardization and quality remediation. Investigate cloud
based integration platform as a service (iPaaS) and integration as a service24 (IaaS) solutions as
well as web services, application program interfaces (API), and enterprise application
integration (EAI);
Industry domain experience and advanced analytics expertise are critical to success. Evaluate
whether in-house resources are sufficient or whether outsourcing this requirement to a
managed service provider or consultancy is optimal. Know that using external resources may
compromise proprietary insight and competitive advantage acquired without safeguards in
place;
There are software vendors that offer solutions with templates and features that facilitate creating specific
types of algorithmic models25 such as customer retention for retail and telecommunications, or identity
fraud for banking or medical claims management. Not surprisingly, our research found that global
organizations are successfully utilizing various analytical techniques in the form of these types of
engagement.
23 See Figure 3: Perception: Type of Customer Analytics Utilized for Journey Design.
24 Integration-as-a-Service delivers an integration solution that provides connectivity to backend systems, sources, files, and operational applications through the implementation of well-defined interfaces, web services, and calls between applications and data sources.
25 Inclusive of cognitive and machine self-learning models
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©2015-2016 Hypatia Research Group. All Rights Reserved. “How Customer Analytics & Insights Enrich Customer Journey Design: Benchmarks,
Best Practices and GalaxyTM Vendor Evaluations.” www.hypatiaresearch.com ∎ 781-862-5106 NOTICE: Information contained in this publication has been sourced in good faith from primary, secondary and end-user research and is believed to be reliable based upon our research methodology and analyst’s judgment. Ultimate responsibility for all decisions, use and interpretation of Hypatia Research Group reports or publications remains with the reader, subscriber or user thereof.
Conclusion
Operationalizing analytics by embedding models within customer engagement workflows facilitates brand
consistency and optimizes personalization through automation. Evaluate how, and if this might shorten
time to value when implementing customer analytics, customer journey design and customer engagement
programs. (See Chapter Three: Galaxy Vendor Evaluations)
Our research and analysis reveals that the types of customer analytics implemented are just as important
as the business processes developed when combined with the ability to execute on these insights. In other
words, customer analytics and insights deliver the Who? What? Why? How? And When? However, the
decision to act on this insight in a manual, semi-automated or fully automated fashion is often a key
stimulus for innovation, organizational and cultural change.
Hypatia Research Group believes that all investment in customer engagement solutions should reduce the
customer's effort, be seamless, and encourage interaction via all preferred channels while providing
stakeholders analysis and multichannel visibility into customer preferences and behaviors. Moreover, we
would encourage organizations to use this customer analysis and insight to:
Improve enterprise level operational business processes (from communications, pricing,
marketing and billing to services);
Proactively guide marketers, sales professionals and call center agents on the next best action
for customer engagement and offer management;
Transform into a truly anticipatory customer-centric enterprise by replacing inside-out
(resource optimization) business processes with purpose-built business processes designed
from the outside-in (customer centric).
Licensed for distribution by IBM—Page 52
©2015-2016 Hypatia Research Group. All Rights Reserved. “How Customer Analytics & Insights Enrich Customer Journey Design: Benchmarks,
Best Practices and GalaxyTM Vendor Evaluations.” www.hypatiaresearch.com ∎ 781-862-5106 NOTICE: Information contained in this publication has been sourced in good faith from primary, secondary and end-user research and is believed to be reliable based upon our research methodology and analyst’s judgment. Ultimate responsibility for all decisions, use and interpretation of Hypatia Research Group reports or publications remains with the reader, subscriber or user thereof.
About the Author
Leslie Ament, Senior Vice President of Research and Principal Analyst at Hypatia Research Group, LLC, is a Customer
Intelligence Management thought-leader and industry analyst who focuses on how organizations capture, manage,
analyze and apply actionable customer insight to improve customer management techniques, reduce operating
expenses and to accelerate corporate growth. Her research coverage include: Business Intelligence, Media
Intelligence/Search/Text Analytics, CRM, Web Analytics, Marketing Automation and Customer Data
Integration/Management/Quality. Ament also serves on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Applied Marketing
Analytics, a practitioner focused publication.
She frequently shares expertise on webinars and at conferences such as: CRM Evolution, IBM Information on Demand,
SAP Sapphire, and the American Marketing Association, and is published on SandHill.com, destinationCRM, and hosts
the Customer Analytics & Insights Channel on the B-Eye-Network. Recent keynotes presented to the Marketing and
Technology Summit hosted by Direct Marketing News and to Product Camp, hosted by the Product Management
Association have included “How CRM, Big Data, and Multichannel Customer Engagement Enhances Profitability” and
“Marketing, Big Data, and the Customer Experience”.
Previously, Ament served on management teams and lead global marketing and market research groups at Demantra,
Inc. (acquired by Oracle), Arthur D. Little Management Consulting, Harte-Hanks, Banta Corporation, International
Thomson Publishing (Chapman & Hall, UK) and Carnegie Hall, Inc. She is a member of the American Marketing
Association, Society for Competitive Intelligence Professionals, Customer Relationship Management Association,
DataShaping Certified Analytic Professional, Arthur D. Little Alumni Association, and a Board Member of the Product
Management Association.
Ament has authored highly pragmatic yet forward thinking primary research studies, exemplified by “Social Analytics
& Intelligence: Converting Contextual to Actionable Insight GalaxyTM Vendor Evaluations,” “Operationalizing Voice of the
Customer”, “Benchmarking Social Community Investments & ROI,” “Decision Science & Customer Analysis: Competitive
Advantage or Necessary to Compete”, “The Precision Marketing Imperative”, “Customer Data Management: Attaining
Tangible ROI”, “CRM is Not Pantyhose: One Size Doesn’t Fit All”, “Sales Productivity Tools: Closing the CRM Gap” &
“Business Intelligence: Connectivity & Licensing Options for Software-as-a-Service.”
Other studies include:
Leveraging Content to Improve Return on Marketing Investment: Enhancing the Customer Experience
Exploiting Social Intelligence for Customer Service & Support Excellence: GalaxyTM Vendor Evaluations
Delivering Big Data Analytics Insights: Why Choose Between Accuracy, Agility OR Speed?
A hands-on practitioner, Ament has overseen business requirements gathering and implementation of various SaaS
and on premise CRM solutions and managed customer data migration projects prior to becoming an industry analyst.
Ament completed her doctorate Phi Kappa Phi at the University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign and her Master's and
Bachelor's degrees at Indiana University-Bloomington. Her passions are international travel, spicy food, classical
music, jazz, and Chicago-style rhythm & blues. Contact her at [email protected].