The future of customer strategy is providing proactive experiences based on the predicted needs of your customers. The key to unlocking this future is your customer data, particularly the data you have collected about customer behavior. You have most of what you need to predict your customers' next move in your customers' past behavior. 

This concept is predicated on the idea of Customer Science. As you might recall, Customer Science is the blending of customer data with artificial intelligence and the theories of the behavioral sciences. Customer Science is the next big thing in Customer Experiences, and it is what you need to predict accurately how your customers are going to behave. 

I am fascinated by how Customer Science is already changing experiences for the better in the real world. For example, at a recent CX Live Event, I heard Michelle Huenink, Director, Customer Experience & Success at Microsoft, speak about how the company was using their data to provide predictive—and in some cases—prescriptive experiences to their customers. In this episode, Huenink explains what she did, why she did it, and how you can get started doing the same for your organization. 

Key Ideas to Improve your Customer Experience

A significant part of Huenink’s motivation is transforming Microsoft’s Customer Experience to a connected experience using customer data as the basis for its change. She wants to leverage the vast amounts of Microsoft’s customer data to identify moments that are sending an individual’s experience down the wrong path, as well as find parts of the process that necessitate too much customer effort. Then, she wants to empower the front-line teams to correct course and fix things for customers, sometimes even before the customer knows there is a problem. 

Here are a few key moments in the discussion:

• 05:39  Huenink walks us through a recent implementation from the past year that identifies and intervenes when a customer enters an “at-risk” zone in the experience.
• 07:37  Colin asks Huenink what she is looking for in data that helps her focus on the area that will benefit the experience.
• 11:14  We discuss some of the challenges an organization faces when they try to change the experience based on data discoveries.    
• 16:14  We discuss the differences between customers regarding the channels they use to interact with a company and how data can help you provide solutions to present a consistent experience regardless of the contact made.
• 20:03   Huenink identifies the most significant opportunity for Microsoft with their experience transformation efforts—and it will probably sound familiar.   
• 22:09 Colin asks about segmentation and how they use it to personalize experiences. 
• 27:17  Huenink shares her advice for what organizations can do to use their data to identify focus areas in their experience transformations.     

Don’t miss CXN Live: Customer Self Service 2022 for more great ideas on leveraging self-service to increase customer experience, reduce contact volumes and improve efficiency.

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Customer Experience Information & Resources

LinkedIn recognizes Colin Shaw as one of the 'World's Top 150 Business Influencers.' He has 289,000 followers. Shaw is the Founder and CEO of Beyond Philosophy LLC, which helps organizations unlock growth by discovering customers' hidden, unmet needs that drive value ($). The Financial Times selected Beyond Philosophy LLC as one of the best management consultancies for the last two years. Follow Colin on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Click here to learn more about Professor Ryan Hamilton of Emory University. 

Why Customers Buy: As an official "Influencer" on LinkedIn, Colin writes a regular newsletter on all things Customer Experience. Click here to join the other 22,000 subscribers. 

Experience Health Check: You already have an experience, even if you weren't deliberate about it. Our Experience Health Check can help you understand what you have today. Colin or one of our team can assess your digital or physical Customer Experience, interacting with your organization as a customer to define what is good and what needs improving. Then, they will provide a list of recommendations for critical next steps for your organization. Click here to learn more. 

How can we help?

Click here to learn more about Beyond Philosophy's Suite of Services.