20 - 06 - 2023

Who decides where, how and when a purchase takes place? The customer — in more and more cases.

Given that the customer is in the driving seat, the brand must increasingly focus on his or her behaviors, which become key indicators for predicting the likelihood of an actual sale. And thus, customer obsession is born. This term describes the need for companies to maintain a constant connection with their customers and to quickly intercept every need and new novelty.

How can you put Customer Obsession into practice? Data is certainly a good starting point — in other words, the company must put a series of technological strategies in place. These strategies should collect data on customer behaviors and track customers’ paths and feelings during the buying experience, across all channels and in real-time. The data must be analyzed for actionable and useful information (not just “the usual” KPIs), and the company must learn to make decisions quickly based on these insights.

This path is not easy and not all sectors have an urgent need for Customer Obsession strategies. It is important to note, however, that once these strategies are implemented, they will bring about significant improvements.

Which technologies do you need to be Customer Obsessed?

There are a number of new and not necessarily expensive technologies that a brand can leverage to build its customer obsession practices. It is no coincidence that many of these technologies already include components that are based on advanced Artificial Intelligence systems, precisely because of the topic and objective’s complexity.

On the other hand, not all technological opportunities are equally important for businesses. It is necessary, however, to build a pathway that allows companies to achieve relevant and measurable goals for each step over time.

It is important to select and combine technologies in the right way with a data botique like BitBang, who treats customer data with appropriate care and can devise and implement tailor-made solutions for every business.

A number of complex skills are needed to put a Customer Obsessed strategy into practice.

The company needs to make sure that it is collecting useful data by putting together and implementing a Data Strategy that includes specific technologies such as, Digital Analytics, Digital Experience Analytics, Customer Experience, Voice of the Customer, and Social Media Listening.

Once data has been collected, it is necessary to manage its architecture with modern technologies and a customer-centric approach, while ensuring its quality and reliability with Data Quality, Data Preparation, and Data Engineering practices. The data’s lifecycle and internal responsibilities can be managed with a Data Governance program that is aligned with Privacy Compliance requirements. Companies can use this program to build values shared and detected by the customer himself.

Finding value within data requires one to be able to interpret it quickly and comprehensively, with Customer Analytics Practices that are based on advanced Business Intelligence and analytics tools. These tools can process data regardless of where it comes from and employ Artificial Intelligence when appropriate.

In order to build a Single View of the Customer, one must reconcile customer data that pertains to different touchpoints with the use of a Customer Data Platform, for example. They must also provide maximum transparency and freedom of action to the customer and his or her privacy choices, while allowing marketers to optimize the personalization of communications — both from the standpoint of audience segmentation and the choice of channels and timing, that are aligned with customer expectations as closely as possible.

This is the only way to get the most out of engaging in a conversation across channels, with the right content, timing that reflects the customer’s needs and through appropriate Omnichannel Customer Journey Orchestration.

Download the checklist with the 8 ingredients you can draw on to build your Customer Obsessed strategy.

Watch the Video - BitBang

Giovanni Lorenzoni, CEO of BitBang, was a guest speaker at RCS Academy’s “RETAIL & OMNICHANNEL STRATEGY TALK” on May 23 and spoke about these very topics. He explained how to put customer obsession into practice, why it is important, and for which industries it is most crucial.

To learn more and find out about the relationship between customer obsession, chewing gum, and iPhones, watch the video below.