Customers continue to generate more data than ever. This makes it difficult to separate signals, like customer preferences or needs, from the noise of irrelevant activities. As new technologies enter mainstream use, this data challenge will only increase.
One powerful technology is the Internet of Things (IoT), which provides yet another layer of customer data. What does this mean for customer journey management?
Used correctly, IoT data can deeply enrich a customer journey. This is because people provide data to IoT devices about their actual use. In contrast, when someone answers a survey online, they may not reveal the truth, but rather their perception of the truth. With 66 percent of executives saying that new investments in IoT have already made an impact on their customer experience, it’s time to consider the customer experience impact that smart IoT applications can have at your business.
Good customer journey orchestration can improve already excellent IoT devices. More importantly, customer journey investments can empower the rest of your marketing, sales and CX organization as well.
IOT CUSTOMER JOURNEYS DRIVE REAL-TIME PERSONALIZATION
Innovation in IoT directly empowers brands to reach into customer’s homes. Crucially, that means you must be extremely clear and transparent about what data is collected and how it is used. If a smart fridge technology targeted customers for advertisements based on a medication, that could cause serious customer concern. However, that same customer will likely not be upset at recommendations for recipes using ingredients still fresh inside.
But what if the temperature gets too low? A service technician’s call could prevent the holiday ham or turkey from spoiling in a broken machine. You can actively add value by reaching out to resolve any problems. By leveraging the customer journey with IoT devices your business is continuing to improve the experience of using your devices long after the point of sale.
IOT IS PART OF AN OMNICHANNEL JOURNEY
These are only a few of the applications that IoT empowered customer journeys deliver. By providing a new layer of customer use data, IoT devices make the journey more personalized. This lets businesses meet needs the customer may not have even known they had.
So why haven’t seen an explosion of experiences like the ones described above? The truth is that IoT alone isn’t enough. Even incredible technologies are only as powerful as the data that feeds into them and the orchestration of that data. IoT is no exception. That’s why it’s crucial to realize IoT devices are part of the larger customer journey. Data collected in any part of the journey can have tremendous impact on the real-time customer experience. By combining IoT, marketing, sales, and cx data together, you can make your offerings more relevant, your current service more personalized, and manage customer interactions with your business in real-time.
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