Mind the customer insight gap warns vendor

Research shows real-time decisioning key to identifying new sales opportunities and customer retention

Call centres that do not have advanced real-time decisioning (RTD) engines are suffering from ‘insight gaps’ compared to competitors that have already adopted the technology, according to research findings unveiled today by Portrait Software, a leading provider of customer interaction optimisation software and now a part of Pitney Bowes Business Insight (PBBI).

The independent research, conducted by Loudhouse Research, found that 75% of businesses with advanced RTD capabilities believe they are “good at identifying customers who can be persuaded to consider new offers.” This compares to just 35% of organizations that have not yet installed this technology.

A further 83% of RTD-enabled businesses believe they are “able to make use of customer insight to retain customers they might otherwise lose,” whilst just 55% of respondents without RTD believe they are able to do so. In addition, 61% of RTD enabled businesses say they are effective at “re-establishing profitable relationships with former customers,” compared to just 42% that have only installed interaction-based systems.

The research also found that approaches to real-time decisioning technology vary by country. Organisations in the UK are more likely to have one of the more sophisticated decisioning options (29% vs. 24% in the US), and US call centre agents are more likely to receive no prompts at all (36% vs. 23% in the UK). However, the research also found a degree of polarisation in the US responses – one fifth (20%) of US respondents have the most sophisticated level of decisioning support compared to just one in ten (11%) in the UK.

“The volumes available for outbound customer communication is limited and the effectiveness of traditional marketing communications has declined as ad fatigue continues to take hold,” says Luke McKeever, CEO, Portrait Software. “These factors make real-time decisioning, particularly through inbound marketing, an essential part of any B2C organiszation’s customer interaction strategy.

“Our research indicates that those organisations that have so far failed to implement such technologies face a clear ‘insight gap’ in comparison to competitors that have adopted this approach to customer engagement. As a result, they are far less able to identify which customers to target with specific offers, find it harder to retain customers that are planning on leaving and find it harder to re-establish relationships with returning customers. In an age where every interaction counts and establishing trust with customers is key, it is those organizations using advanced real-time decisioning that are primed for success.”