AI analyzes what, when, and how you watch so Netflix can recommend the perfect show.
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Personalization used to be about recognizing a customer who’s done business with you before. Just recognizing them and using their name created the feeling of a personalized experience. Earlier this year, I wrote Personalization Is More Than Using A Customer’s Name. While using the customer’s name is still important, over time, that experience morphed into much more. It is name recognition, combined with a knowledge of how you have marketed to them, sold to them and supported them, which makes them feel like you know them, not just recognize them.
My annual customer experience research found that nearly eight out of 10 customers (79%) in the U.S. feel a personalized experience is important. Twilio Segment’s State of Personalization Report found that “89% of leaders believe personalization is crucial to their businesses’ success in the next three years.”
No Longer a Trend, Personalization Is a Competitive Advantage
Customer service has evolved with how we do business. What was once a nice-to-have feature has become table stakes for success. Companies that don’t personalize risk being left behind by competitors that do.
Creating Personalized and Customized Experiences Online
Artificial intelligence (AI) has made it possible to analyze customer data faster and easier than ever before. This means we can use real-time information to turn routine transactions into memorable experiences that feel customized just for that customer.
For example, Netflix uses AI to analyze viewing habits, time of day preferences and even how long someone watches to make movie and TV show suggestions, creating a very personalized experience.
Zappos.com calls itself a service company that just happens to sell shoes. It is an online retailer that offers award-winning live customer support. They create WOW experiences that draw customers in and keep them coming back. Personalization comes in the form of recognizing returning customers and making spot-on recommendations.
Personalization and customization go beyond traditional consumer-facing businesses. A California-based firm, DK Law serves a diverse group of clients that speak English, Spanish and Korean. One might think that having lawyers who speak the different languages of their clients and have similar cultural backgrounds would be all that’s needed to create a personalized experience for the firm’s clients, but they didn’t stop there. They built an online presence with multiple website entry points that cater to their clients’ diverse backgrounds, creating a sense of cultural comfort and understanding. The result is higher trust and better communication in a traditionally impersonal environment, such as injury law.
In the B2B world, the ability to personalize and customize a solution can win over customers. Salesforce uses AI to analyze how each company (customer) uses its software, tracking which features teams use most and what challenges they face. Based on the data, Salesforce provides personalized dashboards, suggests training modules and delivers targeted suggestions to help each business maximize its investment.
Final Words
A successful personalization strategy will combine technology with human insight. The goal is to gather the right data about each customer and understand them well enough to create an experience that seems deeply personalized. The businesses that master the balance between using AI to gather insights while maintaining the human touch will be the ones customers choose to return to.
Personalization has evolved from a nice surprise to an expected standard. Companies that invest in truly knowing their customers and understanding their buying habits will keep those customers. And provided the overall customer experience meets the customer’s expectations, which includes the sales process, ease of doing business, customer support and product quality, why would a customer take a chance on leaving a company that knows them for a company that doesn’t?