Realizing the Power of a 360-Degree Customer View

Summary

• Customer 360 is a holistic perspective of data from all customer touchpoints and interactions that enables companies to deliver better, more personalized customer experiences
• Incomplete views of customer data, technical challenges, poor data quality, and lack of customer golden records prevents companies from achieving Customer 360
• AI-powered entity resolution and external data integration help organizations overcome the challenges of obtaining Customer 360 views
• When companies achieve Customer 360, they can deliver the personalized customer experiences customers expect, boost customer satisfaction, and increase customer loyalty

The concept of Customer 360 is one that resonates with many businesses. After all, creating a comprehensive Customer 360 view—a holistic perspective that aggregates data from every customer interaction across all touchpoints—enables companies to tailor their services, anticipate customer needs, and foster deeper, more personalized customer relationships. By integrating insights from sales, marketing, customer service, and beyond, organizations can make better, more strategic decisions that enable them to deliver the exceptional experiences customers expect while also enhancing customer satisfaction and loyalty. 

To achieve the goal of gaining a comprehensive, holistic customer view, many organizations worldwide are leveraging both data and technology in order to create a 360-degree customer view. However, creating a Customer 360 view can be more challenging than it sounds. Let’s take a closer look at the challenges businesses face when creating a Customer 360 view and how they can better leverage technology and data to overcome them.  

Expectations vs Reality: The Current State of the 360-Degree Customer View

According to Gartner, only 14% of organizations believe they have achieved a 360-degree view of their customers, while a staggering 82% aspire to attain one. Clearly, there is a long journey ahead for many organizations. So why are organizations struggling to attain this goal?

The concept of a 360-degree customer view is not new. However, there are many reasons why organizations struggle to achieve it:

• Business context: Traditional business structures built on strong functional and product silos are not designed for the digital age's seamless, real-time interaction. Customers today expect a unified experience across all touchpoints, from Amazon's personalized recommendations to Apple's seamless ecosystem. Providing an incomplete view of a customer’s engagement just won’t cut it. 
• Technical challenges: Many organizations treat Customer 360 as a technical problem when it needs to be business-led. Success requires buy-in from the C-suite and sustainable value delivery. The technology landscape is also more complex than ever before, with a plethora of solutions like real-time systems and customer data platforms housing valuable information that organizations need to navigate. 
• Data quality and scalability: Poor quality data and the need for real-time updates add complexity to creating an accurate 360-degree view. Traditional data matching approaches struggle with sparse or low-quality data, leading to issues with overlinking or underlinking data.
• Master data management: Effective master data management (MDM) is crucial for ensuring that the data used to create a 360-degree view is accurate, consistent, and up-to-date. Without a strong MDM foundation, efforts to unify customer data across systems can fall short.

Approaches and Technologies to Overcome Challenges

There are several approaches and technologies that can help organizations overcome the inherent challenges with creating Customer 360 views:

• Advanced matching techniques: Modern matching approaches like AI-powered entity resolution and machine learning enhance data accuracy. These techniques can handle poor quality and sparse data better, providing a more accurate customer view.
• Artificial intelligence: AI plays a significant role in managing and analyzing large volumes of customer data. Machine learning algorithms can identify patterns and insights that might be missed by traditional methods, making the 360-degree view more comprehensive and actionable.
• External data integration: Enriching internal data with third-party sources provides a more comprehensive view. External data can fill in gaps and offer insights that internal data alone cannot provide.
• Real-time data utilization: Moving from batch processes to real-time data updates supports dynamic business needs. Real-time data allows for more immediate and relevant customer interactions.

Embedding Third-Party Data

According to a recent study, 92% of data analytics professionals believe their firms need to increase the use of external data sources. However, integrating external data into decision-making can be challenging. To simplify the process of embedding third-party data, it’s important to implement:

• Consistent data frameworks: Ensure a consistent and structured approach to data, enabling accurate comparison and insight generation. This includes standardizing data definitions, unique identifiers, and key metrics across the organization.
• Business-driven integration: Engage business units in the development process to ensure the data meets their needs and drives value. This requires close collaboration between IT and business teams to align data initiatives with business goals.

Creating a 360-degree customer view is a complex but essential goal for modern organizations. By leveraging new technologies such as AI, embedding third-party data, implementing robust master data management practices, and aligning business and technical strategies, organizations can significantly enhance their customer understanding and drive substantial value.

Tamr delivers AI-powered technology that is at the forefront of data innovation, enabling organizations worldwide to reap the benefits of holistic, Customer 360 views. By using Tamr to overcome the persistent challenges associated with creating 360-degree customer views, organizations can elevate their customer experiences, enhance customer satisfaction, and increase customer loyalty, positioning their business to grow and adapt today and into the future. 

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