Tag: McKinsey

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Navigating the Perfect Storm: Customer Care today and Beyond

Incoming storm over Miami Beach, Florida

2022 ushered in a perfect storm of challenges, necessitating strategic navigation for organizations.

Rising call volumes, talent shortages, escalating customer expectations, and the ongoing struggle to leverage digital solutions created an environment where the influence of Customer Master Data Management (CMDM) and CMDM solutions became increasingly pivotal.

As outlined in McKinsey’s 2022 State of Customer Care Survey, the challenges facing customer care leaders are multifaceted. Surges in call volumes, coupled with talent shortages and unmet digital promises, represent a formidable and challenging customer relationship management (CRM) landscape.

Against this backdrop, the role of CMDM solutions like Pretectum CMDM rises as crucial in streamlining operations, enhancing customer experiences, and ensuring the seamless integration of data across channels.

The rapid shift to remote work, a consequence of the pandemic, underscored the importance of CMDM in customer care operations. Up to 85% of customer care workforces transitioned to remote settings, emphasizing the need for a centralized and standardized approach to customer data management. CMDM solutions play a pivotal role in ensuring that organizational customer data remains accessible, accurate, and secure, regardless of the location of customer-facing agents.

Despite significant investments in digital solutions, organizations still grapple with the full realization of digital promises. CMDM solutions act as a bridge, facilitating the integration of customer data across diverse digital platforms. By providing a unified view of customer information, CMDM solutions empower customer care teams to deliver consistent and personalized experiences, bridging the gap between customer expectations and digital service delivery.

Amidst the challenges, savvy customer management leaders are adopting CMDM as a strategic imperative. McKinsey’s survey identifies several priorities for the near future and CMDM stands at the core of these initiatives, offering a foundation for success.

People Management

Retaining and developing top talent is a priority for customer relations leaders, and CMDM solutions contribute significantly to this endeavor. By providing a unified and comprehensive view of customer interactions, preferences, and histories, CMDM ensures that customer care agents have the insights needed to deliver personalized and effective support. This, in turn, fosters employee satisfaction and engagement.

The pursuit of a simplified customer experience is closely tied to CMDM. By centralizing customer data and ensuring its accuracy, CMDM solutions contribute to the streamlining of customer interactions. CMDM enables organizations to optimize processes, reduce call volumes, and enhance operational efficiency, resulting in a simplified and seamless customer experience.

Building robust digital care and advanced analytics ecosystems requires a foundation of reliable customer data. CMDM solutions play a pivotal role in ensuring data quality, consistency, and accessibility across digital platforms. Whether deploying AI-driven chatbots or leveraging advanced analytics for insights, CMDM forms the backbone of these transformative initiatives.

CMDM as a Catalyst for Change

McKinsey’s survey findings indicate that customer care is at an inflection point, and CMDM could serve as a catalyst for positive change. Call volumes are higher and more complex than before, emphasizing the need for a centralized approach to customer data. CMDM solutions enable organizations to navigate this complexity by providing a single source of truth for customer information.

As customer care increasingly moves online, CMDM blurs the lines between digital and live interactions. Organizations seek systems capabilities that enhance both customer and employee experiences during critical “moments that matter.” CMDM ensures a unified view of customer data, facilitating seamless transitions between digital and live channels.

Compared to the prior surveys McKinsey’s findings revealed a heightened focus on improving customer experience. CMDM solutions are instrumental in this endeavor, providing a foundation for delivering personalized and consistent experiences. The centralized nature of CMDM ensures that customer data is accurate and up-to-date across all touchpoints.

What the future likely holds

To address the fast-changing landscape, organizations need to make strategic investments in CMDM. These investments aim at enhancing data quality, improving operational efficiency, and creating a foundation for successful digital transformations. CMDM principles are applied to technology that improves omnichannel and digital capabilities, automated activities in contact centers, and advanced analytics capabilities.

CMDM, coupled with AI-driven tools like predictive analytics, becomes a driver of proactive customer engagement. CMDM ensures that organizations have a holistic understanding of customer behavior, enabling them to resolve issues before customers are even aware of them. This proactive approach not only enhances customer satisfaction but also contributes to workforce optimization through automated coaching.

The journey toward successful customer care transformation begins with CMDM as a foundational element. Setting out the vision for the customer care organization involves capturing what excellence looks like in the context of data-driven operations. CMDM ensures that this vision is grounded in accurate and comprehensive customer data.

In conducting a rapid but thorough due diligence-style assessment, CMDM needs to take center stage. There needs to be an examination of people, processes, and capabilities that involves evaluating the data infrastructure through the lens of CMDM principles. This assessment identifies not just incremental changes but envisions a large-scale transformation of the customer relationship enabled by CMDM.

Whether following a traditional design approach or an interactive and agile design, test, and iterate methodology, CMDM is integral to transformation programs. The option of centralized CMDM ensures that customer data is a consistent thread throughout the transformation journey. CMDM can provide the foundation for successful customer care initiatives, be it comprehensive planning or quick solution iterations.

Successful customer care transformation relies on CMDM guiding the integration of technologies and analytical approaches. CMDM principles ensure that technology, including natural language processing (NLP) and AI, is aligned with the overarching goal of leveraging customer data. CMDM facilitates the deployment of advanced analytics, driving successful outcomes in customer care.

Customer care is at the convergence zone of the perfect storm and CMDM solutions emerge as a beacon of strategic guidance. CMDM ensures that customer data is not just a tool for operational efficiency but a catalyst for loyalty-building, revenue generation, and personalized customer experiences. A CMDM-integrated roadmap provides a comprehensive guide for organizations seeking not only to weather the storm but to leverage it as an opportunity for transformative success in customer care.

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Direct to Consumer and the Customer Master Data Record

assorted color leather bag display inside room

Manufacturers have traditionally relied on mail-in warranty card registrations to capture customer data and track product warranties. However, this process is becoming increasingly outdated and inefficient in today’s digital age. According to McKinsey “Direct-to-consumer (D2C) e-commerce currently presents the best opportunity for innovative brands to build direct relationships with their customers. “[1]

To modernize operations and engage directly with customers, manufacturers can consider several more modern approaches. The first of these is to leverage a customer master data management system (CMDM) and engage in direct-to-consumer (D2C) sales. By doing so, manufacturers can enjoy the benefits that D2C retailers have traditionally enjoyed, while also improving the customer experience and increasing customer loyalty. In fact according to Invespcro, 55% of consumers say they would rather buy D2C than through an intermediary brand.

D2C sales allow manufacturers to bypass traditional retail channels and sell their products directly to consumers. This results in increased revenue opportunities improve margins and represent better control over the customer experience. D2C allows manufacturers to capture customer data directly, rather than relying on third-party retailers to collect and share customer data.

To support D2C sales and capture customer data, manufacturers can leverage a CMDM system as the customer data collation point. This approach in the tech stack allows them to consolidate customer data from multiple sources, such as website registrations, social media interactions, and transaction data, into a single database. By having a complete view of the customer, manufacturers can then better understand the customers’ needs and preferences and personalize their marketing and sales efforts accordingly.

By engaging in D2C sales and leveraging a CMDM system, manufacturers can also change the dynamic between themselves and the customer. Manufacturers can then establish a direct relationship with the customer, rather than relying on third-party retailers to act as intermediaries. This supports better customer experience and has the potential to build stronger customer loyalty.

One benefit of D2C sales and CMDM systems is the ability to personalize marketing and sales efforts. With a complete view of the customer, manufacturers can tailor their messaging and promotions to individual customers based on their preferences and behavior. This can lead to higher conversion rates, increased customer loyalty, and higher lifetime customer value.

Another benefit of this approach is the ability to capture customer feedback and use it to improve products and services. With direct access to customer data, manufacturers can gain valuable insights into customer needs and pain points. This can inform product development and lead to better products that meet customer needs more effectively.

Additionally, D2C sales and CMDM systems can result in improved supply chain efficiency. By selling directly to customers, manufacturers can more accurately forecast demand and adjust their production accordingly. This can lead to less inventory waste and a more efficient supply chain overall.

Manufacturers can modernize their operations and improve the customer experience by engaging in D2C sales and leveraging a CMDM system. By doing so, they capture customer data directly, personalize marketing and sales efforts, capture customer feedback, and improve supply chain efficiency. By establishing a direct relationship with the customer, manufacturers can build stronger customer loyalty and drive long-term success.

To learn about how the Pretectum CMDM might fit in your D2C strategy contact us to learn more.