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Enhancing the Customer Experience Through CDI

Although organizations proclaim the customer - whether client, citizen, patient, etc. - comes first, management generally concentrates on the bottom line. The emphasis on customer and the subsequent customer experience exists as a direct result of the maxim that the customer drives profit. The difference is that while the former may close the sale, the latter may create customer loyalty, which translates into additional sales (opportunities) and higher margins. Although there may be many differentiating factors between both approaches, the management of an organization's data and how it utilizes and organizes that data affects the customer's experience. Customer data integration (CDI) can achieve a positive customer relationship and, more importantly, enhance the customer experience.

The Importance of Data Management from the Customer Perspective

Organizations drive the customer experience through the management of data. Whether customers speak to a live representative or contact the organization through a self-service model, e.g., IVR or Internet portal, the management of their data should seem transparent in terms of accessing the required data for each interaction. As organizations expand and collect data from customer care, billing, receiving and shipping, each department accumulates a wealth of information that remains within the department or interfaces through a variety of processes. From the customer's perspective, this may only be noticeable because they receive calls or mailings from various client management groups or multiple marketing campaigns.

Alternatively, when customers contact the organization to inquire about shipments, services, account information or to make an advanced payment, their complete profile cannot be accessed because bits and pieces of the data exist in silos across the organization. Additionally, customers may be asked to enter information via their touch-tone phone and then asked to repeat that information once transferred to a live representative, negatively impacting the customer experience. Slow, inaccurate or incomplete responses cause customer dissatisfaction and lack of faith in the company. Similarly, end users within the organization have to spend additional time searching for the information they need, taking them away from their main duties.

The management of customer-related data provides the foundation for a positive customer experience. The concepts of master data management (MDM), enterprise information management (EIM) and CDI are all interrelated and work to create one view of organizational data by standardizing data definitions, data relationships and leveraging the data to represent the needs of the organization. CDI involves identifying the information needed, how it interrelates, how to standardize that data and how end users should view the data to enable them do their job better. With CDI implemented properly, customer related data is organized and linked to specific job functions to create a complete view of the customer.

How CDI Hubs Can be Used to Enhance the Customer Experience

Customer-focused organizations can leverage CDI hubs to increase customer satisfaction by enhancing the customer experience. CDI hubs pull customer data from across the organization to standardize and to create an access point to the customer through consolidation or by linking to customer data based on reference tables. Referencing customer data based on various customer views creates the impression of seamlessness from the customer perspective, which translates into a positive customer experience. Consistent customer experiences form the basis for customer satisfaction and loyalty. Aside from an enhanced customer experience, organizations are able to access the full view of the customer. Organizations can then manage the various relationships customers have to identify the best way to serve them, thereby improving the customer experience each and every time the customer comes in contact with the organization.

The use of CDI to pool data, to standardize data, to identify relationships and to deliver the required customer-related data to the appropriate point of contact with the customer creates a customer-focused environment. Proper management of data creates an organization with a more centralized view of data, but the main incentive, aside from organizational benefits, is the enhanced experience of the customer. Connecting the various relationships of a customer, such as the personal and business accounts, can help determine the importance of maintaining that relationship. When a customer is the executive of an organization that represents a major business account, providing a negative customer experience on a personal level may jeopardize both accounts.

The Difference

An organization's success related to its customer experience management initiatives is tied to the management of data. Commitment to CDI and developing an infrastructure to create a centralized view of the customer directly reflects an organization's actual commitment to the customer versus its commitment to drive profit. The difference is seen in the way data is utilized in organization-wide initiatives to manage the CDI architecture and tie it to the internal processes that drive the customer experience. Organizations which utilize CDI to provide enhanced customer service, consolidate and cleanse data to access valid customer records and plan marketing campaigns are more likely to develop loyal customers, one experience at a time.


Lyndsay Wise is an industry analyst for business intelligence. For more than seven years, she has assisted clients in business systems analysis, software selection and implementation of enterprise applications. Wise also conducts research of leading technologies, products and vendors in business intelligence, marketing performance management, master data management, and unstructured data. Check out her blog at myblog.wiseanalytics.com.

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