From a guessing game to true personalisation: Empowerment Tech will empower businesses to understand what really matters
Personalisation is like active listening - are business really listening to their customers, or are they just waiting to speak?
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Thanks for coming back to Customer Futures. Each week I unpack the disruptive shifts around digital wallets, Personal AI and digital customer relationships.
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When: 5-7pm, Thursday 8th February 2024
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From a guessing game to true personalisation: Empowerment Tech will empower businesses to understand what really matters
In the last post I wrote about the idea of Mass Customisation.
Where businesses customise goods (e.g. raw coffee beans) to create products (packets of ground coffee). And how they can then offer services (cups of fresh coffee) and stage great experiences (Starbucks).
I wrote about how weâll soon do the next logical thing. Customising experiences for each customer individually.
To create âPersonal Momentsâ.
Today I want to look at how companies differentiate. Why personalisation goes so wrong. And how Empowerment Tech will soon help businesses understand what really matters.
I think itâs quite simple.
Personalisation goes wrong when businesses donât understand the customer. They donât understand the why or when or who or what of the customer.
Itâs why you get sent a âtargetedâ advert for a car, but the business doesnât know you just joined a car club.
Itâs why you are recommended a book on Amazon based on your shopping history. But that they donât know you actually hate the genre. Your previous purchase was for a friendâs birthday.
Logically then, the opportunity is to help organisations better understand their customers.
Thatâs easy, right? Drop another cookie. Collect some more personal data. Stick it in another database and run some AI magicâŚ?
Itâs hard. Certainly at Internet Scale. Businesses end up being either:
Creepy - With massive centralised databases of customer personal information, often managed by large Web2 companies and data brokers. An attempt to build a 360-degree view of the customer. All exposed to the hourly risk of a data breach; OR
Clumsy - Companies just guessing. Grouping customers who are similar enough to cluster, but different enough to get their own âdemographic segmentâ. Sophisticated Sushi Lovers. Vulnerable Volvo Drivers. Excitable Diabetics. Itâs all made up of course, and why online advertising peaks at 3-4% click-through.
Neither option is working. We all know that.
Both ends of the spectrum - creepy and clumsy - are the result of industrialised data thinking.
A hangover from the last 100 years of business machinery and efficiency. Standardising processes. Standardised service models. Standardised targeting and customer experiences.
Not for nothing, but this customer standardisation is killing innovation.
Hello... is it me youâre looking for?
So how can businesses truly understand the customer? To differentiate in todayâs increasingly bland digital marketplace?
We can find the answer in my last post. By looking more closely at Mass Customisation.
With products, businesses compete on price. With services, they compete on quality. And with experiences, Joe Pine - the man behind the idea of Mass Customisation - believes that itâs about being authentic.
Before we jump into personalisation, letâs quickly look at what being authentic means.
Joe Pine argues there are two types of authenticity:
Doing what you say you will - or being true to others
Being consistent about who you are - or being true to yourself
You can create a simple map to show if a business is being authentic. Hereâs how this plays out:
TOP LEFT: Itâs kind of authentic, but thereâs something missing. They do what they promise⌠but they really arenât truly being themselves. Itâs a âFake Realâ.
Example: itâs like being served by the Fast Food Burger Guy. Yes, he gives you a burger. But he doesnât really care. Did he wash his hands today? The âhave a nice dayâ feels empty.
BOTTOM RIGHT: Itâs the opposite. An authentic experience, but a manufactured one. Everyone knows itâs a show. But thatâs OK because itâs heartfelt. Itâs a âReal Fakeâ.
Example: itâs like going to Disneyland. Every little detail is designed for magic and family entertainment. But youâre not really in the Magic Kingdom.
BOTTOM LEFT: Itâs a completely fake experience. It smells of deceit and shiftiness. Itâs a âFake Fakeâ.
Example: itâs like being targeted by an online phishing scam. Itâs not really an official from the bank getting in touch with you. And there is no immediate payment needed. You will never see your money again.
TOP RIGHT: This is the ideal state. Itâs an authentically ârealâ experience. The company is completely true to themselves. And they do what they say they will. Itâs a âReal Realâ.
Example: itâs like going to a traditional Italian family restaurant. They take a very real pride in serving you. Discussing the freshness of the ingredients. They insist that you sample their home-made tiramisu, and give you a limoncello on the house. Just because.
Getting to know the real you
So this helps us understand how to differentiate with experiences. Joeâs idea of being authentic.
We can use this same approach to unpick personalisation. Youâll remember from the last post that personalisation is about customising experiences.
Of creating Personal Moments.
Well if businesses can differentiate customer experiences by being authentic⌠then they can differentiate customer moments by making them Personal.
And that means deeply understanding customer context.
There are two parts to that. The business needs to understand:
Who I am⌠right now
What matters to me⌠right now
On the first, this is related to identity. But I donât mean specifically WHO I am. Rather, businesses need to understand my persona. Who I want to be seen as, at that particular moment.
Because my identity - my persona - changes over time. At some times of day Iâm a parent, at other times Iâm a sports fan. Sometimes Iâm an employee and at other times a shopper.
On the second, about what matters to me, this is about understanding my needs and wants⌠and at that particular moment.
Again, this doesnât mean static âpreferencesâ. It means what I want or need right now. Am I looking for advice and help? Am I in a rush? Am I shopping or just browsing? Or do I just want to be left alone to watch the match?
We can use the same picture to map out customer context:
Here are some examples:
TOP LEFT: When the organisation asks me who I am, but then guesses what matters right now: Itâs Facebook (and other âsocial commerceâ).
Them: âPlease sign in and let us know exactly who you are.â
Me: âHi, itâs me again.â
Them: âHey! Weâve been following your activities online (and in some places offline too), and what your friends have been saying recently, and we thought you might be interested in this Car. And an âIce Watchâ. And a âDream holiday in Northern Europeâ.
BOTTOM RIGHT: Itâs the opposite. When they donât know who I really am, but have some sense of what I want: Itâs Booking.com
Them: âHi, what are you looking for today.â
Me: âHereâs some basic information about what I need.â
Them: âGreat! Hereâs a list of things you might be interested in, but because we donât really know who you are (and canât verify any of the stuff you just told us) youâll have to navigate all the options, and weâll then have to pass you over to the providers directly⌠(and get paid for the referral)â
BOTTOM LEFT: When they donât know who I am and then completely guess what I want: itâs Spam.
Them: âWould you like to buy this car?â
Me: âHow did you get this address? Please delete me from your database.â
Them (8 minutes later): âWould you like to buy this car? Or this one? Or this one?â
TOP RIGHT: This is the Personal Moments opportunity. To understand just enough customer context - who I am right now, and what I want right now - to make it personal, relevant and valuable.
Itâs a passengerâs Travel Pass. I gave this example in the last post. Enabling passengers to use a portable digital ID wallet to interact with different organisations, and share personal data under their control. In a Travel Pass, not only can the customer connect their digital wallet with the airport and airline, but they can do so many other different providers. From the travel agent and taxi company to the tour guide and restaurant.
This idea is already being trialled by major airlines and travel agents. And will soon be piloted as part of the EUâs digital ID wallet program.
Them: âHi, how can I help you?â
Me: âIâm looking to prepare for my trip later todayâ
Them: âAh, great. We can see you are travelling from London to Frankfurt. However the flight is looking delayed. Would you like us to automatically inform your hotel, the taxi company collecting you and your restaurant booking?â
Me: âYes please. Also check if I can receive compensation for the delay.â
Listen up folks
Digital wallets. Verifiable Credentials. Personal AI.
All new digital tools in the hands of the customer. And part of the emerging $billion market for âEmpowerment Techâ.
It started as a public discussion about digital ID, wallets and credentials. But it will soon give way to new wave of digital transformation. Powered by the customer themselves, and Personal AI.
Where businesses will be able to better understand their customers. And not in a creepy or centralised way. But because customers will finally be able to share their own digital context.
About who they are⌠right now. And about what matters⌠right now.
Empowerment Tech wonât just be about customer empowerment. About data portability, privacy and security.
It will also be about empowering businesses. Creating new, disruptive digital relationships. Where companies can build lasting and powerful digital connections with their customers.
And where they can actually start listening to, not just talking over, their customers.
Today personalisation is a bit like the idea of âactive listeningâ. Are businesses really listening to their customers? Or are they just waiting to speak?
The companies that donât understand who the customer is, or what they need, will be left behind.
They certainly wonât be able to fake it. By adding so-called âsmart customer engagement channelsâ⌠but then just spraying out offers to customers over email and SMS.
The age of the guessing game will be over soon. Itâs time for businesses stop being tone deaf.
Empowerment Tech will help businesses understand what really matters to customers.
And help them to start listening.
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