Building the technology platform to re-imagine customer experience (CX)
In the previous post we discussed what is customer experience (CX) transformation, the business value and some use cases with the highest return of investment.
Here we will discuss the technology perspective to execute the CX transformation strategy.
Think platforms and not disconnected experiments
Let’s start by discussing the fundamental building blocks for a CX transformation platform. The goal is to think through a end-state where there will be multiple CX related use cases running on a technology stack. Hence it is important to apply a “product platform mindset” — which essentially means organization of technology around end-user facing use cases — a.k.a products, which facilitate end-user and developer experiences enabled through an underlying platform.
I am not suggesting build the entire platform before implementing any use cases, all we need to do is to ensure we keep the end-state in mind and with every iteration we build the necessary components of this stack so that next set of experiments have a faster time-to-market driven by the reusability of the platform components.
Work backwards from a priority goal and pick the right use case
As we discussed in the CX transformation business use cases, following is a list of potential use cases to choose from. Pick a starting point without boiling the ocean.
One framework that Amazon has used successfully over the years to turbo charge innovation is called the flywheel. Following is an example of this flywheel effect for CX transformation. Pick use cases that drive new experience and services, better experience drives customer value and hence more interactions. Use the data generated from these interactions to determine the outcome of experiments and prioritize the next use case. Once this flywheel rotates a few times, the customer support function transforms into a customer success story, moving support from a cost center to a net revenue driver.
Pick a technology platform with broad capabilities
Focus on choosing a technology platform for maximum flexibility around cost and experimentation. We will leverage cloud as it provides the fastest and cheapest path to getting started. I am using Amazon Web Services (AWS) for highlighting specific technology, however everything listed below can be achieved through other cloud platforms like Azure and GCP.
Let’s now articulate the key technology capabilities we will need to support all of our CX related use cases
Use Case Category 1 — Customer Success
Key features we want to build include Single Pane of Glass, Guided success tracks, continuous experience assessment, propensity modeling, and personalization engine.
AWS Services one can leverage: Amazon Personalize, Alexa for Business, Amazon SageMaker, Amazon QuickSight, Amazon PinPoint
Use Case Category 2— Friction-less experiences
Key features we want build include Intelligent IVR, Intelligent routing, Self help guides, bots, and AI-led automated ticket resolution.
AWS Services one can leverage: Amazon SageMaker, Amazon Connect, Amazon BedRock, Amazon Q
Use Case Category 3— Deep Insights
Key features we want to build include product telemetry data lake, install base analysis, customer lifetime value, social listening, VOC, and sentiment analysis.
AWS Services one can leverage: AWS IoT, Amazon Comprehend, Amazon Data Lake, Amazon SageMaker, Amazon QuickSight, Amazon BedRock, Amazon Q
Use Case Category 4 — Cloud native journey enablement for all CX programs
Key capabilities we want to build include application architecture modernization, automation of app development operating model, hosting and tenancy model innovation, automation of infrastructure operating model, and end to end security strategy.
AWS Services one can leverage: App Modernization, Amazon Macie, Amazon Fraud Detector, Amazon Q, Amazon BedRock
Above mentioned are a few of the potential capabilities, as we can see picking a flexible and broad platform really helps us build holistic capabilities as we rotate the flywheel over a period of time.
Next Step
So far we have discussed how we can go about building a platform and product mindset and choose the right technology to start our CX transformation. In next article, we will focus on some of the key generative AI use cases in the CX space and discuss how we can build a holistic program plan to introduce GenAI across the space.
The key in customer experience transformation is to ensure we automate all operational steps which do not need emotional intelligence, this enables to redirect the human capital towards moments which need the actual human touch.
The role of technology in CX transformation is not about eliminating human agents, it is about liberating them from mundane tasks and empowering them to create delightful moments for customers across the journey at all touch-points.
