Personalization in the Age of Artificial Intelligence Featuring Mark Abraham

How Personalized Customer Experiences Can Drive Business Growth  

Shep Hyken interviews Mark Abraham, Senior Partner at Boston Consulting Group and author of Personalized: Customer Strategy in the Age of AI. He talks about AI's potential to enhance personalization and the impact of tailored customer experiences on business growth.  

This episode of Amazing Business Radio with Shep Hyken answers the following questions and more:   

1. What is true personalization? 
2. How can AI enhance personalization? 
3. How does personalization contribute to customer loyalty and satisfaction? 
4. How can businesses balance personalization with customer data privacy concerns? 
5. What are some common misconceptions about personalization in customer service? 

Top Takeaways:   

• Personalization means using what you've learned about the customer from their past interactions to improve their future experiences.  

• True personalization is not just about using a customer's name or offering customized products. True personalization involves using customer data at scale to make their next experience smoother, faster, and more convenient.  

• There are some concerns among customers about data privacy and personalization. Businesses must first get the opt-in from their customers. Second, it is important to ensure personalized experiences are contextually appropriate to the customer's journey. 

• Respecting customer privacy can make or break a personalized experience. Businesses should collect first-party data (data from transactions) and zero-party data (data directly shared by customers) to create a more accurate and respectful personalization strategy.  

• Artificial Intelligence has the potential to significantly enhance personalization. It can analyze vast amounts of data to predict and suggest the next best actions for customers, recommend products or services, and tailor customer service interactions. 

• Starting with personalization doesn't have to be complicated. Start by identifying one area where personalization can have the most impact and using available tools and technologies to implement it. 

• Mark also shares The Five Promises of Personalization, a practical way to think about how you deliver great personalization. 

• Empower me: Start with the customer. How are you helping them solve problems or fulfill a need? 

• Know me: To help a customer, you need to know them. Find ways to engage the customer and collect relevant data in between. 

• Reach me: Use AI to know how to reach out to your customers and what messages are most appropriate and relevant to send them. 

• Show me: Build a content library and use content management systems and automation to deliver personalized content at scale.  

• Delight me: Make the personalized experience seem more magical. 

• Plus, Mark answers the question—Is true personalization an expensive thing to do? Tune in! 

Quote:  

"Personalization isn't just customization. Personalization is taking what you've learned about a customer in an interaction and making their next interaction better, faster, or more convenient." 

About:   

Mark Abraham is a Senior Partner at Boston Consulting Group and the founder of the company's Global Personalization business. He co-authored Personalized: Customer Strategy in the Age of AI with David C. Edelman. 

Shep Hyken is a customer service and experience expert, New York Times bestselling author, award-winning keynote speaker, and host of Amazing Business Radio.

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