Have you ever come across the phrase: “Conversation-Based Customer Decision Intelligence”? It’s a new solution for integrating powerful, actionable customer data into every part of your business.
This technology didn’t exist until very recently, but some heavy-hitting industry titans are already discovering it to be the solution to problems they didn’t know they had.
So what exactly is it?
What is Conversation-Based Customer Decision Analytics, and Why Should You Care?
It might sound complicated, but we can break it down into 3 main parts:
[Conversation-Based] [Customer Decision] [Intelligence]:
- A cutting-edge conversational AI (Conversation-Based)
- Measuring customer decisions (Customer Decision)
- Data systems, data visualization tools like dashboards, etc. (Intelligence)
Oh, and it all comes with Infinite Scalability. We didn’t have room for that in the name, but it’s important enough to be considered part 4.
First, we’ll talk about the Customer Decision part (not in numerical order, but for the purposes of explanation, it makes more sense).
This may remind you of the other metrics and methodologies you already use to measure how customers perceive your products, services, branding, etc. But there’s one key difference that sets it apart: it works by measuring the customer decision itself.
Why Measure the Customer Decision?
Good question. The answer starts with empathy. Everyone knows that empathy is key to truly great customer experiences. The problem is we don’t always know how best to use it.
The fact is, many of the most popular metrics we all know and love can’t necessarily predict the value and success of a company precisely because they don’t take empathy into consideration when building out their methodologies.
Until recently, there wasn’t a single methodology that actually measured customer decisions (why they buy), instead of emotions (how they feel).
We believe (and have the studies to prove) that the customer decision – the exact moment someone decides it’s worth it to give you their money – is the closest indicator of company value.
Not only that, it can be predictive of both repurchase and churn when done right.
We boiled the customer decision-making process down to a science, and even gave it a name: The Customer Decision Loop, which you can read all about here.
It’s a 4-step loop that accounts for almost any buying situation you can think of, and it was a huge part of the way we designed our technology.
Speaking of which, let’s dive right into the next key component; Conversational AI technology.
How Conversation-Based Technology Creates Customer Empathy
Evaluating customer sentiment can be like trying to talk to someone through one-way glass — interrogative, disembodied and impersonal.
But with modern conversational AI (specifically NLP’s), the language and sentiments expressed by customers in a short time change dramatically.
Why is that? For one, conversations are a powerful tool for altering not just our own neurochemistry, but the neurochemistry of others.
An AI that simulates conversation creates a very different mental state than a written test, for instance.
The problem with most traditional market research is conducted in long questionnaires that can only remind you of school tests.
But guess what? These unwieldy “tests” can cause a stress response – in other words, the emission of cortisol – just by their appearance. Most people’s associations with tests are negative, some intensely so.
So unless someone is grading it, it’s getting discarded.
Long test = Cortisol = Negative Feelings
Negative Feelings + Your Company Name Here = Negative Associations + Losing Money
But don’t take it from us, take it from Psychology Today’s piece on The Neuroscience of Conversations (we’ll summarize, but you might want to check it out before reading on).
Conversations are powerful neurological tools that can shape perceptions, emotions and yes, purchase decisions, in real-time.
The key is to have the right conversation at the right time, building trust and creating a positive neurological response. Oxytocin, the so-called “trust drug”, is what you want.
Point of fact: people think better when they feel like they’re in a trusting, open environment. Would you rather a customer try to tell you their problems in a closed-minded Level 1 Transactional Conversation (simple exchange of information) or an open, trusting Level 3 Transformational Conversation (creative sharing and discovering)?
Oxytocin + Your Company Name Here = Positive Associations. You only get this from Level 3 conversations, so why settle for less?
Salespeople know all of this, whether by training or sheer experience – conversations are their thing. But that’s on a one-to-one basis. What if you had the capacity to use those same conversational tactics with your entire market?
What if we told you there was a way to have meaningful conversational experiences with every single person in your customer universe?
How Can Empathetic Conversations Scale Infinitely?
And this is where we revisit infinite scalability. Basically, an unlimited number of customers can “talk” to the AI, no matter their language, country, or culture. In short, there’s no such thing as too much data.
Combined with conversational AI, this gives customers just the right channel to offer up micro-experiences and details that standard market research would miss.
We sense an objection coming on. “Infinite micro-details sounds great on paper, but how do we extract the best stuff?”
Intelligence – Taming Unmanageable Data
Even sums nowhere approaching infinity are nearly impossible for the unassisted human mind to grasp. The number of stimuli that our brains can pay attention to at any given time caps at about 50 bits per second (roughly a single short sentence). We just don’t have the bandwidth to handle much more.
It takes digestible data visualization, accessible tools, and a common-sense approach to language to funnel the best parts of that data straight to your brain. This is where all that feedback goes from data to real-life and turns into the focused action that will reshape how you do business.
And those micro-details we talked about? You don’t actually need to know all of them. The AI picks out the high-impact ones automatically, so you can spend less time finding your problem and more time fixing it.
So let’s do the math:
Measuring Customer Decisions + Empathetic Conversational AI + Infinite Scalability + Streamlined Intelligence = Profit
How Can Conversation-Based Customer Decision Intelligence Help You Lead Through Empathy?
While this technology can do some amazing things, it may not be the solution for everyone. Here are a few questions to ask yourself to see if it’s right for you:
- Are you a large organization spanning multiple locations/regions/cultures?
- Does that size slow you down when responding to abrupt market shifts and disruptions?
- Do you need to be faster to hear customer’s concerns and act before they become a problem?
- Are you a high-touch business with many moments where experiences can go wrong?
- Have you got multiple data sources that are difficult or impossible to draw actionable insight from?
- Do you need a way to see all that information in one place and quickly make high-level strategic decisions?
If you answered yes to some or all of the above, then Conversation-Based Customer Decision Intelligence might be your solution.
It’s scalable, intelligent, and pushing the boundaries of research innovation in ways most of the market hasn’t imagined yet.
