Leveraging Customer Data Platforms (CDPs)

When minds from financial services convened to discuss Connected Experiences over High tea….and ended with a Sundowner at the Connected Experiences Series’ – A Resulticks and Google Cloud Forum that brings together digital business leaders to discuss different facets of customer engagement, CX and digital led growth 

This time the roundtable brought together some of the brightest minds in the Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance sectors from Mumbai to unravel varied aspects of Leveraging Customer Data Platforms (CDPs) for Seamless Connected Customer Experiences in BFSI. 

It was an absolute banger from start to finish captively moderated by Arjun Viswanathan, who catalyzed key insights from the panelists. 

Profound thanks to Geetanjali Chugh, Anand Sharma, Panuwan, Varsha, Siddhartha DasGupta, Kunal Sakaria, Gauresh Rajadyaksha, Jephrin, Prasad Pimple, Anant Gupta, Dinesh Menon 

Special thanks to Sunil Mathur from HDFCBank for sharing his thoughts and experiences with us as their longstanding partner; the path they have traveled thus far in the quest for the holy grail of true customer 360 and how the Bank has been at it to stitch fragmented customer journeys for enabling a seamless engagement - a testimony to the HDFC – Resulticks partnership and its achievement and relentless resilience through the years with the Resulticks CDP or CIH as it is known more popularly within HDFC Bank. 

The panel dived deep into BFSI industry trends – from brick-and-mortar legacy days to generative AI, creating a rich data lake of use cases, case studies, and future forecasts, the ripples of which are yet to subside. 

Key takeaways: 

Navigating the Data Deluge Challenge: Unanimous views around the table - What data to use when and for what keeps the grey cells of data scientists, BI and business /marketing teams well-oiled at all times. While the jury is still out on whether a data lake or CDP is the answer to address this challenge, a CDP is seen as most capable for powering marketing led use cases – be it for engaging effectively with existing or prospective customers. 

True Single View of the Customer: In the world of hyper-personalization, panelists agreed this is an inevitable to improve ROMI. Challenge continues to be building relevant customer intelligence progressively. 

AI & Data: With its increasing prowess, organizations are figuring out the best ways to utilize such technologies. Given its immense potential, it was interesting to note this being one element that keeps marketers and business leaders awake at night. 

Importance of Governance: Governance and processes continue to be critical in activities like lending to avoid errors and at the same time, to infuse agility in bettering customer experiences. 

Connecting Small Data: Small data is big! Imperative for business stakeholders to push for this to keep producing market-relevant solutions. 

The right business Vision for the right tech stack: Tech as a powerful enabler only as good as clarity of one’s vision of end goals to avoid pitfalls of a cluttered tech stack and all the cost and operational complexities that come with it. 

Share of Wallet: CDP core to understanding usage patterns, channel preferences, and other behavioral metrics to extract relevant insights to improve product density. 

CDP Integration: Customer Data Platforms should be integral to the overall business, not just a marketing tool. 

On the horizon for the next 12 months - Insights that need to be unraveled. 

Credit Assessment Beyond Norms: The lending business needs solutions to assess creditworthiness beyond traditional criteria and methods to expand the market. 

Smarter Underwriting: Lending and credit cards require smarter underwriting and efficient marketing spending by factoring surrogate indicators. 

Quality Customer Acquisition: Acquiring higher-quality customers is crucial and how data and tech can enable this 

Cross-Sell through Data: Holistic data capture is essential to unify multiple business units for cross-selling cost-effectively. 

Faster Customer Acquisition: In lending, speedier customer acquisition and better underwriting can be game changers.   

Mini CDPs: Most panelists agreed that islands of customer information that exist as Mini CDPs need to eventually evolve into a master CDP for holistic and richer customer intelligence.  

The AI Revolution 

The future is indeed here - imagine one where websites turn into search bars, Generative AI provides instant answers, and humanoids replace call centre agents. Data is now a product to be used without prejudices and tech organisations such as Google Cloud is central to organizing it efficiently. 

The Future of CX 

The past defined CX through human interaction, but the future promises the same and more with AI, ML, and next-gen innovations.