Analytics generates a return on investment when it helps you to persuade customers to buy more or stay longer.
There is little point in analytics knowing that a customer is likely to defect if it doesn’t also know what action needs to be taken to ensure that they stay.
When analytics identifies a potential negative outcome, it should recommend what you ought to do about it, based on what has worked in similar circumstances in the past. This way, you don’t spend too much in over-servicing the client. Exceeding expectations won’t necessarily earn you more loyalty so instead your aim should be to meet expectations – the extra spend avoided goes straight to the bottom line.
That’s what makes Cisco’s Connected Analytics for Contact Centre the real deal – it takes the guesswork out of what you should do next. 
Not all analytics are created equal
While “Best Next Action” is the obvious benchmark when considering analytics solutions, it would be a mistake to imagine that this is even close to the standard in many analytics offerings. So here’s a simple way to differentiate between the various solutions on offer:
Descriptive Analytics is analytics in its most basic form. It can process large volumes of data and tell you, with reasonable accuracy, what has happened. That’s 20-20 vision…. in hindsight!
Predictive Analytics builds on what we know has already happened and tells us what is likely to happen next. Now we know the patient is sick, but we don’t know how to treat them.
Prescriptive Analytics takes our understanding of what is likely to happen and provides us with guidance on what we should do about it. That’s a clear signal that an intervention is required and specific guidance on the most cost effective intervention that is required to achieve a positive outcome.
Clearly, with its ability to recommend Best Next Action, prescriptive analytics is the optimum approach. This is where Cisco’s Connected Analytics for Contact Centre has come into its own and is adding real value for our clients. But it is a dynamic and fast moving environment and already we’ve turned our eye to what’s coming next.
From silicon to carbon
Now that data has been de-mystified and we are more comfortable with an analytics mindset that demands clear Best Next Actions, what will be the next dimension to be added to CX Analytics?
We’ve spoken elsewhere about where Cisco’s Connected Analytics for Contact Centre starts the analytics journey. It starts in the obvious place – with the data you’ve already got. Information collected from the network, information collected in the contact centre environment, information collected about agent performance is collated and made accessible.
What’s coming next is the addition of data that is collected not from people but from things. This is what Cisco calls “The Internet of Everything” and it opens up access to increased amounts and types of data by combining customer data with data from “things” that your customers use. It will provide an amazing opportunity to create new capabilities, richer experiences, and unprecedented opportunities for contact centres. Analytics is an enormous part of that value creation and can find out more here
Let me know your thoughts on this in the comments below or by tweeting @lee_leephill or via LinkedIn – Lee Phillips.
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