PegaWorld, the annual user conference in Las Vegas, attracts several thousand participants each year. Also the warm-up for PegaWorld, the 'Customer Engagement Summit Amsterdam' was well attended with over 750 participants. Pega, like many other software suppliers, does not dwell too long on the phenomenon of 'digital transformation'. The message is practical: solutions from Pega should help companies 'making decisions and getting work done'.

An unusual, but significant example of this is AFC Ajax. The top team of 22 players is surrounded by a large group of experts: trainers, coaches, medical and technical analysts who help prepare and evaluate matches and training. In order for the team to perform as well as possible, a great deal of information is collected and made available. “Five minutes after the match, each player has his own playing time on his iPhone,” says Max Reckers, Performance Technology Consultant at AFC Ajax.

The video material is extensively provided with metadata, so that the performance of players can be compared with each other. Data from matches is converted into simulation videos where players can view the match from their own perspective with VR goggles. In addition, players wear clothing with sensors during training, whereby the use of force and peak power is monitored, and nutrition, sleep and well-being are also monitored. Using data to make decisions and evaluate decisions taken: a football team is (also) a company.

Bring in the digital hero

“A very friendly person – I think it was a person – helped me.” We will be hearing that more often in the near future. Removing and preventing irritations works better if you focus on outcomes instead of output. In other words: change processes in such a way that more value is created for customers and employees.

Customers and employees are still encountering obstacles. Employees suffer from incomplete or slow customer information, switching screens, copying data during data entry. Consumers expect more and more transparency, for example about the use of data or the use of a chatbot. They also expect a suitable and relevant offer, something Rob Walker opted for PegaWorld will go into further detail: does the product – also in terms of responsibility – suit the customer?

Jeff Nicholson, Vice President of CRM Product Marketing, Pegasystems, therefore argues for recognition of the digital hero: someone who, based on empathy, is able to build bridges between people and technology. Digital heroes are not afraid to make mistakes, like to work together, are flexible and agile and think in terms of solutions. That brings Nicholson to the most common mistakes in projects labeled digital transformation: thinking in channels instead of journeys, thinking in tasks rather than outcomes, and working in silos rather than end-to-end chains.

“We are an IT company with a banking license”

Naturally, various Pega customers also had their say at this mini-summit: ING, VodafoneZiggo and Achmea. ING, with 38 million customers worldwide, has every interest - with the hot breath of fintechs and big tech - in simplifying processes and making them frictionless. In the background, the bank is working hard to harmonize key processes worldwide; In addition, ING wants to get everything out of data. Together with Pega, for example, it has been realized that applying for a consumer credit online can be arranged within a few minutes: from application to the money in your account.

Next best action

The merger between telecom company Vodafone Netherlands and cable company Ziggo (in 2014 merged with UPC) is already two years behind us. The synergy of that merger does not come naturally. The aim is to get consumers to opt for combination packages (internet, fixed/mobile calls, TV) as much as possible, because the competition does the same. It is therefore understandable that Vodafone Ziggo invests a lot in personalized outbound marketing. What do you send to which customer, when and through which channel? What is relevant and meaningful?

VodafoneZiggo uses Pega's solutions to make data-driven choices that add value. The platform, which has been given the name Guru within the organization, learns from the results; the contact center is the starting point. In the fall of 2018, two pilots were started at partners Teleperformance and Conduent, aimed at presenting a maximum of three next best action (NBA) suggestions. The results were good: in 40 percent of cases an NBA is picked up by the agent, which then leads to a deal in 35 percent of the cases. Agent sees a number of up to three NBAs on his screen. The success factors according to Nicole Verburg, Director Customer Value Management, VodafoneZiggo: actively involve your contact center employees in outbound marketing, arrange for a sponsor in the boardroom and invest in internal branding of the programme.

Hyperpersonalization

Centraal Beheer, Achmea's top brand with 10 million customers and 14.000 employees, faces a similar challenge to VodafoneZiggo: how do we become more relevant to the customer? At the moment, the emphasis is still on applications such as personalizing a travel insurance check or introducing usage-based car insurance whereby driving behavior (monitored via a dongle) can lead to premium discounts. But in 2030, Centraal Beheer wants to be the personal assistant for all 'important life events' of the customer, says Jeroen Dijkstra, Omnichannel Personalization Manager.

Centraal Beheer has been working with Pega on the implementation of hyper personalization since 2015. The insurer does this in small steps and based on 'use cases': practical sub-applications that provide immediate added value. For example, adjustments to the online application for car insurance (using the next best offer approach to provide the customer with options) have led to a conversion increase of 27 percent, explains Rita van Tilbeurgh, Personalization Marketer. So seducing the customer in a smart way helps.

Next best action has also been deployed with the contact center agents, who take action in response to customer cancellation plans. 41 percent of customers respond to the request to call. Based on a complete customer view, Pega's NBA solution comes up with a relevant retention offer. 85 percent of customers who call are kept on board with a suitable offer. Two pieces of advice from Dijkstra and Van Tilbeurgh: use use cases to fill in the personalization roadmap, start NOT ALLOWED at the showcases of software providers. And organize personalization workshops for the business, which does not always know what you can do with data.

Text and image: Erik Bouwer

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