Gartner Customer 360 Summit Day Two: A 'Nexus of Customer-Driven Forces' Is Shaping the Digital Future

Technology manufacturing companies that typically deal with consumers only through retailers will have a chance to connect with them directly through the technology they provide. Refrigerator manufacturers with digital interfaces, for example, will be able to provide upgrades or other offers to consumers right on the appliance.

As consumers become more wary of superficial personalization, however, enterprises will have to make an effort to personalize in more meaningful ways, using context and customer history as part of their personalization process. "Enterprises will also have to measure intent and rely on tools like sentiment analytics to gain a deeper understanding of their customers," LeHong said.

Even transactions and payments will be more personalized, LeHong said, and eventually become "entire experiences of their own." Personalized coupons, offers, and rewards are experience differentiators, LeHong explained, so enterprises have to "design those experiences," just as much as they design others.

Though customers expect heavy personalization, enterprises should be careful about the data they collect to deliver the highly personalized experiences. "Privacy can be bought, trust must be earned, and security will be expected at all times," he said.

Loyalty programs will also have to evolve to meet the changing demands of consumers, shifting from a transaction reward model to an engagement reward model, LeHong told attendees. "The way it's set up now," he explained, "consumers have to fly a certain number of miles to get rewards points from an airline. But why shouldn't an airline give a customer a couple of points just for checking fare rates on their Web site? That'll be the future," he said.

Finally, social interactions will continue to gain importance, LeHong concluded, echoing the sentiment of other analysts at the Summit. Social has become the preferred way for consumers to interact with companies, analyst Jenny Sussin pointed out—63 percent of consumers, for example, think that companies should offer customer support though social, 55 percent expect it, and more than 30 percent prefer it to calling, she said.

As a result, LeHong maintained, enterprises need to be aware of their social graph and make deliberate decisions about social media communication, propagating positive feedback and preventing the propagation of negative communications. It's also important to keep in mind that the voices of customers will never be equal. "The level of influence matters," he said, encouraging companies to keep major influencers at top of mind.

With social media playing such a starring role in customer engagement, Sussin told attendees to be aware of their social needs before they commit to certain technology vendors. According to Sussin, there are five main types of technologies supporting social customer service: external community software, internal community software, social media engagement applications, social analytics applications, and contact enrichment apps.

The most investment, however, is in the area of social media engagement. "Every vendor is going to tell you they can do this," she said, "and that's not necessarily false, but it's not entirely true either." Rather, every organization's social media needs are idiosyncratic and depend entirely on that organization. "That's why companies have know exactly what they need before they commit to a technology," she said.

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