Smart Response - a Smart Way to use Text Analytics to Improve Customer Experience

Companies need to analyze customer experience feedback 3 different ways:

1) "What are the 10 things my most profitable customers are most upset about THIS MONTH?" - Answering this question requires the ability to mine through all customer feedback, segment the data by business-definable dimensions like time and profitability, and establish an easy to view "dashboard" that quickly distills the answer from millions of pieces of text-based information to a concise answer to the question.

2) "What's new with my customers TODAY?" - Answering this question requires near real-time analysis of incoming customer feedback to see what's spiking over normal levels of feedback, so that an operational manager can quickly respond to a adverse event, service problem, or other customer experience issue that's quickly developed, to avoid the issue growing into a full-fledged problem.

3) "What should I do for the customer who just complained to me about a bad experience RIGHT NOW?" Unlike the first two examples - which involve analyzing customers in aggregate or by segments or groupings, this last type of analysis is about smart determination of an individual customer's issue, and smart response to that customer in real-time. If a customer had a bad experience, and took the time to complain - smart response is about using text mining to quickly ascertain, and adjudicate the customer experience with a suggested resolution that can be communicated directly back to the customer.

The first two categories depend on text mining large volumes of customer feedback. The last category depends on the ability to use text analytics in real-time. We announced Clarabridge SmartResponse (tm) http://www.clarabridge.com/default.aspx?tabid=136&PressReleaseID=609 as a response to our client demands for the ability to harvest and analyze feedback in real time as well as respond to individual customer communications.

Our clients have been using our Content Mining Platform to answer the first two types of questions for a while now - they've recognized that it's important to keep tabs on their customers' experiences, needs, and suggestions, and realize that ongoing analysis of trends, problems and suggestions can lead to better decisions, better product offerings, and better experiences - all of which lead to happier, more loyal, more profitable customers:

• Hotels learn what products and amenities customers want, and conversely what they can cut.
• Airlines can track the preferences and needs of most valuable travelers.
• Retailers can evaluate the response to new product lines, and track feedback on product quality, safety, and passion.

Smart Response solves an entirely different type of customer challenge. If your customer is tweeting about a bad experience, you want to respond to them immediately. If they send you an email or fill out a survey to describe a particularly bad flight experience, or stay at a hotel, or treatment at a store, you want to quickly assess the problem, determine the best possible response, and communicate back to the customer with thanks for the feedback, a sincere apology, and if warranted an offer of compensation for their troubles. Smart response is about real-time mining of feedback, real-time assessment of the problem, and real-time determination of possible responses for the customer.

Customers want not just to be heard, but to be addressed. Smart Response truly closes the customer experience loop with the customer.