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The customer interaction layer: crucial for an optimal customer experience

The interaction you have with a customer as an organization is often fragmented across different channels, systems, processes and departments. How do you ensure – despite all the internal factors – that all digital customer interactions are still personalized and frictionless? The answer is within reach… But first we define our definition of customer interaction to you.

 

Our definition of customer interaction:

Any form of customer contact where customer and organization communicate with each other and respond to each other.

 

Written by Philippe

Philippe van Nieuwenborgh is responsible for business development, innovation and consultancy within Dialog Groep. Both internally and externally. Together with his team, he shaped Dialog Groep’s vision for customer interaction.

Create a solid basis for achieving an optimal customer experience

Organizations need to centralize control over all systems, processes and departments related to customer interaction. If you manage to make all of this work well together and connect with all the channels through which your customers come into contact with your organization, then you have a solid basis for achieving an optimal customer experience within the customer journey.

In practice I see that many organizations struggle to get this properly organized. Complex IT processes, incorrect or insufficient use of data and noses that are not pointed in the same direction. These factors create unnecessary barriers and stand in the way of a good customer journey.

Customer Interaction Layer | Dialog Groep

”You can think of the customer interaction layer as an air traffic controller who has to guide several flights (or several planes in the air) at the same time. All customer interactions must be managed.”

Philippe Van Nieuwenborgh

Dialog Groep

So what is it?

The customer interaction layer is a method of better organizing all interactions between customers and employees, including the systems and processes needed to do so. It is not a tangible product that we deliver. It is a way of working in which our specialists can help you connect the systems and departments within the organization.

 

The Customer Interaction Layer - 5 steps | Dialog Groep

1 & 2

An email address change by a customer seems like a simple adjustment, but all kinds of engines start running on the back end. The IT department wants to store the data securely, the marketing department wants to use the data to provide a real-time automated, yet personalized response back, and customer service always wants to have the most up-to-date data. Each department has its own purposes and this creates fragmentation.

 

 

3.

Larger organizations consist of multiple departments and use many systems and processes. There is nothing wrong with that, as long as you, as an organization, control it and realize mutual integrations. Systems should support employees and customers. Not the other way around. To regain or maintain control you can add a customer interaction layer to your organization.

 

 

4.

The customer interaction layer brings together all the systems and processes that influence your customer interaction. This way you can offer real-time relevant experiences to your customer, make your business processes more efficient, reduce your costs and get a grip on your customer interaction.

Complex IT processes, incorrect or insufficient use of data and noses that are not pointed in the same direction. These factors create unnecessary barriers and stand in the way of a good customer journey.

5 areas of competence within the customer interaction layer

Some functionalities within the customer interaction layer are indispensable when you want to make the interaction with your customer digital and personal. Below I list the areas of competence that you can connect within the customer interaction layer in the form of a customer engagement hub:

  • Data quality, integration & transformation
  • Omnichannel interaction (design & delivery)
  • Workflow, automation & orchestration
  • Digital identity services
  • Archiving & presentation

We have built up expertise in these areas of competence since the 1990s. We continue to closely monitor and apply developments so that we can optimally advise organizations on customer experience management and its implementation. This way, we work together with our clients on sustainable customer relations.