Teradata, a division of NCR Corporation, represented exclusively in SA by National Data Systems (NDS), has launched Touchpoint Server (TPS) as part of its customer relationship management (CRM) application suite.
TPS serves as the central technology linking marketing communications with customer interaction channels such as call centres, Web sites, automated teller machines (ATMs) and Web kiosks, often called consumer "touchpoints", in near-real-time.
"TPS helps companies ensure that communications with individual customers are relevant, timely and are managed through the channel that best fits customer preferences, " said Simon O` Hagan, general manager, Teradata Solutions Group at NDS. "It allows marketers to better understand what is important to individual customers and communicate with each one based on that understanding."
TPS acts as the main delivery mechanism, allowing companies to plan, manage and execute their marketing communications plans. TPS enables this capability in three ways, namely Channel Delivery, the ability to deliver marketing offers generated by the company thorough its Teradata CRM solution to all channel types.
Event-Based Campaign Injection is the second method which involves the ability to take a customer event, determine its significance and potentially inject it into a promotional or service campaign based on that event - all in near-real time, ready for the next interaction.
The third mode is Response-Based Stepping which is the ability to process responses in near-real time and take appropriate steps based on that response. This allows for the customer actions on one channel to be quickly known, within minutes, on another.
For example, a long-standing customer at a large local bank decides to refinance a home, and decides to visit the bank`s Web site to shop around for the best home loan interest rates. While at the site, the customer discovers that the bank has one of the lowest rates in the market. Later that night, when the customer goes to use an ATM to get some cash, there is a special offer two points better than the Internet loan seen earlier based on the customer`s credit rating and long-time value to the bank. In the morning, when the customer logs onto the bank`s Web site again, that same offer appears on a personal Web page. Based on the level of personalisation received through these two channels, the ATM and the Internet, the customer might then choose to contact the call centre to learn more about the special rate, at which time the call centre agent is prepared with information about the personalised offer.
"Just-in-time, relevant responses to customers can mean the difference between weakening or strengthening a relationship," said Bob Moran, research vice president and managing director, Data Knowledge and Analytics, Aberdeen Group. "A company that can respond in real-time to individual customers with precision and relevance wherever they touch that business, using technology that enables it to link its analytical and operational systems, is best positioned to grow customer loyalty and business value."
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