Manuel Marini, founder and CEO of Marini Systems, and Norbert Schuster, Director Business Development at Marini Systems, were guests on Marcus Disselkamp’s “Kurz Nachgedacht” podcast. The topics: Customer Data Platforms, Robotic Selling, Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning.
Podcast topic: What’s new about Customer Data Platforms?
In his business podcast “Kurz Nachgedacht,” Marcus Disselkamp talks about modern business management in times of digitization. Kurz NachGEFRAGT” is a special format. In the course of this, Disselkamp interviews experts on the topics of digital change and digital transformation. In the 24th episode of the podcast, Manuel Marini and Norbert Schuster were invited. Disselkamp was particularly interested in the question of what exactly is new about customer data platforms.
In short, CDPs make it possible to integrate, connect, and consolidate all enterprise-wide data sources from all channels. They are used to build up customer profiles and enrich them with additional data. The data has the following function within a CDP: It serves as the basis for customer segmentation and customer contact processes. From the CDP, processes can then be triggered in other systems – for example, in the Evalanche marketing automation platform – following a previously defined event. However, some CDPs already offer this functionality today – and thus effectively support the work of marketing. However, if you also want to support your sales activities, you have to go one step further – then it is necessary to share the findings from marketing with sales as well. Ideally, therefore, all sales-relevant platforms are also integrated into the CDP. The latest CDP version from Marini Systems, for example, can also map complex CRM structures. Although modern CDPs can be compared somewhat with data warehouses, the idea behind them is completely different, as Manuel Marini and Norbert Schuster explain below.
Is a CDP simply a new middleware?
CDPs are not middleware, but rather a new system or a new type of system in which all data can be pooled. They are key drivers of the digitization of companies. CDPs act as a “central application” to improve sales-related processes in the company – and they ensure that silos in IT are finally a thing of the past. By processing and enriching data, CDPs provide companies with a 360-degree view of their customers – in other words, a “golden profile” of each customer. Thanks to the consolidated, processed data, the customer journey and also customer behavior are transparently available at all times. Norbert Schuster has a good example at hand: “If a customer has churned, for example, conclusions can be drawn about the reasons for churn on the basis of his behavior. Before another customer does the same, the sales department can intervene in time – and thus increase its success.
What about return on investment and CDPs?
Finally, the podcast also discussed whether quick wins in the form of a fast ROI can be achieved using CDPs. For Manuel Marini, however, the much more important question is whether companies can afford not to use any CDP at all. After all, the number of communication channels, touchpoints, etc. is increasing. Customers’ demands are growing. More and more data is being added by new systems. The way and speed at which systems evolve is revolutionary. So it’s also about revolutionizing the work of sales.
CDPs enable intelligent robotic selling
Modern customer data platforms support the intelligent automation of customer-relevant processes – across marketing and sales. The latest generation of CDPs makes intelligent robotic selling possible. Machine learning models handle tasks that would cost salespeople an enormous amount of time. This leaves the sales team much more time to concentrate on the really important tasks: supporting existing customers and acquiring new ones. The models analyze customer data and learn something new with every task. They make use of modern technologies such as AI, machine learning, predictive and prescriptive analytics – and can be used in sales processes in real time. In this way, they can perfectly support sales employees. The company that embraces these new technologies, such as customer data platforms and data analytics models, becomes the one that is best adapted to its environment and that satisfies its demanding customers in the long term.
Manuel Marini and Norbert Schuster are certain: The concept Customer Data Platform is here to stay.
