Northumbrian Water has created a digital twin for customer experience to map and predict satisfaction levels and behaviours.
The harnessed data analytics and AI were also used to understand customer pain points in near real-time. Northumbrian said these abilities will let the company exceed its performance commitments by improving customer journeys.
The company partnered with AI and data firm Aiimi to create the platform that can provide staff with a customer’s likely level of satisfaction before direct contact is made. Aiimi developed the feature in direct response to Ofwat’s C-MeX scores being introduced at PR19.
The platform was developed by the two firms to allow Northumbrian to react to data-driven insights and improve customer interactions as well as predicting behaviour based on levels of satisfaction.
Aiimi created a data infrastructure that draws information from Northumbrian’s customer relationship management system, telephony systems, and direct customer feedback. This lets agents understand which specific processes or interactions led to a particular customer score.
Michael Hull, intelligence and analytics manager at Northumbrian, said: “When we think of a digital twin, we are inclined to think of detailed digital representations of physical assets and infrastructure. The customer experience digital twin applies this rigorous data-centric approach to improving how we operate as an organisation in response to customer feedback. Now, we can respond in near real-time to data-driven insights that reveal the true customer journey as well as understand how we align communications with the needs of individual customers. This equips our agents with the precise information they need to deliver unrivalled customer experiences.”
The two companies have begun developing more digital twins based on the success of the platform to understand complex shifts in the way the company operates in the wake of the pandemic.
Jack Lawton, Aiimi’s data science principal, explained the collaborative approach was based on clear objectives for delivering excellent customer service. ~He said: “We continually improved and upscaled the data platform, building out the capabilities of the digital twin to enable a self-service model.
“Today, employees across the organisation are able to quickly visualise data, instantly execute reports that once took days, and understand customer satisfaction levels with ease.”