Real Time Customer Journey Orchestration

So yesterday as I was recovering from the last of the chocolate fest that is Easter, I watched the Microsoft Business Applications Launch Event which provided and in-depth look at the new features and capabilities of the 2021 release wave 1 for Dynamics 365 and Microsoft Power Platform.

Microsoft have really added a lot to the offerings but one demo that particularly caught my eye was “Customer Journey Orchestration”. Those that know me, know that I love a good automation as well as music, so this title intrigued me with its reference to orchestration...

After the event ended, I decided to have a deeper look into the subject and a wee play in our Dynamics 365 sandbox environment – this is amazing!!!

The real-time customer journey orchestrations capabilities is part of Dynamics 365 Marketing and is being released this month for preview (in Europe and North America) and brings together customer experience and marketing automation.

Under the hood, AI processes each customer’s data, and makes recommendations for content, channel, customer segmentations and analytics, as well as assisting with targeted journey authoring which adapts to customer interactions

If you want to watch a quick video on how it works, check out this video about how the Campari Group is using this capability:

For more detailed information, there is a great session from Microsoft Ignite that you should check out:

Dynamics 365, Portals, Electronic Signatures, Text Messages and more

Business has changed so much in the last 12 months and many aspects of this change are positive but not all businesses have embraced this new change. I recently had to register a power of attorney (POA) with a high street bank with very few branches in Northern Ireland. In these different times and seeing how our clients have adapted, I assumed that all businesses had adapted new digital ways in support of the government’s message about staying at home. Alas no… They want me to post the original POA, my passport or driving licence (I’ve opted for the passport as I’m not likely to need it over the next few months) and a utility bill dated within the last 4 months. But here’s the thing, all my utility bills are online but they won’t accept a printed version of the downloaded bill and have insisted that I contact my utility suppliers and request that they send me a bill. I know all of the reasons why they are requesting this but my own bank have gone out of their way to make the new banking experience both for our personal and business accounts as easy as possible and active encourage us not go to a branch. So what’s the first thing that I will be doing when I finally get the POA registered? I’ll be closing the account and transferring it to a new account with my own bank.

The reason that I’m sharing this story with you is because it has reminded me about the great work that our clients are doing to change their processes and keep in contact with their clients and customers. Many have updated their Dynamics 365 to integrate electronic signature capture with automated workflows for reminders. Others have provided online portals for their clients to be able to manage documents, communications and requests for service. Integrating automated text messages for regular contact is also an easy way to keep in touch.

I hope that many of the digital transformations that have taken place over the last 12 months inspire businesses to investigate what more they can do to improve their customers’ experience but only time will tell and I fear that those who do not embrace this change as a new opportunity will fall behind their competitors.