Big data is all the rage. Why? Harnessing the insights buried in the mountain of data to improve the experience for your customers is a huge opportunity.

Is it easy? No.

Is it worth it? Probably. But you won’t know by sitting on the sidelines.

The focus, from big data, is to not just meet customer expectations but to exceed them. What if your big data solution could communicate with customers in natural language? What if it could learn from customers with each interaction? What if your big data solution could engage with customers in ways they like? What if your solution could empower customers at the point of action?

This is not a pipe dream. This is happening now.

In the past two years, companies have internally grappled with this question of how to make big data and analytics relevant to the business, and how both can make payoffs on initial budgetary investments. In many cases, enterprises have seen big data and analytics pay off. Early successes have come in the form of summary dashboards that give C-level executives and middle managers instantaneous visibility on revenues, sales campaigns, and operational performance. But while companies have gotten their feet wet, vendors of big data and analytics also know that a new level of business relevance for analytics will soon be expected, and they are seizing the opportunity to deliver it. via IBM Watson: A shining example of how to take big data to the next level – TechRepublic.

IBM’s Watson initiative is a great example of how big data can be harnessed. I have been fortunate to be able to peek under the hood in looking at some their work in the health care arena. It is in fact stunning.

IBM’s Watson made its first widely publicized splash in 2011, when it battled the two highest ranked players in a nationally televised two-game Jeopardy! match. Originally started as a project in 2007 by IBM Research, Watson is a computer system that combines algorithmic query techniques with computational linguistics, information retrieval, knowledge representation and reasoning, and machine learning. At first blush, this would seem to make Watson the perfect complement for academic and research communities intent on capitalizing on high performance analytics. Watson can deliver in these areas, but what IBM has also done in the past several years is particularize its use for specific industry verticals and the problems that companies in these verticals want to address. via IBM Watson: A shining example of how to take big data to the next level – TechRepublic.

So how is all of this practical, from a customer point of view?

People expect companies to know who they are, how to engage with them and how to exceed their expectations, quickly. Case in point, research says that customers who contact a company via social media expect a response within five minutes. Companies doing all of the above will reap the benefits—it’s a fact that fully engaged customers deliver a 23% premium in share of wallet, profitability, revenue and relationship growth. That said, most organizations aren’t engaging with or meeting the needs of customers—when it’s never been easier to do so because of the availability of customer data.

Watson can transform the way people and companies interact with one another. Individual consumers can engage with Watson in plain English, directly. to get personalized answers to questions.

The Nielsen Innovation Lab, founded to advance research in advertising, intends to use Watson Engagement Advisor to explore ways it can help agencies and their clients better engage with consumers and increase the effect of their advertising and media plans. Read more from Randall Beard (Global Head, Advertiser Solutions, Nielsen).

Barriers are lowered. Customers are served and engaged. Turnover is reduced. And new sales and relationship opportunities are created. Everyone wins. via Customer Engagement – Helping customers get personalized answers to their questions

Source

http://digitalbusinessblog.wordpress.com/2014/05/31/we-need-some-good-examples-of-how-big-data-is-working/