1.First of all

In modern society, our lives are becoming more and more dependent on web services, and user expectations of companies are rising dramatically. In this context, "improving customer experience (CX)" has become an important issue for companies to maintain their competitive edge. And the appropriate use of customer data holds the key to this. In this article, we welcome Mr. Ohashi from Flect, a specialist in digital transformation support, to discuss case studies of companies that have worked to improve customer experience, the issue of fragmented customer data, and the discussion on solutions and best practices.

2. Customer experience of updated services

Ikeda from Macnica: I'm Ikeda from the Security Division 3 of Macnica I'm in charge of Okta products, and I provide support for improving customer experience and accelerating business through daily proposals to customers. I'll be the moderator of today's session, so thank you very much.

Flect Ohashi: Hello, I am Ohashi, Board Director of Flect Inc. and general manager of the Cloud Integration Division. the Company are a company that specializes in cloud integration, providing solutions from partner companies such as Okta, Salesforce, AWS, and Databricks. We have many use cases in the areas of customer experience improvement and CRM, and I would like to share some of them with you today. Thank you for your time.

Seshita, Macnica: I'm Seshita, a member of the Data & Applications Division at Macnica, Inc. I'm a sales engineer on the Databricks team. I'm in charge of data utilization, BI, AI training, and implementation support, and I work on solving problems for our customers every day. Today, I'd like to talk about data utilization. Thank you.

Macnica Ikeda: Let's get started. First, regarding customer experience these days, the spread of smartphones has significantly changed user expectations.

Flect Ohashi: Yes. With the spread of smartphones and web services, it has become commonplace for users to be able to use services easily. With the spread of consumer apps such as Google, Instagram, and LINE, users are now demanding a very high-quality experience. Therefore, companies also need to meet these expectations.

Macnica Seshita: In particular, as the experience users have with these apps becomes the norm, they come to expect the same convenience and high-quality experience from other services. To meet this demand, companies must continue to invest in improving their digital customer experience.

Flect Ohashi: That's true. However, the challenge many companies face is that their customer data management is fragmented and not unified. This makes it difficult to provide a consistent experience to customers, and companies are unable to fully utilize their data.

Ikeda, Macnica: Specifically, what kind of challenges are you facing?

Flect Ohashi: For example, some companies, such as insurance companies and banks, separate their online and offline services. For example, after requesting an insurance quote online, if you go to a physical store, you may have to submit the same information again. This reduces convenience for customers and damages the customer experience.

Macnica Seshita: In addition, as the use of smartphone apps increases, managing user IDs and passwords for each app becomes an issue. For example, if a user uses a different ID for a shopping app and a service app, the user will have to log in to each app separately, which can be frustrating.

Flect Ohashi: That's right. To solve this, we need to integrate digital IDs and centralize customer data. This will allow companies to have a unified user profile across each service, improving the overall customer experience.

Macnica Ikeda: Also, by unifying customer data, companies will be able to carry out more advanced data analysis and provide services that meet customer needs.

Flect Ohashi: That's right. For example, by unifying the digital data of customers, insurance companies can easily understand the history of insurance services that customers have received in the past and the status of their current contracts, enabling them to propose new services that are optimal for each customer.

Macnica Seshita: Furthermore, by utilizing users' usage history and behavioral data, predictive analysis and personalized recommendations become possible, which is key to further improving customer experience.

Flect Ohashi: Yes, that's right. Also, integrating digital IDs is very important from a security perspective. Using a centralized ID system rather than managing multiple IDs can greatly reduce security risks.

Macnica Ikeda: Indeed, strengthening security is also part of the customer experience. By providing high levels of security, users can use the service with peace of mind.

3. Root cause from use case perspective: "Fragmented customer data"

Macnica Ikeda: Let me now talk in detail about some specific use cases. For example, let's consider the automobile industry. In this industry, there are various customer touchpoints. After a customer purchases a car from a dealer, they will use multiple after-sales services such as tire changes, dashcam installation, and regular maintenance. However, if these services are managed by separate systems, customer data will remain fragmented.

Flect Ohashi: That's right. The first thing that comes to mind as a specific case where this kind of fragmented customer data becomes a problem is when different IDs are issued for each service. When the same customer makes a reservation for a tire change, they are registered as ID1, and when they next purchase a dashcam, they are registered in a different system as ID2. In this case, data about the same customer is not managed consistently, and companies cannot obtain integrated customer data, making it difficult to provide effective marketing and services.

Macnica Seshita: It's true that if customer IDs and data are fragmented, it leads to a decline in data quality and cumbersome management. For example, if the same Ikeda is registered under four different IDs, it will take a lot of effort to combine the data, and digitally it will appear as if there are multiple customers. In such a situation, the efficiency of data analysis and marketing will decrease significantly.

Flect Ohashi: From the customer's point of view, it is very inconvenient to have to log in to each service with a different ID. It is stressful to be forced to have a completely different experience even though you are using the same company's services. It is also a big hassle to have to provide the same information twice.

Macnica Ikeda: To solve these problems, the first step is to unify the IDs of each service. Then, in parallel, the integration of data that comes with it must be carried out. This will not only improve the customer experience, but will also dramatically improve the quality of data.

Flect Ohashi: ID integration also contributes to protecting data privacy. Data managed separately in different systems increases security risks, but integrating it makes it easier to manage and protect it centrally. Specifically, by integrating the IDs of each service, companies can have a holistic view of their customers, enabling a more personalized approach. This leads to higher retention rates and improved long-term customer value.

Macnica Seshita: Furthermore, by utilizing the integrated data and introducing AI and machine learning algorithms, we can realize predictive analysis and automated marketing, which will also greatly improve operational efficiency.

Flect Ohashi: As this integration of IDs and data progresses, companies will be able to provide more personalized services to each individual customer. For example, they will be able to recommend optimal products based on past purchase history and automatically propose services according to the customer's life stage.

Macnica Ikeda: This specific approach can solve the problem of fragmented customer data and lead to overall business efficiency and improved customer experience.

4. Best practices for breaking down data silos

Macnica Ikeda: Please tell us the specific methods you use to resolve data fragmentation.

Flect Ohashi: First, it is important to start with integrating identities. By utilizing an authentication platform such as Okta, a common ID can be used across multiple services, allowing users to use multiple services with a single ID authentication. This dramatically improves the customer experience.

Macnica Seshita: It is also essential to centralize the management of customer data. By using Databricks to integrate data collected from each service, the quality of the data will improve and more accurate data analysis will become possible.

Flect Ohashi: For example, in the case of the automobile industry, we can provide service information at the appropriate time based on data such as tire replacement timing and frequency of visits to the store. This will increase customer satisfaction.

Macnica Ikeda: Accurate data analysis also enables more effective marketing. It allows you to provide services that are more in line with user needs, which in turn increases customer loyalty.

Flect Ohashi: That's right. Also, integrating identities and centralizing data management requires a consistent approach across the enterprise. However, this process can cause confusion and resistance due to the scale and complexity of the project. Therefore, it is ideal to proceed step by step and check the results as you go.

Macnica Seshita: For example, it is effective to first test a specific service or department, and then roll it out to other departments or services after gaining some success. This increases the chances of success for the entire project.

Flect Ohashi: In addition to integrating digital IDs, we also need to consider how to use the data after that. Specifically, we need to analyze user behavior data in a timely manner and implement marketing measures in real time.

Macnica Ikeda: For example, by analyzing purchasing history on an e-commerce site and predicting when a customer will make their next purchase or what products they will be interested in, it becomes possible to make personalized suggestions.

Flect Ohashi: That's right. If you can provide the best experience for each customer in this way, it will result in increased customer loyalty and lead to business growth.

Macnica Seshita: It is also important to catch early signs of customer churn through predictive and behavioral analysis based on integrated data and take appropriate countermeasures. This will enable us to maintain customer satisfaction and build long-term customer relationships.

Flect Ohashi: Furthermore, centralized data management prevents internal silos and promotes collaboration between departments, which in turn allows for faster and more effective strategic decision-making across the company.

Macnica Ikeda: This type of comprehensive approach will fundamentally solve the problem of fragmented customer data and support business growth.

5. Summary

Macnica Ikeda: Finally, let's look back on today's discussion. First, we learned that customer experiences have evolved to match user expectations. Second, we learned that proper management of digital identities and customer data is important.

Flect Ohashi: Fragmented customer data leads to poor customer experience and poor quality data analysis. However, this problem can be solved by integrating IDs and centralizing data management.

Macnica Seshita: By leveraging technologies like Okta and Databricks and taking a consistent approach across the enterprise, you can improve customer satisfaction and grow your business.

Ikeda, Macnica: I hope you will use this initiative as a reference and use it to improve your own company's data management and customer experience. Thank you very much, Mr. Ohashi and Mr. Seshita, for today.

Flect Ohashi: Thank you very much.

Macnica Seshita: Thank you very much.

Flect Co., Ltd.
COO and General Board Director of Cloud Integration Division
Mr. Masaoki Ohashi
In 2004, he joined Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications, where he was involved in developing middleware for mobile phones. In 2007, he joined Flect, and Board Director in 2009. He is in charge of the cloud integration business and has led its growth.

Macnica
Networks Company Data & Application Division
Daichi Seshita
Since 2021, he has been involved in zero trust-related work, providing support from upstream to operations.
After gaining experience as a systems engineer, he joined the Data field this year and is currently working as a dedicated sales engineer for Databricks, working hard to promote the penetration of a platform that makes Data+AI possible.

Macnica
Networks Company Security Division 3
Masashi Ikeda
Joined Macnica in February 2020. Started as a product sales representative for security products. Currently working in the ID field as a product manager for Okta Customer Identity Cloud.