LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – October 16, 2007 – The ultimate experience for a traveler would be walking up to a hotel desk and being recognized as a valued customer whose room, dining and entertainment preferences are known by the staff. That dream can be a reality, and not just within the travel industry, but also for retail stores, banks and many other types of business.
Acxiom® Corporation (Nasdaq: ACXM) today announced the latest innovation in real-time customer relationship management, ConnectionPoint-X™, which enables companies to access real-time intelligence and insight at the point of customer interaction.
ConnectionPoint-X is a client-specific solution that creates an environment where customer and prospect interactions become real-time sales, service and loyalty-building engagements.
By delivering real-time recognition through multiple customer touch points simultaneously – including point-of-sale, website, self-service site, call center, IVR (interactive voice response) and e-mail channels – ConnectionPoint-X offers the ability to drive dynamic offers and targeting across online and offline channels.
Implementations to date in travel, entertainment, financial services and automotive businesses have improved marketing response rates from 0.5 percent to more than 10 percent. Firms noted faster campaign turnaround times and as much as a 20 percent lift in customer recognition, thereby enriching customer experiences and increased loyalty. Additional benefits included increased user satisfaction and the ability to engage in personalized customer dialogues.
“Companies realize that they must explore new methods for engaging with customers and prospects in order to improve retention, increase profitability and attract more customers,” said Tom Mangan, Acxiom Consulting Organization Leader. “ConnectionPoint-X offers them the real-time ability to recognize a customer across multiple touch points and to use data and logic to drive interactions based on the customer’s individual characteristics and preferences.”
In addition to its recognition capability, Mangan added that ConnectionPoint-X integrates privacy and interaction preferences and enables access to current and past customer relationship information. The solution utilizes Acxiom’s world-class AbiliTec® linking technology which provides knowledge-based matching. This results in recognition far beyond that of traditional string matching for the most complete and accurate customer view possible.
ConnectionPoint-X incorporates Acxiom’s InfoBase-X™ data and analytical models, applying attributes and scoring behavioral and affinity data. The combination of these functions enables customer-facing representatives, as well as automated response technologies, to select and manage offers intelligently. As a result, companies can then track cross-channel customer interactions and tailor future offers accordingly.
“The ability to take action in real-time, while interacting with a customer on a web site or in a call center, gives a competitive advantage to the business that can deliver relevant, customer-specific recommendations at the point of contact,” said Henry Morris, Senior VP of Worldwide Software and Services Research at IDC. “Enterprises will look to automate such repeatable operational decisions in response to events, powered by analytics. Acxiom’s ConnectionPoint-X is a step towards this goal of intelligent process automation.”
“New technologies and multiple communication channels are creating pockets of isolation rather than connecting companies with customers,” Mangan said. “In that environment, growing and maintaining market leadership is especially challenging with traditional marketing approaches. As companies seek new ways to increase organic growth and gain a competitive advantage, improved customer experience and up-sell opportunities will emerge as the solution. ConnectionPoint-X provides the real-time information businesses need to drive greater value throughout the customer life-cycle and strengthen customer relationships.”
Mangan noted that Acxiom also offers a comprehensive technology assessment to help businesses learn more about how to build, expand and improve recognition and response capabilities. The assessment shows companies how to increase real-time recognition and knowledge of customers and how to respond more quickly to customer needs and wants across multiple channels.
About Acxiom Corporation
Acxiom Corporation (Nasdaq: ACXM) integrates data, services and technology to create and deliver customer and information management solutions for many of the largest, most respected companies in the world. The core components of Acxiom’s innovative solutions are Customer Data Integration (CDI) technology, data, database services, IT outsourcing, risk mitigation, consulting and analytics, and privacy leadership. Founded in 1969, Acxiom is headquartered in Little Rock, Arkansas, with locations throughout the United States and Europe, and in Australia, China and Canada. For more information, visit www.acxiom.com.
Acxiom is a registered trademark of Acxiom Corporation.
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