Identity-first CX blends customer convenience and security
Identity-first customer experience is an interesting and ambitious concept that melds customer ease of use and security controls. Sounds great, but can it be done?
The term identity-first may not seem intuitive, but it's becoming a central tenet for customer experience (CX), especially as AI becomes more pervasive. Before explaining why identity-first CX is becoming a core concept, CX leaders must understand what it is.
First, we're all consumers. And, when reaching out to a contact center, agents must first identify us before proceeding. Otherwise, anyone could call in and claim to be us, and that's not a good idea for anyone, except bad actors.
To ensure a safe experience, customers must feel their privacy is protected and their data is managed securely. This was easy to do in simpler times, when only basic customer data was tracked. With digital transformation, however, organizations now have more data to manage, and AI provides new capabilities to make that data valuable.
What is identity-first CX?
Today's digital world requires a more advanced approach to identity management, and now several vendors can address these needs. Much of this falls under the umbrella of customer identity and access management (CIAM), an industry framework that makes privacy safeguards seamless while being effective enough to mitigate risk for all parties involved.
In this context, an identity-first approach dynamically responds in real time to apply the right level of security measures based on the risk posed by the situation. Taking credit card data or sharing health details, for example, requires more safeguards than asking what store location the customer last visited. If everything is assumed at high risk and the same security checks were applied across the board, the CX would not be good.
Another identity-first example is enabling customers to define their comfort levels around their personal data and profile settings. Some customers may prefer single sign-on, while others prefer multifactor authentication. Or, for identification verification, customers may have varying preferences for using biometrics.
For CX, the CIAM framework can restore trust to conversations between customers and agents while also minimizing friction along the way. When the right tools are in place, CX can go from good to great, and much of this hinges on establishing trust, hence the focus on being identity-first.
Why is identity-first important for CX leaders?
With today's digital technologies, customers expect topnotch service and those expectations will only escalate as AI introduces new levels of automation and self-service. All these factors create new forms of data that can drive better CX but are also challenging for contact centers to manage.
On one hand, these new capabilities are fueling the evolution from customer service to customer experience, where all this new data enables new expectations. For example, customers want faster resolutions, personalized experiences and seamless communication across all channels and types of devices.
CX leaders are recognizing identity management needs to be central to CX, especially for establishing trust and seamless workflows.
A key trait of digital CX is the proliferation of touchpoints between customers and brands. To deliver a consistent experience across all channels -- voice, messaging, mobile, online and even in-store experiences -- identity tools must be agnostic and not obstruct multi-channel journeys.
None of these expectations can be fulfilled without a proper framework for identity management, which is why CIAM is core to identity-first CX. The path of least resistance for IT departments is to provide no identity safeguards for the contact center, but that will only lead to chaos, abuse and compliance violations.
Conversely, CX leaders are recognizing the importance of identity management -- especially for establishing trust and seamless workflows -- and why it needs to be central to CX. Identity-first CX means CX leaders need to be hands-on to ensure customer expectations are met, rather than leaving it to IT, just as they might for other identity management use cases.
With that mindset, identity-first CX becomes more than an approach to manage privacy and security. When customers only need to establish their identity once and remain fully authenticated throughout the session, their experience with the contact center will be better.
They will be more likely to get a complete resolution this way and be more confident about getting the same results the next time. When they see a transparent approach to identity and managing consent -- and have options to tailor their own privacy levels -- they will see a brand that takes identity seriously, making their bond stronger.
The widespread benefits of identity-first CX
All these things translate into tangible business outcomes that CX leaders and senior management will value. Identity-first CX engenders customer loyalty, where customers feel comfortable sharing more details about their experiences, making them more valuable customers. This also speaks to ease of doing business, where brands can meet customers where they are, following their preferences, all in a safe and secure space.
Identity-first CX engenders customer loyalty, where customers feel comfortable sharing more details about their experiences, making them more valuable customers.
With identity-first CX, customers will be more inclined to buy from you, driving top-line growth. This approach should even improve your agents' job satisfaction, as they will have more rewarding and effective interactions with customers. Similarly, when prospects engage with your brand -- in-store or online -- an identity-first model will make interactions more seamless, meaning fewer abandoned searches and higher customer conversion rates.
Ultimately, identity-first CX creates brand differentiation, an intangible that all businesses struggle to achieve. In today's global economy, it's hard to sustain differentiation based on product attributes and even harder when competing on price.
By taking an identity-first, trust-based approach to customer service, brands can deliver personalized experiences that competitors can't replicate -- and that may be the strongest rationale to make identity central to CX.
Jon Arnold is principal of J Arnold & Associates, an independent analyst providing thought leadership and go-to-market counsel with a focus on the business-level effect of communications technology on digital transformation.
