What is Customer Science? Is this the next wave of change?

I heard a new term that I think has the capability of being the next wave of change in business today. Customer Science. ‘Customer Science’ is the fusion between technology, behavioral science and data. This new concept is forming now, making this an exciting time for all us interested in customer-driven growth. 

This episode of The Intuitive Customer explores this nascent concept of Customer Science and what it could mean to organizations seeking customer-driven success. 

Key Takeaways 

Customer Science to me in the integration between a number of existing disciplines; Behavioral Science, Technology (AI) and Big data. It is about using science to understand Customers in a much deeper, meaningful way. We often say there is a big difference between what Customers say and what they do. Customer science gets under the skin of what the real motivators of human behavior are using data and technology to inform us. Here are a few more things you should know about Customer Science:

• Science is how we know things. Science can be defined as a rigorous identification and measurement of phenomena, leading to a systemic understanding which can then be explained by a causal link or theory. In other words, we know more after we use science than when we started. 
• The definition of science helps us define Customer Science. Using the definition of science as a basis, you could define Customer Science as the rigorous identification of systems in customer experiences that help you create theories for customer behavior in future experiences. 
• Companies don't use science on the customer side of the business. Few organizations employ a scientific approach to customer behavior, choosing instead to focus on a company's finance or operations. However, applying those same skills to the customer side could yield excellent results that mirror those achieved in the usual "scientific areas" for business.
• Customer Science is an idea whose time has come, much like the iPhone was. If you will recall, the technology for taking digital pictures, texting and calling, listening to music, and online shopping were all available to us before the iPhone. What Apple did was integrate all of these existing functions into one device and changed our fundamental understanding of what was possible with a handheld device. Customer Science could do the same with the customer experience and the psychological influences that exist as separate entities, combining them into a robust science that drives customer growth. 
• Data will be the next competitive battleground for organizations. A key ingredient for scientific discovery is data. Collecting data about your customers' behavior is essential for organizations that want to analyze it for ways to identify strategies that encourage customer-driven growth.

Recommended Actions

You can do a few things to prepare for the use of Customer Science for your organization, including:

1. Recognize that there is external pressure to change. The pandemic accelerated changes for all businesses over the past few months, including increased cloud computing use, digital transformations, and the impending rollout of 5G. All organizations have been changing the way they do things, leading to either good or bad outcomes. 
2. Use Customer Science to document how your efforts work or don't. Without science, you can't be sure what causes the needle to move in either direction. The rigor and measurement inherent to science can, and it will enable you to track how things changed. Also, A/B testing can help you see what works and, perhaps more importantly, what doesn't. 
3. Research to gather essential data for this effort. If you do not have the data you need to undertake science, research can help you get it. Our Emotional Signature Research® is an example of data gathering that can help you understand why your customers behave the way they do now and what you can do to change their future behavior. 

To discuss this further contact us at www.BeyondPhilosophy.com

About Beyond Philosophy:

Beyond Philosophy help organizations unlock growth by discovering customers' hidden, unmet needs that drive value ($). We then capitalize on this by improving your customer experience to meet these needs thereby retaining and acquiring new customers across the market.

This podcast is produced by Resonate Recordings. Click here find out more.