Salesforce unveils customer data platform with next generation of Customer 360

Salesforce unveiled its Customer Data Platform (CDP) with the next generation of Customer 360. New platform services will enable companies to unify disparate customer data throughout their entire organization and then personalize every engagement based on a single view of the customer. Customer 360 will go beyond traditional CDP capabilities and extend the power of CRM with consumer-scale data management and activation.

"Customers today will not settle for fragmented experiences, and companies recognize that creating a single view of the customer is imperative to earning their loyalty," said Bret Taylor, President and Chief Product Officer, Salesforce. "With Customer 360, we continue to extend our platform in new ways, empowering brands to unify data and personalize customer engagement at scale."

Most of the interactions that customers have with brands today are disconnected and therefore underwhelming. The latest Salesforce Connected Customer report finds that 78 percent of customers expect consistent interactions with a company regardless of the department they’re dealing with, yet only 50 percent of companies tailor their engagement based on a customer’s past interactions.

The challenge for companies is that they are swimming in a deluge of customer data. Many are trying to unify data from legacy systems, disconnected channels, multi-channel attribution and elsewhere. They also need to adhere to regulations like GDPR and adapt to new channels like voice and chatbots. In this reality, delivering personalized and integrated engagement is difficult, and customers often pay the price. A retailer is unlikely to know that the customer who just contacted customer service for a broken product is the same one that also just received a promotional email for that same product.

“Enterprises are having a difficult time capturing all of their customer data in one place. With so much data coming in from dozens of sources, it’s hard for companies to keep track of it all, let alone use it to their advantage to deliver the connected experiences that customers want,” said Sheryl Kingstone, research vice president and general manager at 451 Research. “A lot of solutions out there claim to solve these common challenges, but miss the mark. What Salesforce is announcing today is a strategic step forward in helping companies truly understand their customers through a single lens and engage with them one-on-one across marketing, commerce, service and beyond.”

“Pacers Sports & Entertainment hosts hundreds of games, concerts and events each year for millions of fans in Indiana. Since teaming up with Salesforce, we’ve been able to improve fan engagement and build loyal relationships” said Todd Taylor, CMO, Pacers Sports & Entertainment. “We can now reach fans with the content most important to them, deliver personalized customer service and analyze how best to engage to keep them happy and involved alongside the entertainment experiences that we deliver. Customer 360 is a breakthrough innovation that we’re excited to adopt as we continue to grow the relationships we have worked hard to create with our fans.”