Next best action

A customer abandons an online application at step three. What now? A reminder email, a callback offer, a chat window or nothing at all? The answer to that question is called the next best action.

#How a next best action comes about

1. Signal. An event in the journey: abandonment, a repeat visit, another contact on the same topic.
2. Context. What is known about the person and their path, and which consents are in place?
3. Selection. Rules and models choose the fitting action among the possible ones.
4. Delivery. The action is triggered in the suitable channel or shown as a hint on the agent desktop.
5. Measurement. Did the action help? The result feeds into the next selection.

Next best action

#Examples from service

• Application abandoned. Instead of a generic reminder, a callback is offered on the question that caused the stall.
• Known outage. Affected customers receive a message before they have to call.
• Repeat contact. Whoever gets in touch for the third time on the same topic reaches an experienced person.
• In conversation. The agent sees a hint about an open deadline that fits the request.

Not every next best action is an offer. Often the best response is a notice, a clarification or an apology. Service comes before sales.

#Guardrails

An action is only the best one if it is permitted and welcome. In Germany, marketing contact is subject to strict consent rules. Personal data may only be used for the purpose for which it was collected.

#Next best action in Univerx

Univerx Journeys connects events from web, app and contact centre and triggers next best actions in real time. Proactive engagement offers chat, a callback or content at the right moment. How to go about it is described in the guide Journey orchestration.