I love the outdoors. So, I can’t help but wander into my favorite outdoor store whenever I find myself near it. Often, I walk out with a purchase; sometimes it’s a small purchase, sometimes a large one. In fact, I visit the same outdoor store so often that the salesperson knows me and remembers my past purchases. It’s that level of customized service and personalization, along with good products, that keep me coming back.

When I first visited the fishing section at the store, the salesperson — let’s call him “Real Joe” — asked me how I was doing and if he could help me. Now, he asks me about that fishing pole I bought last month and how it’s working out for me. He never forgets to mention a new piece of equipment that might work well with the new pole, such as a new lure. Sometimes, I bite.

While I can log onto that store’s website and make the same purchases, I like the personal experience I get with Real Joe. And I like having someone to discuss the products with. In the beginning, Real Joe likely focused his attention on my needs because he was selling fishing gear — and I was in his section wearing a cap branded with a fishing company’s name. He knew it was worth his while.

Let’s consider the digital experience. Because I shop here often, I signed up for a newsletter with all the latest fishing gear offers. My newsletter comes in with a great deal of personalization. Right from the subject line, it says “Paul, we have a tackle box just for you.” That’s a “Real Joe” level of personalization. I click the link and go to the website.

But imagine my disappointment when the personalization ends there. I’m funneled in the same way everyone else is. The customer experience breaks, and I wonder if my email was based on old CRM data stored in a server room somewhere.

Sometimes, I continue. I’m offered a chat discussion, but “Virtual Jane” doesn’t ask me how the new fishing pole is working out, nor does she even mention the tackle box offer that brought me to the site in the first place. Instead, from behind a generic-looking avatar, she says: “Hi, I’m a virtual assistant, I can help with your questions.”

I cannot dismiss that chat fast enough. I know I’m getting treated the same as anyone else who visits the site — despite the fact that I’m already a customer.

I don’t want to start the chat by explaining all the products that I’ve bought in the past that might work with my potential purchase — before I even ask a question. And I’m not sure I’d even trust the response.

It’s different with Genesys Altocloud. This tool bridges organizational eCommerce knowledge — what you’ve purchased, shown interest in or opened tickets about in the past — with real-time engagement tools. From the second I land on the store’s site my journey begins taking shape. There’s an unobtrusive artificial intelligence/machine learning technology observing my customer journey.

For example, the agent or bot who greets me knows that I’ve been to the site before; they know my buying and support history, they know what marketing campaign led me to the site, they can even observe my real-time customer journey.

For a sales case, Virtual Jane understands that I’m on the site because I clicked on the tackle box offer. She knows about that fishing pole I purchased — even though I bought it in the brick-and-mortar store. Through Genesys Altocloud, a chat is offered when I need it, when I start to stall on my purchase or when I look at reviews on the site. As I get connected to Virtual Jane, I get the help of a knowledgeable agent or bot to complete my purchase. All of a sudden, my experience has changed for the better.

In this example, I was a potential buyer. But let’s look at a second example that’s a service case in which Genesys Altocloud sees that an existing customer is on the site and is looking at relevant support areas. Now Virtual Jane can change her approach on the fly: “Hey Paul, can I help you with anything today?”

I might reply, “Sure, I bought a fishing pole and reel recently. I’m looking for fishing line.”

Virtual Jane would respond, “Sure, are you talking about that Real-Good Reel you bought in May?”

My service experience is underway; the Net Promoter Score rises, and handle time falls.

This levels the playing field. With Genesys Altocloud, Real Joe and Virtual Jane provide a world-class customer experience. Both employees build a relationship with their customer and strengthen the lifecycle of acquisition, customer engagement, cart size, frequency of purchase, cross-sell, and/or churn prevention, among other things.

Check out how Genesys Altocloud can improve your customer experience, and try it for free today.