Getting Personal: The Orchestration Behind Great Experiences

Craig Crisler is CEO of SupportNinja and has 20+ years operational excellence and modern people management experience.

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​Personalization has become a standard expectation in customer experience, yet many organizations still struggle to deliver it consistently and effectively at scale despite having access to more data and tools than ever before.​

Retail brands like Amazon, Nike and Sephora use browsing behavior or purchase history to shape recommendations and experiences. In physical retail, personalization often comes from human relationships that build familiarity and context over time—something most digital experiences still struggle to replicate at scale.​

My wife and I shop with Patrick, an expert stylist, at Nordstrom. He knows our preferences, understands what we need and keeps up with trends that matter to us. He even reaches out when there’s a new product he thinks we will like. He reaches out when something relevant comes in, often before we even know to look for it. That level of familiarity and timing is what makes the experience feel personal.​

How can brands replicate that level of familiarity and relevance at scale?​

It comes down to how well they orchestrate data, workflows and people behind the scenes.​

Leverage available data.

Great personalization starts with context. At scale, that context comes from your data, but only if it’s structured, connected and usable across your systems.

Most organizations already have the right signals. The challenge is turning that data into something your workflows can actually act on in real time.​

Preparation turns data into action.

Consider B2B renewal management. Meaningful conversations start long before you pick up the phone or draft the email. You need to understand how customers are actually interacting with your product:

• How often are they logging in?

• What features are they using?

• Where are they getting stuck?​

That level of preparation allows teams to act with context and align their workflows to real customer behavior, rather than reacting after the fact.​

Human access builds trust.

Customers still expect a human connection when it matters.

Friction shows up quickly when reaching a human becomes difficult, especially in moments that require judgment, context or reassurance. Remember the painful old-school interactive voice response (IVR) experience, where endless prompts stood between you and a human who could actually help? Similar friction appears today when customers encounter repeated barriers while trying to reach a human. ​

Making it easy to reach a human is one of the clearest signals that an experience was designed with the customer in mind.​

Avoid shortcuts.

If I picked up gas station flowers on Valentine’s Day instead of choosing something thoughtful, my wife would notice immediately, and she’d remember how my carelessness made her feel.​

Customers respond the same way. They can tell when an experience reflects real effort and intention.​

Recent research indicates:

• Eighty-three percent of U.S. adults want personalization.

• Sixty-seven percent prefer retailers to remember them, their preferences and past purchases.

• Forty percent​ say personalization increases their affinity for brands​

Delivering that level of experience requires attention, intention and investment.​

Personalization now drives retention.

Great personalized experiences don’t happen by accident. They come from how well organizations orchestrate data, workflows and people behind the scenes.

Customers notice when that work is done well—and when it isn’t.

As expectations continue to rise and customers face increasing pressure from the cost of living, delivering consistent, high-quality experiences plays a direct role in retention, loyalty and long-term growth.

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