Understanding Customer Profiles

Customer Profiles store customer insights that can help support more personalized and engaging customer and user experiences.

The Customer Profile is linked to an Account and can capture insights received from external systems as well as information maintained by authorized users.

Customer Profile Type Controls Insight Processing

A Customer Profile Type defines the kind of insight being captured. It can be specific, such as an affordability-related insight; Or it can broader in scope, such as a Payment Profile or Credit & Collections Risk Profile. Customer Profile Type defines the types of attributes that can be stored in Customer Profiles of that type.

A Customer Profile Attribute Type defines a distinct piece of information that a Customer Profile can capture. It is linked to a Field, which allows the Customer Profile's attribute values to be validated and processed using existing rules that apply to the associated Field metadata. The Customer Profile Attribute Type also controls attribute value processing, based on the Occurrence setting:

• Single: only one instance of the attribute can be stored. This applies to attributes that are specific to the Account.
• Single - Per Related Object: one value for each related object. This applies to attributes that can vary across the objects that are related to the Account - e.g., Service Agreements, Service Points, Persons, etc..
• Multiple: multiple values can be stored. This applies to attributes that are lists/collections, e.g., a list of reasons that explain a related attribute's value.

For example, a Payment Profile can capture the following:

• A Low-to-Moderate Income (LMI ) indicator that can be set differently across an Account's Service Agreements. In this case, the Customer Profile Attribute Type is set up with a Single - Per Related Object Occurrence and with Service Agreement as the Related Object Type.
• One or more LMI Selection Reasons that are applicable when the LMI switch is set to Y. In this case, the Customer Profile Attribute Type is set up with a Multiple Occurrence and with Service Agreement as the Related Object Type.

Customer Profile Maintenance

Authorized users can add and maintain Customer Profiles and their attributes.

A Customer Profile is added for an Account. Only one Customer Profile can be active for a given type. Updates to an inactive Customer Profile (including it's attributes) reactivates it.

The Customer Profile Log includes the history of Customer Profile changes, including attribute changes (adds, updates and deletions).

Uploading Customer Profiles and Attributes

Customer Profile information can be received from external systems through the Customer Profile Business Flag Upload process (C1-CPRUP) that stages each incoming record as a business flag before processing it into the associated Customer Profile. During processing, the system creates a Customer Profile when one does not yet exist, or updates the existing Customer Profile. It also validates the account, attribute values, and related objects. Records with processing errors are placed in an error state for review and follow-up, while valid records are completed.

The base product provides the following business objects for uploading customer profiles:

• Customer Profile Business Flag Type (C1-CustomerProfBusFlagType)
• Customer Profile Business Flag (C1-CustomerProfBusinessFlag)
• Customer Profile Type C1-CustomerProfileType
• Customer Profile C1-CustomerProfile

Refer to Uploading Customer Insights for more information.

Customer Profile Use Cases

Customer Profiles can be used to segment customers and enhance customer understanding, which can help optimize business operations when the user and customer experiences are more personalized, efficient, and engaging.

Examples of Customer Profile uses:

• Customer Profile information can be shown (or drive the display) of certain types of customer insights on the user interface. For example, if the Account's Payment Profile has an LMI indicator set to true for at least one of its Service Agreements, the Customer sidebar zone can show a 'Likely LMI' badge next to the customer's name. Refer to the LMI-BADGE Insight Type for information on the badge insight that is included with the base product.
• Customer Profile information could also drive other processes, such as Credit & Collections. For example. the Account Debt Monitor process could create a Collection Process that is tailored for customers who are in the low-to-moderate income segment. Refer to the 'Check if Account is Likely Low-to-Moderate Income (LMI)' Collection Class Control - Collection Condition algorithm (COLL COND LM) that is provided for this purpose.