CIAM (a short form for Consumer Identity and Access Management) is the new trend for customer-focused businesses. Also called the B2C IAM, it provides a foundation upon which the organization can build amazing customer experiences while balancing convenience with security. Today’s customers want more from their providers to meet their needs. However, accessibility, trust and security should never be compromised for speedy delivery.
CIAM Capabilities improve customer experience across various channels by combining several siloed back-end operations into a single, comprehensive solution. This way, the customer can access all the services with the click of a button. The system combines various security features, including multi-factor authentication (MFA), user management and authentication, to create a safe but seamless user UX.
Here are other features of the technology and the benefits of integrating it with your existing customer service systems.
Why Is CIM Important?
It Enables You to Streamline Customer Experience
The user experience influences user behavior when they are on your website. A poor user experience may prompt the customer to abandon the cart, bounce off the website and find an alternative solution elsewhere. A security process that includes multiple steps may have a serious impact on the bottom line.
However, CIAM streamlines the login process, offering a secure experience for your clients without compromising security. This way, customers can use various features of the site without having to verify their identities through a series of steps. A good example of such is the use of the “Sign in with Google or Facebook” option.
It Helps Secure Customer Credentials
Data leakage or theft are two things that can harm a company’s reputation and lead to legal problems, especially when dealing with sensitive user data. Fortunately, CIAM provides secure storage of customer credentials. It creates another vault while preventing unauthorized access to the information.
First, the platform offers several layers of security, including tokenizing customer information as well as separating it from other information while stored. It also encrypts and hashes the information to ensure maximum privacy. You can also use it to monitor the kind of data that you are collecting and what you are doing with it. This is vital to ensure compliance with the regulations. At the same time, it gives customers more control over the data and how it is used.
It Empowers the Customer
The customer is always the king. He should be the top priority of all decisions made by the organization. Even when it comes to user data and how it is used, the customer should have a say in this. The use of CIAM helps customers achieve control of the data that they share and how it is used.
First, the platform gives the customer an opportunity to consent to the use of their data. When a part of the website requires a customer’s data for some other activity, they can always receive a notification asking for their consent to use the data.
Second, the use of CIAM makes it easy to reset passwords when they have forgotten them. It enables the use of various tokenization methods, including the use of emails, phone calls and text messages. The customer is able to complete the process on their own, making the process faster and more convenient.
Core Capabilities of the CIAM Technology
CIAM comes loaded with various features to enable fast verification and a better customer experience. These are some of the core capabilities of the platform.
Multi-Device Use
With most customers using mobile devices to access online services, serious companies want a solution that can be accessed on both computer and mobile platform. Customers can authorize the use of data on partner applications and others. Companies can use customer data to better understand the user persona, preferences and possible purchases. This can help you tailor your services and product offerings.
Multi-Channel Capabilities
Customer experience starts once they decide to sign up with the company and through the buying process. CIAM provides a compelling sign up and log in platform that can be used across different channels. If they were to use a different channel to log in to the website, the process may be more frustrating and lead to a higher bounce rate. Customers get various choices for authenticating their identity for ease of signing in.
Single View of Customer Activity
Companies usually collect data from different touchpoints with the customer. This data could be stored in different silos and repositories. The use of CIAM helps you consolidate all this data to get insights into their behaviors and identities. You can use the resulting data to create customer profiles and tailor services according to each of them and their behavior.
CIAM is both a security and an access tool for customers. It makes it easier to secure website information while enhancing customer satisfaction. It can also help with tailoring solutions to customer needs.
