Build an infrastructure and set of processes that enables recognition of when a new customer has conducted a first transaction with the organization, and then trigger appropriate welcoming activity.

Such practice affects customer perceptions of an organization and helps build a platform for ongoing communications. In doing so, organizations should recognize and plan for the opportunity afforded by the 'welcoming activity' to capture data while the customer is receptive and build the capability to have ongoing, personalized communications with the customer based on his or her preferences, and the most cost effective channel for the supplier.

Organizations as a whole, in both the CMAT-R sample and the global assessment base, are handling this issue well, with the majority having robust welcoming programmes in place. While this is viewed as progress in comparison with QCi research in previous years, which showed that welcoming programmes were scarce, there is diversity in practice in the current sample. Welcoming activities today range from real time over multiple channels - using the opportunity to capture and validate preference data - to welcoming programmes that run offline, such as mailing campaigns that welcome a new customer who is actually an existing customer buying through another channel.

Organizations should be aiming at the former, with an understanding that a complete multi-channel solution will take time and may be reached incrementally. The infrastructure required consists of a core single customer view with a significant CDI capability to manage the recognition process for new, rather than existing, customers. The process also manages the data quality issues typically associated with large and complex customer contact solutions.