Personalization in commerce has been around since the first shopkeepers began greeting customers by name and remembering their regular orders. In the business world, modern personalization can be traced back to the 1980s. Now, with more data than ever before, we should have personalization in the bag.

So why is personalization still a recurring problem?

Data isn’t enough

Data – particularly customer data – is essential for effective personalization. But such data is often scattered throughout the company. Some of it may be machine-readable; some of it may be distinctly human, like a sales rep’s impressions of their clients’ levels of interest and emotional states. But whenever we don’t have access to complete data, personalization efforts tend to miss the mark. And this leaves customers feeling disconnected from your brand.

Although we have data, simply having it isn’t enough. If information is locked away in various teams or departments, it’s of little help. This includes hard data like facts and figures as well as the information we humans store in our heads.

Personalization holds a mirror to your organization

Good personalization takes time, money, and effort. It requires collaboration between teams and departments. When we think of it from this angle, we can see that personalization often reflects organizational structure and culture.

Companies with siloed data often have communication issues – not just between departments, but also between teams, individual employees, and management. There can be a complex or rigid organizational structure that doesn’t really support innovation and growth. And there may also be a reluctance to invest in new ideas.

This isn’t to shame companies with personalization struggles or with firmly delineated structures. But it should get us thinking about how we communicate inside and outside of our company, with clients, partners, and colleagues. If there’s a problem with understanding and communicating with the customer, what about the people within the company?

Our tip: Personalization starts with listening

Suppose none of the above factors are true; your company promotes communication and innovation, but your personalization efforts are still lacking. In that case, you still might be missing a critical piece of the personalization puzzle: active listening. We explain more about active listening below, but it’s an essential part of understanding customers, partners, and teammates. In any circumstance, active listening will always help you create a more effective outreach.