An effective cross-sell strategy: both high tech and high touch.

• Author: Triplett, Ted
• Position: CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIPS/RETENTION

SHORT OF DEVELOPING CLAIRVOYANT ABILITIES, is it possible to determine the best product or service to offer a customer? It is when you use next-best, or predictive, modeling--the piece of data analytics that helps banks model and make predictions. In fact, any cross-sell program worth its salt should include this component.

Like the name says, next-best modeling can help determine what products customers might purchase next based on specific attributes, demographics, transactional data and so forth. Data analysis, for example, can identify customers with a propensity to accept a debit card offer or open a home-equity line of credit.

But that's only one part of the equation. We all know analytics can't predict when a customer will get married, have children, move or change jobs. These needs can...