Sample: Improving Customer Experience with Blockchain Technology

Satoshi Nakamoto – the most enigmatic name of our generation – is credited with inventing blockchain technology. In 2008, Satoshi published the conceptual work for blockchain technology on a cryptography mailing list. 

The underlying theme is, of course, decentralization of data. Instead of storing all data in one place, the idea is to distribute it across multiple systems or nodes at different locations. If one wants to make any change to the data, each node in the network needs to be updated. This increases redundancy. However, it also means that even if a node is compromised, the data still remains secure. This security is the biggest advantage of blockchain technology.

It is extremely difficult to attack data stored on a blockchain network. Since there is no single point of access, attackers would need to break into every node or system on the network to make any unwarranted modifications to the data. There can be millions of nodes/systems in a blockchain network, which makes it virtually impossible to penetrate. This level of safety and security is highly valuable in this age of cybercrimes. 

Blockchains were originally intended to provide a base for cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. However, multiple inherent benefits of the technology have led to an expansion of the list of its potential applications. For example, using blockchain technology can greatly improve customer experience. When you incorporate the basic aspects of blockchains into your customer experience processes, they make your system faster, cheaper and more efficient.

Let’s take a look at some of the ways in which blockchain technology can help us refine our existing customer experience techniques.

Security

We have already established that blockchains are primarily being used across different domains to improve the security of systems and processes. In the field of customer experience too, the key objective remains the same. In capital-intensive sectors like insurance and moneylending, minimizing process-related risks is crucial. 

When it comes to their customer experience and interaction sections, blockchains can help mitigate risks and offer a better safety mechanism for companies as well as end-users. Shared ledgers are used in these industries for easier and transparent collaboration between service providers and end-users. These ledgers allow both parties to maintain and exchange records that are often confidential. If blockchain technology is incorporated into these systems, its sophisticated cryptographic technique can help authenticate customer records and transactions with greater precision.

Transparency

We come across instances of questionable data policies and privacy breaches by multinationals almost daily. Protecting and maintaining a user’s digital privacy is a major concern for organizations and governments alike.  Blockchain technology can help with that. Data of end-users can be protected better with cryptography (data encoding and encryption).  Since blockchain-based applications make unauthorized access tough, users have a more transparent view of how their data is being handled. Blockchain’s network-based data storage makes organizations more accountable and gives customers control over their data/privacy.  

Low-cost solutions

There is a general principle associated with emerging technologies: The more they evolve, the cheaper they become. Blockchains are no exception to this principle of the technological world. As our knowledge of blockchains gets better, the technology itself is getting easier and more feasible across different sectors, systems and processes. We can certainly say that blockchain has refined the data-sharing process. This translates into fewer errors, faster transactions and ultimately reduced cost for all data-related operations. It will also help automate customer-centric processes that will pave the way for low-cost solutions in the customer experience segment. 

What now?

It has been more than a decade since Satoshi introduced blockchain to the world. But his (or her) path-breaking blockchains have already ushered in a new era of cybersecurity. By securing data, making its usage more transparent and reducing the cost of operations, blockchain technology has changed the way we look at data processing, especially from the standpoint of customer experience. It has streamlined and secured every process related to data storing, handling and modifying, and made organizations more accountable to us, customers.