How Do You Identify Next Best Product Recommendations?
Identify next best product recommendations by combining customer signals, product eligibility, constraints into transparent, governed models and AI agents.
Identify next best product recommendations by linking customer intent, eligibility, and profitability in a governed decision framework. Start with a unified customer view, define eligibility and compliance rules, and use propensity and ranking models to score products for each customer in real time. Then constrain recommendations with risk, suitability, and capacity rules, test them via experiments, and operationalize in channels and AI agents so bankers and customers see clear, explainable suggestions.
What Matters for Next Best Product Recommendations?
The Next Best Product Recommendation Playbook
Use this sequence to move from generic offers to governed next best product (NBP) recommendations that grow funded accounts and deepen relationships.
Align → Discover → Design → Build → Orchestrate → Activate → Learn
- Align on outcomes: Decide where NBP will matter most first—digital banking, contact center, branches, or outbound—and which metrics it will move (funded accounts, CLV, risk-adjusted margin).
- Discover journeys and signals: Map high-impact journeys (onboarding, renewals, life events) and inventory available data: balances, transactions, applications, interactions, and preferences.
- Design the decision framework: Define candidate product sets, eligibility rules, ranking logic, optimization goal (e.g., CLV or revenue), and guardrails around risk and customer experience.
- Build models and rules: Create propensity and value models by segment, embed business rules, and define how AI agents will explain and present recommendations to bankers and customers.
- Orchestrate across channels: Connect your decision engine to marketing automation, CRM, digital banking, and contact center platforms so the same logic shows up everywhere.
- Activate and test: Launch controlled tests, compare NBP performance to business-as-usual offers, and refine models, rules, and creative based on what works.
- Learn, govern, and scale: Monitor KPIs, review models with Risk and Compliance, document changes, and gradually expand NBP to more products, segments, and journeys.
Next Best Product Capability Maturity Matrix
| Capability | From (Ad Hoc) | To (Optimized NBP) | Owner | Primary KPI |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Data & Signals | Channel-specific lists and basic segmentation | Unified customer view with behavioral, product, and interaction signals | Data & Analytics | Signal Coverage % |
| Decision Logic | Manual offers and static rules | Combined rules, propensity, and value models with clear optimization goals | Analytics / Product | Offer Response / Conversion Rate |
| Eligibility & Compliance | Manual checks after offer | Embedded eligibility, suitability, and risk rules in the decision engine | Risk / Compliance | Exception Rate / Complaints |
| Channel Orchestration | Different offers by channel | Consistent NBP logic across digital, branch, contact center, and outbound | Marketing / CX | Cross-Channel Consistency |
| AI & Agents | Static playbooks | AI agents and tools that surface and explain NBP to bankers and customers | Digital / Innovation | Agent Adoption & Impact |
| Experimentation & Measurement | One-off A/B tests | Always-on testing with attribution to funded accounts, CLV, and risk | Analytics / Finance | Incremental Revenue / NBP Uplift |
Client Snapshot: Next Best Product → More Funded Accounts
A regional bank implemented next best product recommendations for digital banking and contact center, combining eligibility rules, propensity models, and agent guidance. Result: 18% lift in funded accounts from onboarding journeys, 25% increase in cross-sell among engaged customers, and higher satisfaction scores as offers became more relevant and transparent. See how this connects to our broader financial services and AI work: Financial Services Solutions · FI AI Agent
Treat next best product as a decisioning capability, not just a model: unify data, codify rules, build explainable models, and let AI agents surface the right offer at the right moment in every journey.
Frequently Asked Questions about Next Best Product Recommendations
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