Knowledge about a company's customers will be an important asset that will allow businesses to cross-sell and up-sell products and services, Capellas said.
Approximately two-thirds (63%) of American adults say they currently maintain a profile on a social networking site, notes Pew, which may be a rich landscape for insurers who gather and analyze social data to cross-sell, up-sell and investigate claims.
Meanwhile business was booming in Australia and there were up-sell and cross-sell opportunities being missed in the U.S. and European-based headquarters of their prospects.
In a pilot project, a major bank has used some of the skills which went into Watson to support customer reps in call centers, achieving a 30 to 35 percent increase in up-sell and cross-sell.