The Technology Titans
Technology is inescapable and it infiltrates every aspect of our lives. From how we work, play and live, technology is everywhere, and if you choose correctly it can help future-proof your business. Leading companies are using the latest technologies to address their corporate needs to see their popularity, product and profit grow. Patricia Cullen investigates the latest trends.
In today’s modern, global market, companies need to become more resourceful and more successful with their contacts and communications in sales, marketing and customer service. Accurate business planning, effective promotion, first contact resolution systematic management, real time monitoring, instant customer support and long term business growth, cannot be achieved at the optimal level without innovative IT. If your business does not invest in the correct technology, it may miss valuable opportunities to connect and interact with its customers. Businesses that are considerate to the trends and changes that 2017 will bring, will be able to use available tools and technologies for greater success, higher productivity and improved customer interaction. An understanding of current business trends such as a heightened customer-centric approach, improved technology innovations and data driven philosophies, are pivotal to success.
Corporations like Amazon that are customer-centric gain better business results, build a positive brand image, achieve more constructive word-of- mouth referrals and are more likely to thrive. Focusing on your customers requires you to do something distinctive, quicker or better than your competitors, with a positive differentiation in terms of value, quality or productivity. Businesses should have one goal in mind for their digital strategy this year – offering a customer-centric experience. Altitude Software, a global provider of omnichannel solutions to deliver great customer experiences and winner of the ‘Best Customer Experience Management’ Technology Award at the ‘CRC de Oro’ awards last year, can help you do just that. Altitude uCI, (Unified Customer Interaction) will allow your company to put your customer at the core of the business, enabling large and SMEs to manage their multi-channel customer interactions such as e-mail, phone, chat, sms or web collaboration with ease, accommodating and supporting these ever-increasing digital communications. Tools such as these will help businesses perform effective data consolidation and establish and maintain solid relationships with customers.
Keeping old customers as current customers is a fundamental element of any business practice and to do this successfully client engagement is critical. Communication between consumers and businesses cannot simply consist of the one-way method that worked in previous years. This year, with an increased customer focus, we see this dialogue transforming into a two-way conversation. The days of talking at the customer are over. Instead, there must be a real-time, collaborative channel of communication. There are countless ways to attract leads, but customer retention is a whole other story, and with 65% of business coming from your existing customers, Altitude Strategy Center, a tool which offers complete, real-time control for outbound marketing, will help your business maintain old customers, while attracting new ones. Providing a clear advantage in the field, giving call centers the best chance to link the right contact with the right agent and the right message, saves time and money.
With an ever increasing number of interfaces per user reality and the growing universe of IoT devices,
such as smartwatches, smart jewellery, fitness trackers and voice-controlled devices, companies have access to even more data to personalise customer experience. In 2017, innovations in sensors, software and technology that encourage increased interconnection will continue to develop. How can businesses rise to the challenge of this technology evolution, alongside the new ways that customers will use it, to maximise revenue? Automated customer service is nothing new, but things have gotten much better. Online customer service will be automated thanks to better AI and chatbots that understand context a whole lot better than ever before, capturing consumers’ preferences and expectations. These are fortified further by technology programmes gathering customer data via feedback forms from customer exchanges with the business.
Understanding your client is crucial and data management services are fast becoming the solution, combining interaction, descriptive data and behavioural reports to help brands understand what makes their customer tick. Keeping up with technology advancements is not just for large and international enterprises, it is big business for small businesses to keep up with the pace too, allowing them to expand quickly and efficiently. Altitude Software’s solution for SME’s targeting growth is the Altitude Xperience Proactive. This cloud-based solution has features that include agent and supervisor web desktop, inbound and outbound voice with call back, TCPA compliance and SSL encryption. Small business can reach their growth potential if its employees can effectively interact and sell its agenda to clients. Certainly, good customer -business communication translates to faster, more sustainable growth.
Digital marketing has moved on and it isn’t solely about features and functions, email and mobile; it is about enterprise engagement with customers and potential customers. Investing in a durable consumer experience strategy that develops existing customer value will improve business relationships and strengthen brand loyalty in 2017 and beyond. Expertise like Altitude Software’s customer oriented methodologies will add incredible value to your business, setting apart the leaders from the laggards. Europa Group a company that provides a wide range of insurance solutions to the general public, insurance brokers, insurance companies and affinity partners, saw significant benefits post implementation, including an improvement of about 5-8% of contact rates, increased efficiency, higher success scales and an improved customer experience. After identifying a need for a technological solution that would increase the volume of calls, reinforce control and could be managed internally, they chose Altitude Strategy Center, and reaped the rewards. Get the technology right and the data collected can also strengthen your business, allowing it to grow, retain customers and flourish through seamless customer experience.
The prevalence of the multi-device customer is on the rise, alongside increasing consumer expectations and an imminent sharing culture, as people reveal their experiences on public forums. For lasting sustainability and success, all modern businesses need to make provisions for mobile access with multi-channel customer contact solutions or accept losing out to competitors who do. In the future, evolving engagement techniques, tactics and tech will continue to connect to customers and responding in the right way through new personal forms of involvement represents an opportunity for brands in the here and now.
These days modern businesses immediately encounter a competitive market and contemporary consumers have come to expect value, flexibility and prompt responses. It’s helpful to anticipate future trends and revamp your business models and strategies effectively to ensure a smooth and successful year ahead. Technology is gathering speed where predictive analytics, marketing AI,machine learning and Blockchain open up new possibilities from VoC research and intent data to mobile-first and customer-centric approaches. Keeping up to speed with the changes in technology, and what this offers your customers, is a major step to encourage your business to thrive.This is why companies need to invest into technology now , to stay ahead of the game. We already know time is money and automation can get things done quicker. It also increases efficiency and less errors. It gives businesses a clear advantage over competitors and Promotes expansion and growth. It will also over the next five years beyond doubt transform how companies do business. Stay stagnant at your peril.
