Sponsored by Smart Communications:

So much of the world has been transformed by the Covid-19 pandemic that it is almost difficult recalling life before. Certainly, customer service and how customers engage and interact with businesses, not to mention the priorities of those business themselves, have all changed considerably. More consumers than ever were forced to engage online with brands and businesses, and just at the same time businesses themselves were having to adopt new ways of working undergoing adopting digital transformation sooner than anticipated and incorporating remote teams and more home-working enterprises. It required firms to have the right back-office system in place that is scalable and consistently provides action-oriented, two-way conversations with customers. SMARTER conversations are at the heart of making this transition effectively and allowing businesses to collect information, communicate, collaborate and coordinate with customers using a cloud-based, omni-channel platform. 

A cloud-based customer conversation management platform can be easily integrated into core systems to enable companies to break down internal communication silos. These platforms generate fully customisable document templates for businesses to send to customers, such as onboarding packs or wealth manager portfolios, which customers can fill out on a channel that suits them. Customer engagement is continually developed using analytics to ensure that communication does not stagnate. 

Improve how customer information is collected

Collecting information from customers is a process that will happen at many stages of a business relationship, but many enterprises are learning the hard way that most customers do not want to be asked to download, print and scan paperwork, or fill out long PDF forms that may not be web or mobile friendly. 

Guided, interactive interviews at strategically timed intervals mean customers are only asked relevant questions and are not asked to repeat information, which drastically reduces Not in Good Order (NIGO) error rates. 

Communicate in real time

Providing real-time and contextual communications may sound daunting, as it usually requires the creation and management of complex IT processes. Many legacy tools are built for distributing information, not a two-way conversation, so businesses are missing out on potential customer engagement and learning preferences. 

A cloud-based platform provides tailored communications that reduce maintenance costs, improve internal processes, and ensure that compliance and regulatory standards are met across the board. 

Collaborate across teams to unify customer engagement

Customers will often find themselves engaging with multiple departments within an organisation. If these teams are not unified with up-to-date procedures and customer information, the business risks damaging the relationship with the customer if the experience becomes repetitive, disjointed and frustrating.  

For business agreements and signature processes, this collaboration between departments is especially crucial. Requesting additional information or signatures is complicated if businesses are not efficiently tracking who made document changes and when. The Smart Communications Conversation Cloud™, for example, allows businesses to reduce these complexities by creating a unified, experience-driven workflow that provides a single source of truth and increases transparency. 

Coordinate across channels

Customers expect seamless communications across multiple channels, with information accessible on demand. Additionally, customers are accustomed to immediate digital follow up, and are not willing or able to wait for requested information or confirmation forms to be mailed. 

The Smart Communications Conversation Cloud™ enables businesses to manage communications across multiple digital channels, including SMS, WhatsApp and push notifications. Follow-up actions can be automated, so customers can get an immediate response at any time on their chosen platform. While the pandemic changed the world of business, many action-oriented businesses have taken this opportunity to transform operations and the most forward-looking have adopted platforms in order to collect, store and interrogate information on customer and employee interactions, putting them on a faster path to improving performance and success.  

Download the white paper below to find out how Smart Communications has helped more than 500 global brands deliver SMARTER conversations across the entire lifecycle and what it can do for you.