Digital connectivity helps businesses level up on customer service – part 1
By : Bob Tramontano
March 11, 2020 08:00 AM
Today, consumers expect much more than a positive experience when they visit their local service provider, whether that’s a mobile service provider, a shoe store or even a beauty salon. What consumers want is the ultimate experience. Often that involves staff that cares enough to spend time earning the customer’s business.
But businesses face many challenges in the ongoing quest to exceed customer expectations in the forms of anytime/anywhere access, personalization and digital commerce. Simply put, businesses trying to compete in an increasingly complex environment must invest wisely in technology to orchestrate these experiences. However, technology in and of itself—particularly when it lacks interconnectivity—is not enough; businesses must work toward establishing digitally connected operations because it’s the only way to create a differentiated consumer experience.
Managing complexity is vital to success
With mobile devices, social media, online experiences and email, consumers are more connected than ever. The thought of being away from these resources for any length of time is almost unthinkable to many. So, too, is the case with business. Connectivity enabled by technology is essential. Successfully running a service business that attracts consumers takes more than technology to accept and process digital orders. It requires a mix of platforms that might include search, apps, kiosks, digital menu boards, tabletop tablets and artificial intelligence.
A typical business might have several devices that enable interaction between customers and employees—devices that don’t talk to each other. Managing that vital interaction requires a complex combination of software, network and user experience, which businesses usually don’t have.
With thousands or even millions of touchpoints to manage, how can businesses efficiently and successfully run their business and create better customer experiences? Many brands are looking to collaborative partnerships to help take control of and simplify their complex technology ecosystems.
Choosing the right partner
A collaborative partner can take on tech complexity and reduce the time needed to manage distributed systems and edge devices, freeing employees to focus on customer experience, retention and revenue generation. The right partner can provide end-to-end connectivity, through the Internet of Things (IoT), that includes monitoring, maintaining and managing technology to keep an entire technology stack running optimally.
The right partner can also perform tasks that include maintaining IT operations to ensure systems are up and running at all times, using predictive technology and consistent monitoring to find and fix issues before they disrupt business and creating actionable insights to help managers control costs and influence consumer behavior.
It’s the only way to ensure a business has both the digital experiences and the high systems availability needed to compete on customer experience.
