Madrid, Jun 27, 2023 – Customer communications have intensified and become more sophisticated in today’s market, as customers are increasingly demanding and there is a wide range of channels through which to communicate with companies. This means that the number of documents and interactions has grown exponentially in recent years.
In this context, companies face the challenge of simplifying customer communications, not only to reduce a complexity that is difficult to manage, but also to meet the universal and perennial goal of cutting costs.
This is especially important for entities that manage heavily regulated documents, for instance, insurers, healthcare payers and providers, and banks.
Knowing customer demands is one thing; being able to meet them is quite another. Therefore, companies must audit the current and future state of their customer communications systems to be prepared and responsive.
In this regard, there is good news: All this can be achieved usingappropriate software and efficient strategies that can be further divided into horizontal and vertical initiatives.
Horizontal initiatives are cross-cutting throughout the company and comprise people, processes and technology, and vertical initiatives areone-off measuresthat are addressed independently in certain areas of the company.
Three cross-cutting initiatives to simplify customer communications
When companies realize the true value that customer communications management (CCM) brings to the business, they will begin to understand how they can simplify them through a horizontal integration exercise. This means making the best possible use of people, processes, and technology.
Integrate people
The first thing to do to simplify customer communications is to take advantage of communication opportunities across disparate groups of people. Providing clear, easy-to-use communication channels that connect the people who create and manage customer communications produces clearer, more consistent interactions throughout the customer lifecycle.
This also increases operational efficiency. For example, centrally managing, storing, and disseminating policies and contracts, correspondence and marketing materials simplifies cross-department communications.
Consolidating the location (whether virtual or physical space) where these communications are generated and stored gives companies the opportunity to truly integrate people, messages, and documents to simplify customer interactions.
Sharing content among the groups that create and manage it allows finding real solutionsthat everyone can apply without having to create a new solution each time.
Integrate processes
Process simplification is closely related to integrating people, especially in the CCM world. Content creation and management almost always involves the participation of several departments.
For example, a line of business may generate content that must first be approved by in-house marketing and legal teams, then most likely by customers or external regulators, and finally by some legal person who fine-tunes the final version before it reaches end users’ hands.
But beware! Some customer communications management (CCM) tools unnecessarily complicate this process. Some require a programmer or somebody with a technical backgroundto make even the smallest change in content, resulting in costs and delays.
The best CCM platforms allow any business user to create and manage communications without help or intervention from IT. And while they may be easy to use, that does not mean sacrificing functionality.
Integrate technology
The ultimate indicator of the simplicity of a CCM platform should be based on the ease with which new technologies, including new channels (i.e., delivery tiers) can be integrated with the CCM software. Enabling modularization is a crucial strategic technology decision when preparing for the future of customer-oriented business solutions.
As the corporate digital experience matures, integrations will become more sophisticated. Today, CCM software integrates with data sources and content repositories, and perhaps with some delivery tiers. Tomorrow, companieswill need to integrate the core functionalities of CCM software (reusable content, customization, and automation, to name a few) with their mobile app, their customer portal, and perhaps even their products or services.
Simplifying technology means choosing a CCM solution that can connect to any data source or integrate with any application in the future. Companies need CCM software with rich application programming interfaces (APIs), preferably one that uses a cloud-based microservice architecture.
Five vertical initiatives to simplify customer communications
The following are five recommendations regarding tools and systems:
1 – Implement a customer relationship management (CRM) system
A CRM system helps manage and organize customer information, including contact details, purchase history and preferences. This ensures quick and easy access to relevant information during customer interactions, simplifying communication and improving service.
2 – Use marketing automation tools
Marketing automation software allows creating automated email, text messaging and social media campaigns. It helps send customized and relevant messages to customers at different stages of their lifecycle, which facilitates communication and drives loyalty and sales. In addition, automating these tasks reduces the workload and cost associated with sending individual messages.
3 – Use a support ticketing system
Such systems make it possible to manage customer requests efficiently, track issues and assign tasks to team members. Moreover, many support ticketing solutions include automation features, such as predefined responses and smart routing, which help streamline customer communications and reduce costs.
4 – Offer self-service options
Offering customers the ability to resolve their issues through self-service resources can simplify communications and reduce the support team’s workload. An online knowledge base can be created, including FAQs, tutorials and troubleshooting guides. It is also advisable to implement a chatbot on the website to provide automated responses to common queries.
5- Use online collaboration tools
Companies work in teams and their members need to communicate internally on customer-related issues. To this end, it is recommendable to use online collaboration tools such as Slack or Microsoft Teams. These platforms enableinstant communication and file sharing, thus streamlining internal conversations and avoiding the need for lengthy email exchanges.
In conclusion, choosing the right tools and adapting them to the specific business needs is essential in order to simplify customer communications and reduce costs. Each company should evaluate the options available on the market and choose those that best fit its requirements and budget.
About DocPath
DocPath is a leading enterprise document software company that offers its international customers the technology that allows them to complement their ERP and implement advanced Document Output Management, Customer Communications Management and document software pooling processes.
Founded in 1993, DocPath is based in Europe, USA and Latin America and is present with its Solutions in companies around the world. Among its customers there are prestigious banks and top-tier corporations, facilitating the difficult and complex task of designing, generating and distributing their business-critical documents. DocPath keeps a strong commitment to R+D+i, an area to which it allocates a large part of its revenues, and in which lies one of the keys to its success.
For more information, visit: www.docpath.com.
Legal Notice: DocPath is a registered trademark of DocPath Document Solutions. All rights reserved. Other trademarks mentioned herein might be the property of their respective owners.