Customer communication is key to building lasting relationships and building a sustainable business. The cloud, in simple terms, are servers which can be accessed over the internet, and includes any databases or software that runs on those servers.
Marrying customer communication and the cloud could present your business with numerous advantages and much needed capabilities in today’s digital-driven world. So, here are five reasons why you should ascend to the cloud.
1. Monetary implications of not making the switch
Cloud communications are internet-based voice and data communications where the telecommunications software, switching and storage are hosted by a third party.
Through hosting a phone system through the internet your business will be charged on a fixed or a “pay-as-needed basis”, meaning that cloud-based communication will be more cost effective in the long-run as there will be no costs for the installation and maintenance of the cloud-based system as compared to a traditional phone setup.
With cloud-based customer communication your usage can easily be scaled to fit your businesses’ needs, as there is no need to lock you into a lengthy contract.
You are not tied down by telephone wires and legacy telephones. Instead, you can grow as your team grows because the cloud is large enough to accommodate startups and companies of all sizes.
Furthermore, there is no need to pay for physical disk and storage space. Cloud-based communication also means that updates or new features can easily be rolled out with little to no interruption to business operations, and via the third party hosting the cloud communication application.
This saves your business costs, as the business is no longer limited by the physical hardware required, and no longer needs to maintain or upgrade these systems to remain competitive in their respective industry.
2. Simplicity
Minimal setup allows for a seamless and stress-free transition to the cloud. All you have to do is sign up and pay. More and more cloud-based communication tools are continually gaining new features such as automation of workflows, integration with data and analytics or CRM applications as well as the aggregation of voice and social media channels.
These integrations and new features allow your business to continue to provide better service to your customers while providing your workforce with simple and enjoyable interfaces. Your workforce will appreciate the simplicity too. Happy employees make happy customers.
The simplicity of having your customer communication in the cloud allows you to have more time available to focus on your business and not your communication software.
No longer do you need to make use of costly IT services and IT resources to keep your communications systems up-to-date and running smoothly.
Let your cloud communications provider worry about uptime, availability, scalability, maintenance updates and security. Because cloud computing is always available you can communicate to your customers at any time, and also support a remote workforce.
Access your customer communication in the cloud from any device and communicate with your customers with simplicity.
3. Flexibility and Convenience
Choosing the cloud, allows businesses to empower their teams to work anywhere and at any time. It allows for new workflows and as a result new methods of communicating with your customers can be developed.
Personalisation at scale along with customer segmentation can take marketing campaigns to the next level while also delivering a convenient customer support experience for your customers.
Get up and running with your customer communication in the cloud within hours, instead of having to wait weeks or even months to install and configure a custom customer communication solution and software for your business.
The cloud also provides your business with the best possible optimised performance and depending on the provider you choose, can also automatically adapt to variations in your business. And it is no secret, Adaptability is crucial for survival in the business environment.
Flexibility and convenience alone would make the case for the switch to customer communication in the cloud. The cloud gives you access to everything you need without the physical servers, systems, hardware equipment and the space needed for those items on your premises.
4. Better customer insights
Informative insights derived from customer communication data is of utmost importance in today’s society where personalisation in customer communication has become the norm.
Most cloud communication providers provide your business with real-time information that allows you to make better-informed decisions.
The true value of customer insights is difficult to quantify. Being insights driven means that everyone is focused on your end users, or customers.
This benefiting everyone in the organisation as a result of being able to learn more about your customers and what they are thinking, this enabling better service and the development of superior products.
Consumers are changing and just because someone is your customer today, it does not mean that they won’t choose your competitor in the future.
Customer communication lets you derive valuable insights from customer feedback and experiences so that product engineers can work swiftly to better the products concerned and executives can make decisions in shifting the strategy.
Your marketing department can also take advantage of customer insights to tailor communications which resonate with your company’s target market while also gaining a unique perspective on your different customer touchpoints enabling your organisation to develop good communication and ultimately a more complete portrait of your customers will emerge.
5. Happier customers
Good customer insights are crucial for achieving improved customer satisfaction. The cloud will definitely improve your customer communication and their experience interacting with your brand.
With customer communication in the cloud, you can now make your customers feel special through personalisation. Go from ‘Hi, what can we do for you today’ to ‘Hi John, what can we do for you today’. Small change, massive, happy customers.
Now that you have descended to the end of this article, I am sure you will agree with me, the cloud is essential to building better relationships with customers and that it holds benefits for both parties concerned.
