Information—it’s great when you have it, but a headache when it’s unsearchable within your organization.
It can be particularly frustrating when this data is unsearchable because your phone system is separate from other communications. Now, notes from a call on Monday aren't available for a social chat on Tuesday, SMS messages on Wednesday, or a video chat on Thursday.
Does a small or medium-sized business (SMB) with
unified communications as a service (UCaaS) experience this headache? Not likely. Does their competitor with physical phone lines that use dedicated hardware (i.e., a traditional PBX)? Constantly.
But the UCaaS-using SMB’s handle on information—the company’s mastery of its data while using unified communications instead of traditional PBX—is often determined by how well its team embraces the tools provided.
The team is already passionate about delivering—and learning from—great experiences, whether to the product- or service-buying external customers or value-driving internal customers like the IT department providing technical services to the HR department, the HR department providing recruitment services to the marketing department, or the marketing department providing design support to the sales department.
When a team collaborates effectively, it’s obtaining the information it needs. Everything is in one place, regardless of where the team members are. And from experience, the team members know good feedback is coming.
The enthusiasm employees display in efficiently resolving customer issues is their way of saying, “We didn’t feel this kind of job satisfaction at our old companies, but we love feeling it here.” And what a bonus if those “old companies” are the SMB’s direct competitors.
So, is the info-centralizing nature of UCaaS a value driver for the SMB? Or a perk for its employees? It’s very much both.
Customers get accustomed to reaching out with an issue via SMS, social messaging, or voice. These channels recognize and resolve their issues fast—due to notes associated with the customer’s number or handle. The SMB enjoys a clear competitive advantage resulting from these functionalities in the cloud, one that a competitor using old-school technology can't match. And the SMB’s reputation soars.
Meanwhile, employees get accustomed to the ease with which they receive calls from—and reply to—customers, share digital content, and loop in additional colleagues as needed, all within one simple platform.
This simplicity is why customers keep returning to the UCaaS-using SMB beyond the fact that the company offers a quality product or service. Every customer instinctively wants to feel like their needs are the SMB’s top priority. And with UCaaS, they are.
It’s understandable to assume that all the external customer wants is quick attention. It’s also understandable to presume that’s all the internal customer wants. But nothing could be further from the truth.
Customers want to be heard and understood. Your organization must hear them clearly because they’re delighted when a company listens. And the info-centralizing power of UCaaS ensures that you hear them loud and clear.
You can imagine what having all the customer’s information—on demand and in context—does for customer satisfaction (CSAT) scores, employee engagement scores, sales figures, and turnover rates.
That’s how the UCaaS-using SMB outwits the on-premises-PBX-using competitor. The former puts a stop to the frustrations the latter can’t help but aggravate. And since customers naturally love a frustration-free experience, they’ll naturally love the UCaaS-using SMB.
If your SMB is looking to properly keep tabs on the details of its customers’ needs—inside and out—it should consider UCaaS.
