Today’s customers want one consistent journey, but in order to provide this, the entire enterprise needs to operate in lockstep. However, many organizations still work in silos, using disconnected and outdated systems that make it impossible to connect and share data across departments. Now, with the advent of cloud and integrated business intelligence (BI) technologies, organizations can assimilate and analyze all disparate data in one place, ensuring all parts of the business are working together to create a cohesive customer experience and become what we advocate as the Connected Enterprise.
But why does a Connected Enterprise matter today?
Consumers today are not the same as they were pre-pandemic. With their behavior and expectations in constant flux, companies as a whole need to collect and leverage voice-of-the-customer insights to stay agile. In other words, customers’ voices, needs, expectations, and how they think, feel and engage with a brand are all important insights that should be utilized across departments to optimize brand loyalty and inform strategic business decisions. However, the lack of data around the customer experience, and the negative perception of contact centers, are two of the biggest barriers to becoming a Connected Enterprise.
Connectedness Starts with the Contact Center
Contact centers are the shop window into your organization and often the first point of call for customers. For too long, there has been a gap between the contact center and the rest of the organization. Contact centers are often considered an afterthought and not seen as a strategic partner that can be invaluable for the growth of a business. The truth is, today’s modern contact center is a ready-made library of customers’ unfiltered thoughts and feelings, and they can provide organizations a great opportunity to evaluate and assess feedback, which can have a profound impact on business success.
The voice of the customer (VoC) is the first step to creating a Connected Enterprise. Also known as interaction analytics, intelligence about the unprompted, unfiltered voice of the customer is pure, comprehensive data that comes straight from the customer. By harnessing VoC data, contact centers can help organizations make intelligent decisions around marketing campaigns, sales tactics, competitive positioning and more – elevating the role and value of the contact center.
In fact, a study commissioned by Calabrio found that 87% of contact center managers believe that the pandemic has increased the importance of the contact center in their company long term. And with a cloud-based IT refresh, the cloud-first contact center is the driving force behind this vision of the Connected Enterprise and a key to unlocking digital transformation. A cloud-first contact center equally means more contact center agents are poised to take advantage of VoC data, helping organizations capture every customer interaction so they can be more proactive in their data and processes.
The Benefits of Connectedness
We’re operating in the “age of the consumer” so it’s imperative for any modern organization to use the insights generated from the voice of the customer to create a transparent workflow between what’s happening among customer communities and the rest of the business. To achieve this, today’s organizations are breaking down silos. Successful companies should intuitively understand that disconnected systems, information and ways of working are major barriers to improving the customer experience. However, a Connected Enterprise eradicates these silos to achieve all-around connectedness that transcends departmental functions from C-level executives to sales and marketing, product development, IT, HR and – most importantly – the contact center.
In addition to connecting departments, a Connected Enterprise helps employees positively impact the customer experience. A Connected Enterprise recognizes the importance of empowering its employees with flexible work schedules, carefully tailored training programs, and the technology and modern workforce optimization tools needed to help them succeed. It offers tangible opportunities for personal development by giving timely and constructive feedback to cultivate that “rockstar” employee – the one that can leverage these connected systems and information across departments to make the customer journey seamless.
Successful organizations are proactive, not reactive. With a Connected Enterprise, organizations are no longer playing defense with the insights they are generating. Instead, facilitated by connected systems and information, organizations are gathering VoC insights and making them accessible across the entire organization. This means each department has access to unfiltered, yet relevant, visualized customer insights and satisfaction, which they can leverage to be more proactive in their business strategy and recommendations.
Shifting the Perception
Once considered a “necessary evil,” the contact center is leading the way for organizations to truly understand the entire customer journey. Through VoC insights, contact centers are closing the gap between themselves and the rest of the business. And with a Connected Enterprise, contact centers are helping departments “peek over the fence” to understand what’s happening elsewhere within the organization. This connectedness, championed by the contact center and the right BI dashboards and platforms, is breaking down siloes, sharing customer stories and making VoC insights relevant and accessible to the entire organization.
Head to our recent webinar with our manager, BI Initiatives, Mary Moilanen, and CX and marketing evangelist, Katie Martell, as they discuss turning theory into practice: “Close the Gap: 9 Ways to Connect the Enterprise with VoC Insights.”
