If there’s anything we learned in 2020, it’s that customer experience (CX) is vital to a business’ success. It was a time of uncertainty, which lead to a drastic change in how consumers behave. And it was the businesses that quickly adapted to these changes that maintained a competitive edge.
Across the board, we witnessed how customers prioritized companies they conducted business with. It was no longer about the best price or features—it was about which brand offered the best customer experience.
This is why 46% of businesses are making customer experience a top priority over the next five years and it’s something sourcing and procurement companies should be investing in as well.
Let’s take a closer look at the importance of CX and CCaaS transformation post-pandemic.
Supply chain disruption is one of the major challenges faced during the pandemic. Supply chain reliability was non-existent, which lead to all sorts of problems, like demand imbalances, inventory issues, delivery complexities, and high risks with single-source supplier situations.
A lack of transparency with supply chains also made matters tougher.
So, the focus sourcing and procurement companies should have right now is on reducing procurement risks and maintaining close relationships with customers.
We’re going to discuss the latter.
Forecasting demand isn’t always possible due to the volatility created by the pandemic. However, you can focus on delivering the transparency and customer experience your clients’ demand. You can do this by being open and clear about your sourcing and fulfillment processes.
With a customer-centric focus, you’re putting a ton of effort into delivering the best customer experience possible. This will aid in retaining customers and attracting new ones.
For instance, if your target customers are eco-friendly, you can provide information about how your ingredients are sourced. Or if they are proud of USA-made products, you can focus on working with more American suppliers.
These strategies are great for enhancing CX, but there’s another area you don’t want to slack in: customer support.
Having a call center to manage customers is essential. But, having one onsite can eat up resources (people, time, and money). The next best thing is to use a call center as a service (CCaaS).
There are several reasons why CCaaS transformation is essential in sourcing and procurement. For one, it’s essential to creating alignment in procurement. Without alignment, information is siloed between departments (for example, does the CIO know where all of the IT spend is going?), which can lead to severely underbudgeting the project.
The business unit executives will become frustrated that no one’s delivering a market-leading customer experience, and the CFO will be displeased that the business case lacks a multi-year technology and people efficiency.
What could’ve been the biggest win of the year turns into nothing more than a failed attempt to fund a POC for new software.
The problem is that procurement professionals want to be heroes, but rather than taking action, they’re continuing to dwell in chaos. Often, there’s no effective communication with those who can help build the business case and bring it to the C-suite.
Convincing the C-suite to adopt CCaaS is possible when you can adequately showcase the business case for it. There are several ways you can garner their attention.
For example, adopting CCaaS provider offers several benefits:
The ultimate business case is that CCaaS transformation can improve the customer experience and everyone can agree this is essential.
When you can solidify the business case, it helps get everyone on board and proactive about the timeline and decisions. This will ensure goals are accomplished efficiently, which will ultimately lead to cost-reduction.
There are several CCaaS vendors out there, but not all are created equal. Vendors will come with slick pitch decks that can hide missing functionality organizations need, and by the time the right questions are being asked during implementation, it’s too late. Utilizing a trusted advisor that knows what to ask vendors is an imperative. At ACLIVITI, you’re not just hiring a CCaaS advisor—you’re gaining a business partner.
We help create alignment between the C-suite, business unit executives, CIO, and CFO by creating a singular decision framework and a supporting business case/cash flow model, and we help ensure you are asking the right questions to your potential vendors.
If you’d like to see how we can assist with your CCaaS transformation, then contact us today.