Using Your Technology to Overcome Business Challenges

Now at the tail-end of a global pandemic that turned our worlds upside-down for the better part of two years, organizations across the world are recognizing an entirely new set of challenges to overcome.

Consumer demands are evolving day by day, and as we continue to enjoy loosening COVID restrictions, the way we work and address those demands will never be the same. In order to remain competitive, business owners and IT managers across all industries must adapt and utilize features of their telecommunications system to thrive.

Client Expectations are Routinely Evolving

Customer service is a little bit like the phrase “if you give them an inch, they’ll take a mile”. As technologies evolve to allow businesses to provide even better customer service, suddenly your customers expect even more.

After over a year of heightened stress, when almost everything felt business-critical, those expectations only rose. Customers were simply experiencing more problems and obstacles themselves, and expected almost immediate, personalized care from their providers. As a provider with many customers, that easily became one of the biggest, earliest, and longest-standing new challenges.

As a business owner or manager, fear not. Your telecommunications system should come equipped with advanced features perfect to help you address the evolving needs of your customers. Don’t have a powerful cloud-based phone system? Check out our list of VoIP features and contact our team of dedicated tech consultants today.

Once you get under the hood of your VoIP system, you can use features like our advanced reporting and analytics to dive into the nitty gritty of your business. The more you can understand about how your business really operates on a day to day basis, the better you can address your customer needs. For example, take a look at when you have the highest call volume, are you adequately staffed? Are many of your calls shorter than you think they ought to be? Are callers following your IVR or abandoning it? These are all questions your VoIP system can answer for you.

The Rise of Remote Work

Another glaring obstacle to overcome as of late is the rise of remote work, which is here to stay. Though the noticeable rise in productivity, increased morale for employees, and reduced operating costs for business owners, a remote workforce does come with its cons as well.

Chief amongst them obviously being the inability to meet in person for efficient conflict resolution. Be it technical difficulties, a brainstorming session, team-building, or hammering out the final details of an important proposal, meeting in person just sometimes cannot be beat.

Fortunately, a reliable cloud-based communications system can easily give you the next best thing, digitally bridging gaps and connecting worlds. Not only that, but a powerful, industry leading VoIP phone system can provide the advanced call center features your business needs to weather this storm and beyond.

Manage your cloud phone system and monitor it, in real-time from one desktop and mobile application. Add new users instantaneously as your business scales. Make and receive high-quality calls and video meetings from anywhere in the world. While it may not be the same as sharing an office, you can rest assured that you telecommunications system is working hard for you.

Support your employees and business needs at this time by upgrading your connectivity. Consider switching to 5G, scaling up, or fortifying your network with Next Generation SD-WAN and built in firewalls. 

Increased Focus on Security and Technology

Internet scams and attacks are as old as the internet itself. As the world wide web has expanded and grown in sophistication, so too have the bad actors who execute these dangerous attacks.

Today, identifying a malicious email can be almost impossible, with cyber criminals embedding viruses in new and clever ways. Through the use of social listening, they can gain access to your personal devices. From there, they’ll observe the conversations you have with people close to you and replicate a real correspondence almost exactly. The sophistication of these phishing attacks and data breaches can be truly overwhelming. The damage they inflict on you personally, or your organization as a whole, can be catastrophic.

Not only are cyber criminals getting savvier, we are collect and share more information online than ever before. Every piece of gated content, every “contact us” form, each discount code and so much more comes at a price. Your personal data. The more we collect, the more criminals can take.

Your customers demand you take proper care of their sensitive data, whether they know you’ve collected it or not. Implementing a secure SD-WAN solution with Next Generation Firewall provides your business with ironclad security built right in (among the dozens of other benefits of switching to SD-WAN).

Keeping up on regulatory scrutinies and compliances, like HIPAA, GDPR, and the FCC, is a good general practice to adopt as well. Stay up to date on a regular basis as laws and regulations evolve to ensure your business remains compliant.

Further Expectations of Transparency

Considering the growing issue that is cyber security and how to combat the sophistication of new attacks, it’s no wonder that customers expect transparency. Wherever and however you collect customer data, you must treat it with care.

In the European Union, the recent passing of the GDPR has designated a framework for collecting and processing personal data. The GDPR sets aside 7 key principles, the first of which includes transparency. The purpose of this first-of-its-kind regulation is so European citizens can fully understand how their data is being used and to easily file a complaint if it has been misused.

Just under three  years after implementation, the GDPR is largely considered to be a success. Though it is regulated by the EU, even US based companies must comply, or risk having their content blocked.

This shift towards a demand for transparency signals a greater shift in personal opinions and values. Your customers will continue to demand transparency, regardless of where you operate or what the law is. You must, at any time, provide documentation proving that you handle customer data appropriately. In essence, you must not only protect their data, but also “show your work.”

As a business owner or data collector yourself, you must find a suitable balance between making data collection easy for you, but impossible for an outsider.

Humanizing the Tech Space

Despite talk of automation, 5G, the internet of things, and various other advancements in technology, you simply can not automate customer service. Your technology should be one tool of many in your customer service toolbox.

Another delicate balance to strike here, customers want automation when it’s convenient, as is the case with IVRs or virtual assistants, but they want a personalized white-glove service as well. It’s not easy to appeal to both, but nothing worth doing is easy anyway.

Put your technology to work for you as you overcome this challenge. Consider employing chatbots, AI, personalized tokens in communication, to name just a few of the options out there for you.

Keep in mind that above all, your customers want simple and relevant customer service. Whether they’re reaching out to you seeking help, or you’re reaching out to them with a marketing communication, be sure that you provide them with easy to understand information on the topic they’re interested in. Bombard them with jargon or information that is unrelated, and you may just turn a customer away.

The Bottom Line

Of course, you understand your customers more than anyone else. Exercise your best judgement. Your technology is just one tool of many to help you overcome some of the challenges facing businesses today.

The challenges plaguing businesses today can be daunting. Having a trusted cloud-based communications partner, like S-NET Communications, can help you overcome them. We have over 50,000 users in our system from over 3,000 organizations. Give us a call today for a free evaluation of your current system, and a demo of truly what your technology can do for your business.