Customer Communications Blog

The organization to consumer relationship is a tricky one. It always has been. In recent years, however, there has been a shift in this dynamic. The shift is one towards more open communication between both parties, deeper transparency, and better access to information. As the digital era has progressed, so too has consumers' ability for independent research. On top of that, the microscope is slowly dialing in on the ‘behind the scenes’ action of big corporations. As such, the days of smoke and mirror shows are dwindling quickly in corporate America, and consumer awareness is evolving as well. All of this leads to a new consumer mindset that’s fueled by more than just finding the cheapest deal, although price still plays a major factor as well. A cross channel communication strategy can be designed to help organizations deliver impactful content and engaging messaging to the appropriate audience even in the digital era.

The economy operates on a balance of consumers and providers, buyers and sellers, if you will. This balance, though, shifts over time. For most of history, really, sellers held most of the power in this dynamic. In the past several decades, however, this power has started to shift into the hands of the buyer. This has come with a series of economic revolutions that typically mirror the relevant social dynamics as well. For example, raw data proves over and over that diversity is an impactful strategy that significantly boosts the bottom line. As such, more and more companies work to become more inclusive, diverse, etc. In regards to customer relations, it then becomes necessary to acknowledge the buying power that consumers hold. In turn, this translates to optimizing customer relations in such a way that your brand delivers an excellent customer experience, this can be achieved by implementing customer communication software.

Efficiency is one of those terms that’s thrown around a lot in the circles of organizational management and leadership. While efficiency is always a central focal point of conversation and a heralded result, there isn’t any one path to creating internal efficiencies. However, there are systems and frameworks that can be installed into organizations that help improve various aspects of operations, and therefore, bolstering organizational efficiency. Efficiency isn’t only important to management, though. Efficiency is also a top priority among the majority of economic demographics; not only in the way of actual operations, but also regarding the speed and fluidity of communications and an organization’s ability to meet consumers where they are. With a consumer base that puts such a heavy emphasis on efficient and time effective communications, organizations need to be equipped to handle a bulk volume of customer communications smoothly and effectively. This is one reason utilizing document creation tools is considered a best practice that simplifies customer communication.

Over the past decade the importance of the customer perception of a brand has increased dramatically. This is in correlation with the rise and spread of the internet, as well as smart technology in general. Regardless though, customers are priceless to any organization. As such, one focal point in modern business operations is building and driving customer engagement. Customer engagement comes in many shapes and forms, but it’s official definition is, “an interaction between an external customer/consumer and an organization through various online or offline channels.” In other words, customer engagement encourages on-going conversation, multiple points of access, and multi-channel communications.

The modern economy is a conglomerate of all the prior economies to todays. An evolved version, if you will. However, there remain remnants of these older economies if you know where to spot them. Customer service, for instance, and more specifically the customer experience is still, today, one of the most vital aspects of running and operating a business. In other words, customer relationships always have, and always will be, a top priority for legitimate business owners. In today’s economy, it’s so vital, in fact, that a single negative customer experience can lead to that customer moving to a competitor. As such, creating a reputation for a highly rated customer experience is a significant advantage in the modern economy.

Using Master Data Management to Close Gaps in Customer Experience Gartner defines master data management (MDM) as “a technology-enabled discipline in which business and IT work together to ensure the uniformity, accuracy, stewardship, semantic consistency and accountability of the enterprise’s official shared master data assets. Master data is the consistent and uniform set of identifiers and extended attributes that describes the core entities of the enterprise including customers, prospects, citizens, suppliers, sites, hierarchies and chart of accounts.” Basically, it means linking all data sources into a single master file that provides a common point of reference.