Communication is at the heart of all human interactions, and consequently, it can either make or break a company. From enhancing employee engagement and collaboration to building customer relationships, effective communication is fundamental to business success.
By James Bayhack, sub-Saharan Africa director at CM.com
Given the current crisis and its drastic impact on business operations and workplace safety, clear and consistent communication becomes even more critical during times of uncertainty. Keeping your employees and customers in the loop offers a much-needed sense of stability in an unsettling landscape – something that will help your organisation to come out stronger on the other side.
Unlocking performance benefits
Communications Platform as a Service (CPaaS) providers offer cloud-based delivery systems that allow real-time communication capabilities to be added to existing business applications. This can include video, voice and text messaging services. While this service has only recently received traction in Kenya, it is a global phenomenon that uses cloud technology to offer unparalleled operational advantages.
By enabling effective customer and workforce communication, CPaaS solutions have the power to accelerate businesses in all sectors, of all sizes and from anywhere. Having an omnichannel platform for operations empowers enterprises with a new level of agility in trying circumstances.
How? CPaaS removes any complication from communication, allowing you to seamlessly connect and engage with your employees and customers – whether it’s with automatically triggered emails when a customer abandons their cart, delivery notifications or a simple birthday SMS. With SMS, email and messaging channels like WhatsApp Business integrated into one platform, you can communicate across the channels that are most convenient for your business and customers.
CPaaS providers allow you to communicate with employees and customers, no matter where they are, to optimise productivity, saving your company time and money.
Elevating customer service
Better workforce communication also has a positive knock-on effect on customer service and satisfaction. Establishing a culture of open communication results in engaged employees who are more motivated and aligned with the business’s values and goals. This is integral to the success of all teams – especially if they are customer facing. By empowering employees with effective communication strategies and tools, they can collaborate better.
Creating a central hub for customer communication and employee collaboration will go a long way to eliminating siloed working approaches and keeping employees informed. With CPaaS platforms, employees can access all the information they need related to customer engagement in one place. Instead of wasting time looking for the status of a query, everything is immediately shared and easily accessible.
Cloud technology also allows employees to work together on documents, allowing everyone to contribute without the inconvenience of emailing files and the inevitable hassle that results when someone edits the wrong version. Plus, web-based cloud contact centres mean that more than one customer service agent can deal with customer queries from multiple platforms all in one place. Queries are less likely to slip through the cracks and they can be assigned to different agents.
This open access to information improves customer interactions at all levels, helping service agents to assist customers more quickly and to better understand their issues. Customers will then feel understood and valued, which is the foundation of long-term customer relationships and retention.
Staying productive and building relationships with your customers is critical if your business is to compete – and thrive – in a saturated market. Change and growth start from the inside out, so enhancing your workforce communication is an ideal starting point. Partnering with a CPaaS provider that can equip your company with the necessary communication tools is a wise investment on the journey to business success.