Customer experience is evolving. Following the pandemic, your clients will be less forgiving of sub-par customer service – particularly now they’re used to receiving faster, more convenient support from virtually every channel. To survive in this evolving environment, companies need tools for CX capable of transforming just as quickly as customer trends.
Cloud CX technologies allow companies to access highly flexible, innovative tools for connecting with customers, adapting to suit their changing needs. These tools often include everything from CCaaS systems (Contact Centre as a Service) to CRM technology, helpdesk tools, and loyalty apps.
The question is, with so many cloud CX options available, how do you compare technology for a better investment in 2022? Here are some quick steps to help.
Step 1: Decide on Your Path to Cloud
According to Deloitte, more than 90% of global enterprises will rely on hybrid cloud by 2022 for managing things like customer experience. This means the majority of companies will be relying on a variety of cloud-based tools, often mixed with on-premises services.
Before you can begin looking into cloud CX opportunities, you’ll need to determine what your path to the cloud should look like. This starts with examining how you’re going to approach the cloud environment. You may need to keep some of your investments on-premises, such as certain contact centre solutions. This could mean looking for innovative cloud technologies which can still integrate with your on-premises systems.
If you’re ready to migrate fully to the cloud, you’ll also want to find a cloud CX technology provider capable of helping you with the transition.
Step 2: Look at your Cloud CX Options
The term “cloud CX” is a broad one in today’s innovative customer experience environment. For many companies, the foundation of this technology investment will be in the cloud contact centre, or Contact Centre as a Service technology. CCaaS systems will allow your business to continue reaching out to customers and responding to their needs wherever they are, even in a hybrid work environment.
Outside of CCaaS, there’s also a host of other cloud CX solutions available, such as:
- Cloud CRM: A cloud customer relationship management tool provides companies with an open and flexible environment for collecting information about a specific audience. This tool can often integrate with other essential CX systems and provide insights into customer journeys.
- Help and service desks: Service and help desks provide customers with a wide variety of valuable tools for tracking customer requests, raising support tickets, and managing help-related conversations. In the cloud, these systems are accessible anywhere.
- Loyalty tools: CX solutions may also include customer loyalty tools and apps for collecting reviews and testimonials from your target audience. This can help to strengthen your brand reputation.
Step 3: Prioritize Integrations
Today’s employees rely on several valuable tools for connecting with customers and delivering excellent experiences. In this environment, staff members can end up using dozens of different applications daily for everything from customer relationship management to helpdesk FAQ lookups.
One of the easiest ways for companies to improve efficiency, productivity, and performance among their teams is to use integrating tools to create a single pane of glass environment. If your CCaaS system can integrate with your CRM and loyalty tools, your employees don’t have to spend as much time moving between apps to find the information they need.
The best cloud CX tools are open and flexible enough to connect with the ecosystems your employees are already relying on. This can save you a lot of time and effort in the long term. If native integrations aren’t an option, you can always look for APIs and webhooks instead.
Step 4: Address Unique CX Needs
Some businesses have more specific requirements around CX than others. For instance, if you’re involved with the financial landscape, you’ll need to ensure the information you collect on your customers within your CRM is compliant with the latest regulations. The same goes for those in the healthcare and educational landscapes.
When implementing the latest cloud CX offerings for your business, it’s worth looking into which vendors and business leaders deliver apps and tools specifically suited to your industry. You may even find providers which offer loyalty apps for healthcare or service desks for government agencies.
Make a list of your unique service and support requirements in advance, and keep this in mind when you’re shopping for the right systems. If you can’t spot specialist technology for your industry, consider reaching out to the vendors you’re most interested in working with.
Step 5: Always Ensure Ease of Use
Finally, just because you want to invest in the latest cloud CX solutions for your team, shouldn’t mean you end up overwhelming your employees with a selection of tools and services they can’t figure out how to use. As the world of customer experience management becomes increasingly digital, business leaders will need to think about how they can make their tools as accessible as possible to their teams.
Crucially, it’s worth remembering that your hybrid and remote working staff won’t always have access to technical experts and IT staff to help them out with installing tools and figuring out common problems. The easier your tools are to use, provision, and manage in a cloud environment, the more likely they are to benefit from rapid and global adoption.
You could even consider looking into training and support tools available from the company you’re acquiring your technology from, to see whether they can help you get your employees up-to-date on how to use the new services.
