The inTelligenT crM: pervaSive, preciSe, and More perSonalized

Advanced device detection capability in the customer relationship management platform ensures near instant access to information and intelligence from this data. This helps the service agent attending the call to quickly understand the root of the problem

A– meaningful relationship with the customer ensures not just a happy customer, but longterm value for the business – translating into better returns. This relationship paradigm has become starkly apparent the fiercely competitive world of mobile telephony – where consumers are extremely tech-savvy and demand really high levels of service. Walking away from an unsatisfactory situation is always an option for the customer.

For the operator, there is a very small window of opportunity in this moment to create stickiness, to add a personal touch. We have started to recognize these moments of magic. Real-time resolutions followed by a genuine focus on the customer’s real requirements and suggesting alternatives to fulfil them are at the heart of the next generation customer centricity initiatives.

Let’s consider a real-life scenario.Incensed at poor data download speeds on a brand new data connection, a customer calls up the telecom operator’s helpline number. Advanced device detection capability in the customer relationship management (CRM) platform ensures near instant access to information and intelligence from this data. The service agent attending the call is able to quickly understand the root of the problem. It is the customer’s own device - an older feature phone. Handsets of this kind can be a bottleneck in sustaining and maintaining higher speeds of data download. As the agent reels out these details – the make, features, capabilities of the device in use and the need for change – it pleasantly surprises the customer. Happy at the resolution and inspired by the display of knowledge by the agent, this is the beginning of a meaningful relationship.

The 3 Ps of CRM

The evolution of CRM will be largely driven by three trends. These include shared ownership of customer relationships across the organisation; the need to convert dispersed and diverse data into simple, coherent, exact insights that are actionable in real-time; the increasing consumer demand for personalized products and services. The 3 Ps that will largely define customer relationships, therefore, include:

Pervasiveness: What is true in life, is even more so with customer relationships. An individual is more likeable if they listen first and talk second. In the era of 24-hour news cycles and social media, this is hard. Technology can help but only if you let it and it is possible to get lost in reams of big and small insights that are generated on social media and other platforms. Herein lies the secret to making magic, companies need to have a structure in place to ensure that every team is locked in to generate outcomes from such insights.

Too often, the efforts will be concentrated on a particular subset because people responsible for technology are tied to a single business function. Customer centricity requires every part of the organisation to participate. CRM as a function has started to become more pervasive across enterprises with each employee having a role to play in establishing and sustaining customer relationships. It has, therefore, never been more critical to engage employees first so that they can reflect your brand vision. Sharing with your employees your vision, your plans and how you are listening to your customers, makes them better equipped to support your mission.

Precision: As analytics invade the enterprise, specialists will look for patterns and predictions that are more