By now, you may know all about how CRM software can help streamline and simplify customer interactions by providing a central database for contact management. Yet, while organization is a critical part of a successful outreach program, equally important is leveraging your CRM investment to equip employees with the tools and knowledge they need to directly drive more effective engagement.
These days, staying competitive and building brand loyalty takes more than a dynamic product or service. You may be the best in the business, but if your customers aren’t fully engaged with your brand, you may miss out on myriad opportunities for growth. In fact, a recent Gallup poll reveals that customers who are fully and actively engaged represent an average 24 percent premium in terms of wallet share, profitability, revenue, and relationship growth compared with the average customer. In contrast, actively disengaged customers represent a 19% discount on these measures.
The key to maximizing employee reach lies in making sure your teams have access to the latest technology designed to help them meet their performance goals. Disparate systems requiring multiple log-ins won’t cut it, nor will outdated, unreliable legacy solutions. While delivering a top-notch customer experience is the end goal of virtually any organization, such capability is not possible without first delivering an equally superior employee experience. Yet, according to IDC’s recent Experience Survey 2015, 69.4 percent of companies don’t measure such metrics at all, leaving factors such as business processes and impacts, corporate strategy, and task-related challenges unchecked.
Thankfully, making the shift to improved employee engagement doesn’t require an overhaul of existing best practices. Below are some quick tips to boost efficiencies and encourage user adoption of new technologies:
Make the Move to Mobile
Chances are, your employees are on the go, and even if they aren’t, mobile communication can prove invaluable for improving workplace flexibility, not to mention vastly expanding the outreach opportunities afforded to your teams. A recent Bluewolf report reveals that 45 percent of companies plan to increase their investments in mobile technology over the coming year, and for good reason—thanks to such capability, knowledge sharing and collaboration across the enterprise has never been easier.
Consider Gamification Integration
While still a relatively new concept, gamification is quickly gaining ground as an effective way to encourage employee participation and technology use. In fact, Gartner predicts that by 2015, 50 percent of companies who manage innovation processes will gamify those processes. Designed to engage and motivate employees to perform certain actions, often through a series of rewards, a majority include integration into existing CRM systems, making it easier than ever to streamline activities—and keep them fun.
Train for the Long-Term
Technology changes every day, and so too does the way your teams interact with it. Keep operations fresh and ensure everyone’s up to speed by establishing a routine for cross-channel training and communication. In addition, consider implementing an advisory group comprised of representatives from each department that can report on user adoption, suggest new scenarios, and discuss any challenges their team is facing.
Your employees are the voice of your organization—and your most valuable asset. Making sure they have access to the functionality they require to attract, retain, and support new opportunities isn’t just a nice-to-have business feature; it’s vital to corporate longevity, and the first step might just be the easiest—leveraging your existing CRM investment to discover new applications and use cases that can drive stronger—and smarter—employee engagement.
Sources:
Berridge, Eric, “Improve Outcomes By Connecting The Employee And Customer Experience,” Bluewolf, August 10, 2015, http://www.bluewolf.com/blog/improve-outcomes-connecting-employee-and-customer-experience.
“Gartner Says By 2015, More Than 50 Percent of Organizations That Manage Innovation Processes Will Gamify Those Processes,” Gartner Press Release, April 12, 2011, http://www.gartner.com/newsroom/id/1629214.
Hinchcliffe, Dion and Steve Atler, “Improving the customer and employee experience with gaming technology,” PriceWaterhouseCoopers Technology Forecast, 2012, Issue 3, http://www.pwc.com/us/en/technology-forecast/2012/issue3/features/feature-gaming-technology-improve-business.jhtml.
Thompson, Vanessa, “The Disconnect Between Customer and Employee Experience: IDC EXPERIENCES Survey 2015,” June 23, 2015, https://idc-community.com/groups/it_agenda/social-business/the_disconnect_between_customer_and_employee_experience_idc_experien.
Yu, Daniela, Linda Lyons and Amy Adkins, “Unleashing the Power of the Purse,” Gallup, October 17, 2014, p.3
NOTE FROM THE PRESIDENT
