Advisors: Help customers navigate today’s tricky CX landscape and reap the rewards

Strategy & Best Practices

Advisors: Help customers navigate today's tricky CX landscape and reap the rewards

By Denise Sarazin / March 28, 2024

Customer expectations of a great experience are at an all-time high. Consumers want brands to recognize them as individuals, understand their preferences, and tailor offerings accordingly. They're more discerning than ever, swift to move on to another vendor, and vocal about their experiences. Studies reveal that a staggering 60% of consumers switch brands after just one or two negative interactions, but a positive encounter prompts 81% of consumers to become brand advocates.

These expectations are equally prevalent in the B2B context. 80% of B2B buyers expect the same experience they receive as a consumer, although 65% feel their vendors don't adequately understand their needs.

This surge in CX expectations isn't limited to customers. Behind the scenes, employees are grappling with outdated technology and an array of disconnected applications, hindering productivity and exacerbating stress levels. Only 26% believe they have the tools necessary to work effectively. Research suggests that a startling 80% of employees are ready to jump ship in favor of companies offering superior technology stacks.

With so much of a business' success riding on customer experience, this is the time for advisors to take steps to understand the CX market, their customers' needs, and how to help them succeed.

Powering up with strong CX pays high growth dividends

Businesses that prioritize CX are far more likely to see robust growth. Research indicates that businesses that focus on CX experience an impressive 80% increase in revenue, and a 4-8% boost in revenue compared to their competitors. Furthermore, customer spending increases by 140% following a positive experience, according to a Forrester study.

On the employee front, engaged employees are 21% more productive and have a 59% lower chance of leaving their jobs, according to a 2023 Gallup study. Companies that deploy UCaaS and other CX solutions generate greater employee satisfaction and are better poised to succeed in achieving their overall company objectives.

Tapping the explosive CX market-From Cloud to AI, opportunities abound for advisors

The rise of a distributed and remote workforce is accelerating the demand for cloud communications-a market expected to grow to $33.88B by 2028. This means more adoption of smart mobile devices, huge advancements in collaboration tools, and a push towards bring your own device (BYOD) policies.

To understand the opportunity and the demand for flexible and scalable CX solutions, consider these trends:

• The premises-to-cloud market is largely untapped at only 15-20%, leaving a huge market for advisors to exploit.

• The Generative AI market is poised to explode, projected to reach a staggering $1 trillion by 2031, with an impressive compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 48.05%

• Meanwhile, the shift towards AI in IT spending is predicted to be swift and dramatic, revolutionizing industry practices and driving innovation across every industry and type of application

• The cloud communication platform market size is expected to more than double between 2023 and 2028, reaching USD $33.88 in 2028, at a CAGR of 18.44% during that period

As businesses scramble to meet increasing CX demands, a world of opportunity has opened up. Advisors who aspire to be their customer's single trusted partner should consider CX as an essential component of their offer, along with connectivity, SaaS, cloud infrastructure, security, managed services, mobility & IoT, and energy. Building CX into your portfolio will enable you to increase your share of wallet, gain recurring revenue streams, and increase your value to your customers.

CX as a path to new revenue opportunities-Build customer value, increase your commissions

Building CX into your portfolio will enable you to:

Increase your share of wallet-Integrating CX services into your proposals and their roadmap will help your customers adapt to an increasingly remote workforce. As they explore and adopt new solutions, you'll benefit from a larger share of their spending.

Gain recurring revenue streams-Offer customers solutions from a diverse portfolio to stay ahead of their evolving business needs. For example, complement their traditional telecom services with unified communications as a service (UCaaS), contact center as a service (CCaas), or communication platform as a service (CPaaS) solutions.

Increase your value to your customers-Solidify your position as a trusted partner and increase customer loyalty by providing customers with a one-stop shop for their diverse technology needs, from connectivity to cloud.

Help your customers solve four persistent CX challenges, and watch your business grow

Businesses today face a number of system and process hurdles that hinder their ability to create a great experience for their customers.

Here are four key CX-affecting challenges your customers face and areas where you can guide them towards a better experience:

• Outdated equipment-Companies need to automate and upgrade existing infrastructure and/or migrate workloads to the cloud to increase customer satisfaction and employee productivity.

• Disjointed systems-Companies need to unify their multi-cloud environments and BYOD culture by integrating cloud communication and collaboration platforms.

• Multiple locations-Distributed employees need a common communication experience, ensuring seamless connectivity regardless of user location.

• Lack of skills and resources-Companies can reduce operational expenses by outsourcing expertise to make CX purchasing decisions and maintain their infrastructure.

As an advisor, you can work with your customers to build a roadmap with solutions to address each of these customer challenges. Our Back Office and AppDirect CX specialists can guide you, recommend the right solutions, and provide expertise from pre-sales through to implementation and beyond.

Become a full-stack advisor for UCaaS, CCaaS, and CPaaS to create stickier customers empowered with next-level CX

Our tech wheel is a great way to visualize the importance of CX in your customer's technology stack.

To create a comprehensive CX solution to meet your customers' challenges, address their unique requirements in these three main categories: UCaaS, CCaaS, and CPaaS.

• UCaaS (unified communications as a service)-Cloud-based platform for integrated communication tools, improving collaboration across locations

• CCaaS (contact center as a service)-Cloud solution for customer contact centers with features like automatic call distribution and omnichannel support, to enhance customer service

• CPaaS (communication platform as a service)-Extensible communications platforms that enable developers to leverage APIs to integrate into existing solutions or add features

Following are a few real-life examples of how AppDirect can help advisors transition into holistic consultants for Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS), CPaaS, and Contact Center as a Service (CCaaS):

• Navigating a global migration to UCaaS-An enterprise operating on a global scale confronted the intimidating task of switching from a legacy PBX system to a modern UCaaS solution. Hindered by disjointed systems and an absence of central management capabilities, they sought strategic guidance and support for implementation. Through comprehensive back office support, the enterprise successfully transitioned their managed provider's phone system to the cloud. The resulting benefits were twofold, with significant costs savings and the elimination of maintenance hassles. The UCaaS solution centralized management, enabling seamless adjustments via a single portal. Furthermore, the use of geo-routing algorithms facilitated swift, high-fidelity communication across international sites, minimizing latency.

• Achieving personalization through CPaaS-Serving diverse customer experience needs across multiple industries requires tailored and personalized solutions. By leveraging CPaaS solutions, AppDirect can help advisors deliver more customized and unified customer experience solutions for clients. Industry-specific APIs built into popular CX solutions integrate with a customer's backend system to give employees the tools they need to resolve issues much more quickly. As an example, an API-enhanced communication integration can create a single platform for collaboration. This translates to using customization capabilities to create a seamless communication hub where team members can engage, share resources, and brainstorm ideas without hopping between multiple standalone tools.

• Harnessing the power of artificial intelligence for CCaaS-One organization was facing a drain on productivity due to tedious password resets and resource-intensive customer interactions, necessitating more streamlined operations. AI-powered chatbots and routing systems helped enhance customer service. This strategy not only trimmed response times but also amplified self-service options and drove efficiency using data-driven insights.

These instances underscore how the adoption of CX solutions can revolutionize operational protocols, leading to enhanced productivity, significant cost savings, and improved customer relations. Through strategic guidance and seamless implementation, advisors can open up fresh growth opportunities, enabling businesses to accomplish their targeted goals.

Partner up to succeed on your CX journey

You don't need to become a CX expert overnight to get started. Help is available from AppDirect in the following essential areas:

Extending your sales team to help you sell-With AppDirect, you're supported by a dedicated team of product and technology experts, including solution engineers and architects, to amplify your sales of customer experience solutions. These specialists enhance your team's capabilities, offering expert advice throughout the sales process-from engaging providers to deal registration, demonstration, quoting, and post-sales support. Coupled with our comprehensive training, such as live workshops and CX specific learning paths (coming soon), you're on your way to CX success.

An extensive CX portfolio features industry-leading solutions from top-tier providers- like RingCentral, Vonage, Zoom, and Nextiva. Our tailored solutions combat inefficient equipment and communication fragmentation. With our vendor-agnostic approach, you get access to industry giants in UCaaS and CCaaS.

Extensive training and customer marketing toolkits -You get easy access to educational resources and tools to help you sell, including a customer marketing toolkit that includes essential assets-data sheets, pitch decks, selling guides, and comparison guides. These tools are designed to empower you with the necessary knowledge to not only elevate your CX skill set, but also to drive success. Access these resources from our CX Solutions page.

Need additional help? Contact your CSM. Not an advisor? Sign up now to get started!

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