Apple's 2016 release of the iPhone 7 caused widespread controversy when they removed the headphone jack, rendering it incompatible with traditional audio technology that had been the norm since the 19th century. Apple quickly introduced a new solution to the problem that they'd created: AirPods. While some customers embraced this change, others were frustrated with what they perceived as a company taking away user choice for their own financial gain.
It’s limiting enough when a company makes decisions that dictate which headphones we should buy. But what about when a vendor mandates strategic business decisions such as migrating to a new customer communications management (CCM) software?
At Quadient, we believe that you should be the driver of change in your business. Because of this, our updates and new releases are built with your business needs in mind.
The negative impact of forced migrations
Just as Apple's introduction of the AirPods pushed users toward a new way of listening, some CCM vendors push businesses towards new customer communication software — not necessarily out of customer demand, but as part of their own strategic shift.
Although there are valuable benefits to adopting updated CCM software, an organisation should be able to choose when and how they make the switch. For example, an insurance company might gradually implement new CCM software, starting in their customer service department before expanding to claims management. This phased approach avoids the risk of an abrupt system overhaul that disrupts customer service and overwhelms staff with new technology and processes.
For many businesses, migrating to modern CCM software is an important priority, but a forced migration does not allow enough time to allocate the necessary budget or resources to minimise operational disruption. This is especially true when companies migrate from legacy CCM technology because the infrastructure that’s optimised to their CCM software must be completely overhauled, with new hardware, network configurations, and data management practices complicating the process.
Your CCM software provider can help you to minimise these risks by giving your business the flexibility to decide whether migrating to new software is the right choice and, if so, when it makes sense to transition and how that transition will be managed. By forcing businesses to migrate their CCM software before they’re ready, vendors put pressure on IT leaders to execute poorly organised, rushed migrations that have the potential to cause massive disruption to your customers.
The importance of a fully committed CCM provider
Some providers are more committed to the CCM space than others. There are CCM software providers that buy products with a focus on expanding their product portfolio and collecting maintenance fees from businesses. This results in them prioritising profit over customer value. Other CCM vendors adopt a more customer-centric approach, strategically acquiring best-in-class technology to drive increasing value for businesses that invest in their solution.
If providers aren’t fully committed to the products and services that they charge users for, they tend to let customers down by discontinuing products that bring real value, without providing a clear migration path to a new CCM solution.
Yes, change is inevitable, and technology is always advancing, but your business should be able to decide when and how to migrate to different solutions that better serve your business. The focus of a CCM software provider should be investing in and improving product value for customers, not putting them under undue operational and financial pressure.
If a migration is necessary and in the best interest of your business, the onus should be on the software provider to provide a clear migration path and technical assistance to minimise disruption to your customer communication management.
What does an alternative look like?
If your organisation is being forced to migrate to new CCM software that doesn’t align with your current needs, it’s a good time to consider other solutions that will bring greater value to your business.
Here’s what that could look like:
- Flexibility to choose if or when your business migrates to new CCM software, with a range of deployment options to give you full control.
- A provider with a demonstrated commitment to increase product value for your business. Knowing that any upgrades are driven by user feedback and are designed to make the product more valuable for your organisation.
- Confidence that, when changes are coming, they’re announced to your business directly and well in advance. Proactive assistance from the provider means they do the lion’s share of work needed to implement upgrades and new features, taking the burden off your team.
- First-class customer support that you can rely on, with comprehensive support documentation and responsive teams based in your region.
Choose a CCM provider that’s got your business’ best interests in mind. Look for a strong vendor, as well as the best software.
Questions to ask:
- What inspires product and feature roadmaps?
- What are the customer service scores?
- What demonstrated commitment has the vendor got to expanding its CCM capabilities?
- How many customers continue to use the vendor’s software because they struggle to migrate away from it?
How integrated is the vendor’s product suite? Was it built to work together or were components stitched together as a result of acquisitions?
Why customers choose Quadient Inspire
Quadient maintains regular contact with businesses that use Inspire, our CCM software. Not only is this an integral part of our post-sales support, but we also use feedback as continuous inspiration for our product roadmaps. That way, product changes are built with business’ specific requirements in mind. This is one of the reasons why Quadient has a 98% customer satisfaction rating, and a 97% post-support call satisfaction rating.
Quadient is fully committed to the CCM and customer experience management (CXM) space, with new products being released and updates bringing businesses additional value — as often as every 2 months. Our customer journey mapping, performance tracking, and data collection features are some of the capabilities that make Quadient the only true end-to-end CCM solution.
Businesses don’t stick with Quadient Inspire because we make it hard to leave. They stick with us because we provide exceptional customer service and provide them with the flexibility they need, including a fully integrated product suite and deployment options from on-premise, public cloud, private cloud, and a hosted managed service solution.
