Cloud for Comms – Centralise to Build Better Customer Relationships
Cloud computing is a fully established and proven approach to delivering a variety of enterprise applications. Its potential to fulfil fundamental storage and computing power requirements are well understood, as well as its role in supporting the delivery of a growing number of software applications. As ‘Software-as-a-Service’ (SaaS) offerings become increasingly viable for smaller businesses, could now be the time to consider the customer communications benefits?
Over the past decade, ‘the cloud’ has transformed the IT landscape by giving businesses a new way of buying software and computing resources. Compared to on-premise deployments, the SaaS model provides greater flexibility, requires less investment in equipment, reduces internal support requirements and ensures users are always working with the latest version of the software. For most businesses, all of these factors are likely to have a direct positive impact on business efficiency and costs.
Although initially associated with storage and database management applications, customer management and communications services are increasingly available via the SaaS model. Taking the cloud-hosted approach allows businesses to centralise communications – both electronic and physical – potentially eliminating the need for specifying and maintaining dedicated infrastructure and hardware.
Although SME organisations that send limited volumes of customer communications will find the SaaS model particularly cost effective, there are a wealth of other benefits. Taking the SaaS approach will enable companies to implement new communication strategies and campaigns more rapidly and with less hassle than with manual or disparate traditional means. On top of this, since less employee time and effort needs to be spent the technical aspects, businesses can divert human resources to more valuable activities.
Managing communications centrally with multi-channel communications software also helps reduce risks like sending confusing, conflicting or unwanted correspondence. With the right system in place, businesses gain a high degree of control and visibility over customer interactions – while also giving customers a high degree of control over how and when they are contacted.
By enabling businesses to send their customers more targeted, personalised and customised messages via their preferred channel – without risking customer confusion or dissatisfaction – multi-channel communications platforms are helping businesses to develop closer, longer-lasting relationships with their customers, while also complying with crucial regulatory requirements.
For more information on this topic read this Business Info article and learn about Quadient’s own Impress software solution.
