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How CRM Automation Can Help Boost Your Marketing ROI
Over the past two years, digital engagement hit a tipping point, with more customer interactions taking place online than in the real world. This rapid digital acceleration was initially seen as a temporary measure to compensate for the pandemic and its associated restrictions. As time has passed, though, it has become clear that it’s here to stay.
The stratospheric rise of the digitally driven market has generated and continues to generate unfathomable amounts of customer data. This data can cover the whole buying journey, from the initial search all the way to the post-sale follow-up. For marketers, this data is largely useless unless it’s put to effective use.
That is where automation comes in. When fed into and optimised through a customer relationship management (CRM) platform, that data can be automated in a variety of ways that directly improve your marketing ROI. The good news is that automation doesn’t have to be complicated and there are several things you can do to get started right now.
Automation’s many paths to improved ROI
The pot of gold for marketers in 2022 will be forming the deepest possible relationship with the individual customer, often without the luxury of face-to-face interaction.
The only way to achieve such intimacy is through a comprehensive and dynamic view of that customer’s digital behaviour. This is exactly what Marketing Cloud offers. It takes customer data from a range of sources and creates actionable insights for you to take forward.
Here are some of the many rewards reaped by automation tools:
Improve customer satisfaction
Marketing Cloud allows you to understand everything about your customer. This knowledge allows you to identify their unique wants and needs. You can then show them content, assets, and messaging at the right time in the right channel.
In other words, the customer is getting exactly what they want, when they want it.
Attract return customers
A continuation of that benefit is the ability to attract return customers. As you’re able to provide such granular personalisation, relationships become ongoing and open-ended. Within Marketing Cloud, you’re able to make use of applications such as Email Studio, Journey Builder, and Interaction Studio. Each of these offer unique ways to nurture personalised customer experiences at every touch point.
Boost lead conversion rates
Personalisation based on in-depth data means higher levels of customer engagement. The more customers you engage through automation, the more leads you’re able to convert.
Foster customer loyalty
Marketing Cloud’s Loyalty Management application gives you the ability to automate personalised loyalty programmes. Add this to the opportunities for personalised shopping experiences provided by Commerce Cloud, and you have a powerful combo to foster customer loyalty.
Accelerate speed of execution
Not only is setting up automation simple, but thanks to the degree of automation available to you, you’re able to work faster, which frees up more time to focus on other important tasks.
Optimise ad buying
Thanks to highly customisable audience automation, you can feed segments directly into the world’s largest social media platforms. Segmentation is also an automated breeze, as you can ask the CRM to find customers similar to your best customers. Alternatively, you can stop showing ads to newly acquired leads, then funnel them into a new segment, saving you money.
The integration jackpot!
Marketing Cloud integrates with a group of specialised LIKE.TG applications, each one designed to deepen your relationship with customers and improve marketing ROI. LIKE.TG’s newest application that integrates with Marketing Cloud is Customer Data Platform (CDP). It allows even more powerful data-driven insights for deeper personalisation, to the point where you can get to know and cater to the individual customer.
When looking at the data sources that feed into Marketing Cloud, the world is your oyster. Whether you’re using Sales Cloud, another CRM platform, or even disconnected data points such as contact information, that data can be fed into Marketing Cloud. In other words, if you’ve got some data from somewhere, you can bring it in, work with it, and use it as the basis for automation.
Getting on board the automation train
If you’re new to the automation of marketing data, the prospect can seem a little overwhelming. Before you start, it’s important to know which kinds of marketing data can be automated. The short answer is almost everything. If you can write a process down on paper, then you can automate it.
A helpful way to determine what requires automation is to take a forensic look at your current processes and operations. Note down what is taking up the most time in the execution of campaigns, and target these first. For example, finding similarities between individual customers and creating segmented audiences can take a huge amount of time without automation. The task here is to do your research and due diligence, look for these procedural weaknesses, and determine what can be automated through Marketing Cloud.
Another way to frame your plan of attack is to analyse your existing data sources. For sales, if you’re relying on online spreadsheets that don’t talk to each other, you might benefit from feeding that data into a CRM such as Sales Cloud, then integrating it with Marketing Cloud. Similarly, if you’re using disconnected data sources to track individual metrics, you may look into consolidating those into a single source.
Whatever the case may be, know that if your data pipeline is siloed and unwieldy, there are ways to bring it all together to achieve a single source of truth.
Don’t rush, or be a prisoner of the moment
A common pitfall for organisations who discover the power of automation is that they attempt to do too much at once.
These platforms are operational investments and are designed to become mainstays of your business. Therefore, you should start slowly and really dig into your existing processes and systems. This should allow you to understand which product or combination of products will best serve your objectives.
That aside, these products can only serve you if your data is of a high quality. A CRM gives you a database of past purchases, as well as demographic data, customer preferences, key contacts, and any problems that the customer may have encountered. High-quality CRMs take it even further, tracking clients and leads as they progress through the marketing pipeline. The better the quality of your data, the more you’ll be able to benefit from automation, and the more your marketing ROI will improve.
Read about how Marketing Cloud has helped other businesses automate their marketing.
Digital Transformation Advice From a LIKE.TG Expert
In order to meet shifting customer expectations, many businesses have had to accelerate their digital transformation.
Perhaps you’ve already identified that your business is ready for digital transformation, and you’ve put together your digital transformation strategy. What’s next?
In this interview, we speak to Vijay Iyer, Director Solution Engineering at LIKE.TG. He has over 14 years’ experience with digital transformation, and has guided many organisations on their transformation journeys.
What are the first steps that an organisation should take on their digital transformation journey?
Vijay: “In his article on building a digital transformation strategy, Raphael talked about creating your vision, defining your objectives, and making sure you’re working with the right people. He makes some excellent points, and the first thing I’d like to do is build on some of his thoughts.
“It’s important that businesses have a strong understanding of what digital transformation means for them. It will be different for every organisation. You need to make sure you have consensus across your business on what you are aiming for — that should become your vision.
“Once you have that, your first step should be to align your vision and your objectives to measurable business metrics. For example, your vision for your digital transformation might be that you want to transform the way you engage with customers. So, what are the key metrics that you would use? It could be Net Promoter Score, it could be an engagement score. Whatever you choose, it has to be measurable, and directly related to your vision. There might be more than one metric you need to track, so keep that in mind.
“Teams have to align with your goals, not with technology. Technology itself is not the answer. The way you leverage technology to achieve your business goals is the answer. Make sure you know the answers to these questions: What is the IT team’s job? What is the business team’s job? The sales team’s job? The marketing team’s job? What is HR’s role in the process?
“Finally, you need to define your timeline. Digital transformation projects have the potential to run forever, so you need to make sure that you know the parameters of your project. Set milestones, and assign goals. I’ve seen projects go on and on without a firm timeline in place.”
What role do employees have to play in digital transformation?
Vijay: “Every employee, every sales person, every contact centre service agent, whoever it is, needs to culturally evolve. That is, move away from doing what they used to do before. That’s where bringing HR into the process becomes so valuable; they can help with the cultural transformation. They can create programmes that help employees live the culture of transformation – right from onboarding through to day-to-day activities.
“Many times, businesses train for technology because they think digital transformation means deploying some new tech. But training needs to be multifaceted. Technology is one part of the puzzle. You also need to teach people what’s changed in terms of strategy. Why are we using this technology? What do we need to do from a people and culture standpoint?
“Everyone needs to evolve and become obsessed with the customer. Every member of every team should be asking themselves, ‘how do we make things better for our customers?’
“Don’t forget that your employees, and your customers, are the ones that will decide if you succeed or not. Bring them along on this journey, and listen to them.”
What about digital transformation partners — where do they fit in?
Vijay: “Organisations sometimes fall into the trap of leading with technology. They might be tempted to choose a different partner for each aspect of their technology: AI, CRM, etc. It becomes too complex, and you will never see the results. Working with multiple partners leads to silos.
“I would recommend that you have just one go-to partner, aligned with your transformation. They should help you with defining the structure, defining how to get there, what technology is needed, what processes need to change, what people you need.
“A mistake a lot of organisations make is treating vendors as suppliers, not partners. This is another point where there needs to be a cultural shift. Don’t say ‘you are a vendor, I tell you what I need.’ You should be saying ‘hey partner, tell us what we could be doing together.’
“A good partner will tell customers when they’re going wrong. They’ll say, ‘you’re not ready for this, this is not the time.’ They will help you understand the steps you need to take, and help you see the value in the changes you’ve made. Maybe transformation for you is just moving away from paper. You should cherish that — it’s a massive shift!”
What are some other pitfalls that businesses should look out for?
Vijay: “Don’t try to replicate what you used to do in the past, but in a digital way. That is not transformation. Moving from one technology to another technology is not transformation. Transformation is people transforming the way they do their work.
“Don’t get excited about technology before you have a good foundation. It’s easy to get excited because you heard about some technology that does this or that. But you have to ask yourself, ‘is it aligned to my business metric that I defined in the first step? How impactful is it? How fast is it? What’s my ROI?’ Don’t try to run before you can walk.”
How do we know if we’re making progress?
Vijay: “It all comes back to the business metrics that you defined right at the start of the process. That’s why they’re so important. You can even go more granular to measure progress: What is the adoption rate — are teams actually using the new processes? Are people being more productive?
“If you are a sales-driven organisation, you might be using incentives for your staff to encourage them to engage with your transformation. But how many people are hitting those incentives? If your teams are hitting those targets, that means you are also growing the organisation. Your success is connected to their success.
“Digital talent retention is also important. You may have hired a lot of people. One of the key metrics of success is whether you are able to retain those people. If you hire skilled people, and they commit to your project for the long haul, that means you are doing something right. However, if you’re losing these people, it might mean they can’t see how their efforts are aligned to your vision.
“There is no magic metric called ‘digital transformation progress.’ You can’t say ‘I am at 10% of my transformation.’ Transformation is a continuous process — you have to continue to evolve and grow. If you’re continuing to evolve and grow, you’re transforming.”
For a deeper dive into how to get started on digital transformation, read our digital transformation guide.
5 Tech Trends Shaping the Future of Financial Services
The pandemic has drastically changed the ways banks, insurance providers, and wealth management firms engage with customers and employees.
Customer-centricity, hyper-personalisation, and hybrid work — these are some of the advancements that have come to the fore in financial services. One particular technological advancement is set to disrupt the industry as we know it: Web 3.0.
In simple terms, Web 3.0 is a more decentralised internet, where systems, processes, and data are open-source and less bound by intermediaries. Web 3.0 has the potential to be revolutionary, as it will create efficiencies not imagined before, while making it easier to collaborate and interpret data.
As Web 3.0 is an evolving concept, there is still uncertainty about what it fully means for financial services. However, there’s no denying that as time goes on, the digital experience will only become more connected, open, and transparent. Keeping the customer’s needs at the heart of everything banks, insurers, and wealth managers do will become more critical than ever.
LIKE.TG joined some of the brightest minds in financial services at the recent Singapore FinTech Festival to discuss the future of the industry. Here are five key trends that came up, and what they mean for creating greater customer experiences.
For details on this infographic, please click here.
How One of ASEAN’s Leading Marketers Is Preparing for the Future
According to the seventh edition of our State of Marketing Report, 90% of marketers globally say their organisational priorities have changed since before the pandemic.
Many marketers are embracing technology, data, and measures of success in new ways. They are also changing how they communicate and collaborate at work. While innovation is one of the top priorities for marketers in ASEAN, it’s also one of the top challenges.
To dive a little deeper into these trends, we spoke to Dr. Nicco Tan, Vice President, Marketing at Resorts World Genting. A leading marketer from one of the industries most impacted by the pandemic, Dr. Tan offered a unique perspective on the state of marketing in ASEAN.
Here are highlights from our conversation, including Dr. Tan’s top tips for marketers just beginning their digital transformation journey.
How have your marketing priorities changed since the start of the pandemic?
Nicco: One of the challenges we’ve faced during the pandemic is the uncertainty about when it is going to end. For that reason, we’ve had to carefully manage our resources to ensure we have enough people in customer facing roles, as customers start to come back to the resort.
We’ve also needed to maintain constant contact with our employees, most of whom have been working remotely. We pivoted our use of Marketing Cloud to focus on internal communication, which allowed us to get messages out quickly to employees and keep them informed of what we’re doing to manage this crisis.
With the first round of communications, we reached around 90% of employees and, with a little education, we were soon able to get the rest of our employees used to communicating this way.
How has the pandemic impacted your plans for innovation and digital transformation?
Nicco: The pandemic led many businesses to accelerate their digital transformation. However, those of us within the hospitality industry really had to tighten our belts.
We had to think about social distancing and how to minimise revenue loss, knowing that customers would not return right away.
One industry innovation during this time was the application of Wi-Fi and mapping technologies to monitor foot traffic and manage social distancing.
In the future, we could use the same technologies to identify movement across our property. We could then send customers real-time communication that’s relevant to their location.
How are you getting ready for the reopening of the economy? What role does marketing play in revitalising the tourism and hospitality industry?
Nicco:Many people are ready to get out and start travelling and visit hospitality venues again. As marketers, it is our job to inspire them and that’s why we are shifting our messaging. Safety is still a priority on-site, and people know that we are a trusted brand in terms of safety, so we are amplifying our messaging to focus on inspiring people to travel again, while assuring them that we are making it safe for their visit.
Our upcoming campaign ‘Welcome to My World’ reflects this change in messaging and offers a reminder of what it’s like to travel and visit our hotels and attractions. We’ve enjoyed seeing our visitors return to enjoy the resort.
What are your priorities for the next 12 months? How do you see the future of marketing taking shape?
Nicco: Mobile phone use is growing and people are spending more time on digital channels. So I will be shifting priorities and budget towards these channels to get our messages out.
We will continue to allocate some budget totraditional channels like radio and billboards, because these remain highly trusted by consumers.
What is the most exciting new development you see in your industry?
Nicco: It is exciting to see more collaboration in the industry. A lot of direct competitors are now working together and creating new opportunities for the smaller players especially.
One of the outcomes is an increase in dynamic pricing based on supply and demand. Many larger hotels and hotel chains have used dynamic pricing for some time, but it is more difficult for hotels with a limited number of rooms. However, we are starting to see online travel agents collaborate with the smaller hotels to implement dynamic pricing and level the playing field.
Another thing I see is that there is no customer loyalty anymore. It may be controversial to say that, but I think customers are more concerned about safety and affordability at this point in time. They will make decisions based on price over brand, and trade off convenience for lower-priced alternatives.
What are your top tips for marketers who are beginning their digital marketing transformation?
Nicco: First, I would say don’t be afraid. A lot of marketers have been through this journey and can provide proof of success. So take a leap of faith and if you don’t know what to do, find external resources or a partner to support you.
My second piece of advice is to take it slow. You don’t need to rush into everything and start experimenting in many different areas at once. Instead, go back to basics and ask yourself what’s most important. This will likely mean investing in revenue-generating activities first.
It is also important to have the right mindset. Taking a traditional process and digitising it without improving it is not digital transformation.
What skills should marketers focus on building right now?
Nicco: Data skills are key right now and I am happy to go to meetings today and find my own team using dashboards and talking about analytics. That is not something that happened in the past.
I do think marketers need to be clear about what they are tracking and why, as there can be a tendency to start measuring and analysing everything. They also need to be careful when collecting data that they are not adding unnecessary steps for customers or breaching any privacy policies.
As marketers mature their data skills, they will be able to navigate these things and get more value from the data collected.
LIKE.TG Singapore Leads Among the Best Workplaces in 2021
I am pleased to share that for the seventh year in a row, LIKE.TG has been named among the top three Best Workplaces in Singapore by Great Place to Work. An achievement that is only possible thanks to our dedicated and hardworking team that goes above and beyond every day.
We certainly have a lot to celebrate. On top of this achievement, this year, LIKE.TG Singapore was also named the #2 Best Workplace in Technology and one of the Best Workplaces in Asia for the fifth year in a row.
We’re especially proud that the recognition for these awards is determined largely on feedback by the very people that make up our organisation, and I wanted to share some of the reasons why our employees rate us as a great place to work.
We’ve embraced flexibility and are achieving Success from Anywhere
With Slack as our new digital HQ, we’ve embraced flexibility, leaning into this digital-first future of work. Throughout this pandemic, we’ve proven that with the right technology, we’re able to deepen relationships, drive collaboration, and grow together without the need to stick to a 9-to-5, eight-hour desk shift.
When it’s safe to return to the office, our re-opening strategy, guided by employee feedback, will allow flexibility to determine how, when, and where we work. Through a flex approach, we expect that most of our employees will be in the office one to three days per week for team collaboration, customer meetings, and presentations. Our office spaces have also been transformed with new layouts to better support collaboration, innovation, and cultural connection.
We do well by doing good
We believe that business can be the greatest platform for change with our pioneering 1-1-1 model.
We’ve woven a spirit of philanthropy throughout our company culture by dedicating 1% of our equity, time, and technology to improving education, equality, and the environment. Our employees are encouraged to take up to seven days or 56 hours a year to volunteer. This year, our employees across the ASEAN region have so far volunteered a total of 18,300 hours.
We continue to give back and support a number of organisations, despite new restrictions placed upon us for the past two years. Some of the creative examples of how our teams have been involved and given back virtually include:
Holding a LIKE.TG Career Conversation event, which connected Taylors University Malaysia students with LIKE.TG executive mentors for career conversations (pictured)
Participating in Freerice, The United Nations World Food Programme
Career mentoring with Daughters of Tomorrow
Supporting the Make-a-Wish Foundation (MAWF) last quarter, and raising an incredible SG$80,000 for the charity
We take care of our employees
The health and wellbeing of our team has always been a high priority. On top of our existing world class benefits, which includes a quarterly wellness reimbursement where employees can claim on fitness and sports equipment, fitness devices, gym memberships, and more, we recently introduced a new global benefit to help prioritise the mental health of our employees too. Through Lyra Health, employees are able to be matched with coaches and therapists for personalised counselling and coaching.
In the last few months, we also introduced notable new benefits. These include: Vaccine Time Off to receive and recover from the COVID-19 vaccine, COVID-19 sick leave, global family care leave, and global backup care which reimburses employees up 5 days a month for in-person child or elder care.
We would not be where we are today without our employees. I could not be more proud of our team in Singapore who continually show up for one another, our customers, and our communities. This award is a testament to their hard work and accomplishments.
Thank you to our team for making us a great place to work.
If you’re interested in joining us at LIKE.TG Singapore, please visit our Careers Page for more information.
How To Build a Digital Transformation Strategy
When you are at the beginning of your digital transformation journey, it can feel like standing at the foot of a giant mountain.
When faced with a daunting climb, ascending is almost impossible without a carefully considered plan. Similarly, reaching the top is far more likely with the help of an experienced partner. What is true for mountaineering is also true for digital transformation. Not only do you need a strategy, but you’re far better off by taking the journey with someone who’s been there and done that.
Before you start — do you really need to climb this mountain?
Before setting out on your journey, you might wonder if digital transformation is the right way to go. Usually, clear signs point to the need to transform, most of which have grown far bigger and brighter since the onset of the pandemic.
The most glaring is that ‘business as usual’ is no longer cutting it. Perhaps business isn’t repeating at the same rate, or you’re no longer getting as many referrals, or previously successful promotions are failing to generate leads. If these sound familiar, chances are you need to consider a digital transformation strategy.
You may also be getting internal signals from employees. Individuals and teams could be complaining that they can no longer collaborate successfully, especially with the move to the hybrid workplace. They may be asking for features you’re unable to provide, but that have become commonplace in consumer apps.
These are just some of the many issues that are best tackled by heading towards that mountain.
Make sure you have a vision
Any successful endeavour in business, whether short-, medium-, or long-term, begins with the formulation of a vision.
To create your own vision, imagine a hypothetical point in the future where you’ve achieved what you set out to do. For the mountaineer, this could be anything from achieving a personal best climb, to reaching the summit of Everest. For a business undertaking digital transformation, it could mean integrating outdated systems so that your entire organisation is working together.
You don’t have to scale an entire mountain or update all your systems all at once. However, you can’t take the first step towards either without having at least a general sense of where you’re heading.
Prioritise your objectives
Once you’ve formulated your vision, it’s time to break the overall goal down into smaller objectives. When it comes to digital transformation, especially on an organisation-wide scale, it’s important to identify the objectives that will drive the most success, and start there.
This could mean taking a forensic look at all your departments and verticals and identifying which would benefit most from transformation. You should also consider which departments will deliver the greatest returns the quickest. By starting with the teams that provide the fastest returns, you can prove quicker return on investment.
You should also plan how other teams will be a part of that same transformation down the line. If transforming your sales processes is a priority, then it’s important to understand how marketing will become a part of that same digital world, even if that won’t happen for a while.
Involve the right people at the right time
Digital transformation is a complete change to the way you do business. Even if you’re prioritising certain objectives over others, your entire workforce is going to be affected. Implementing systems incrementally or all-at-once is only part of the process. You also need to make sure that the digital transformation sticks on a human level. In order for that to happen, you need to bring everyone along with you.
This doesn’t mean that all employees in all departments have to be involved from day one. But it is a good idea to make everyone aware of the changes—they’ll be involved eventually.
It’s important to choose the right people for the team that leads the transformation. Every organisation has employees who embrace change, but there may be those who are hesitant. Make sure that you include both kinds of people in your transformation team. The people excited by change will bring others along with them on the journey. Those who are more reluctant will give you much-needed perspective.
Communication is vital. The more transparency, the more likely you are to get a buy-in from the right people at the right time.
Consider a partner
Climbing a mountain is always going to be more manageable with the help of someone who has been there before. This is particularly relevant for small and medium-sized businesses who may be even further away from the digital world than larger organisations.
Digital transformation isn’t always a quick or easy process. Enlisting the help of an expert can simplify and speed up the digital transformation process. This could save you time, money, and energy in the long run.
Make sure that you select the right partner, though! Just like with mountaineering, you should make sure that the partner you choose has experience in the landscape you work in. Many providers will claim that they can help you, so take the time to ensure that they understand your industry, and have experience with businesses of your size.
Don’t be afraid to fail
You will formulate a vision, prioritise your objectives, and take a carefully planned journey towards your ultimate goal. You may enlist the expertise of a partner, and get a buy-in from the right people at the right time. But not everything is always going to go according to plan. Don’t be scared to take calculated risks.
As with mountaineering, you may occasionally fail to travel as far as you thought by the end of the day. You may find one route harder than expected, and you may have to pause and find a better way up.
Understand that not every move will end in a win. As long as you remember your vision and your strategy, you’ll be prepared to face each new step in the journey.
Download our e-book and read about the five steps top organisations take to reimagine their businesses and improve customer experiences. Blaze your trail to digital transformation today!
3 Revealing Stats From Our Digital Trends Report
The way we conduct business around the world is fundamentally changing.Leading brands are embracing digital-first encounterswith their customers, engaging with users across an increasing number of channels, andharnessing the power of datato create highly-tailored experiences. They’re also innovating on ways tomeet their customers with empathy and flexibility, no matter the circumstance.
To learn more about how businesses are optimising their digital-first experiences, LIKE.TG Research analysed data from four different research studies.
Here are the three most revealing takeaways for marketing, commerce, and service professionals.
56% of companies expect the majority of their revenue to come from digital channels within the next three years
Digital-first customer engagement is here to stay. Many customers had to adopt online experiences in 2020 out of necessity. Now, many prefer to interact digitally, even as in-person experiences resume. With68% of customerssaying they’ll continue to buy essential goods online after the pandemic, we can anticipate a future that prioritises digital engagement over brick-and-mortar encounters.
Increased online activity has allowed marketers and customer-service agents to learn more about their audiences, leading tomore personalised interactions. This also means that customers have elevated expectations for how brands engage with them, including brands’ ability to innovate and connect in new ways. For instance,78% of customerssay that companies should offer new ways to get existing products or services, such as digital versions of traditionally in-person experiences, while83% of customersexpect flexible shipping and fulfillment options, such as buy-online-pickup-in-store.
To better meet customer expectations, digital leaders are adopting new channels of engagement, like chatbots and self-service tools, which have been classified as “emerging” in recent years. Social media, video, and digital ads have become the three most common means of reaching customers, underlining the value in implementing digital-first marketing toolkits.
86% of customers want more transparency over how personal information is used
Eighty percent of customers say the experience a brand provides is just as important as its products or services. As the world becomes increasingly digital, businesses are seizing new opportunities for capturing insights on customer behavior and preferences.The most innovative digital leaders are harnessing this customer datato provide a consistent, convenient, and empathetic brand experience. But this dependency on data isn’t without its challenges.
As Google, Apple, and others restrict the use of third-party cookies,leaders have to rely more on known digital identities, such as email addresses, social IDs, and transactional data to personalise customer experiences. Marketers are also faced with customer data-privacy concerns.Customers are increasingly demanding more transparency with data use, and only 27% completely understand the way that brands collect, store, and use their data. As a result, over 60% of marketers say they are going above and beyond regulations and standards to protect their customers’ privacy.
83% of marketers say their work will be more technology-driven after the pandemic than before
The pandemic brought onsubstantial changes in customer engagement, but it also changedhow teams and organisations operate. Work-from-home, restricted travel, and insufficient collaboration tools shed light on inefficiencies within organisational structures and processes. More than50% of service professionalssay the pandemic has exposed moderate or greater shortcomings in capabilities including technology, policies and protocol, and staff skill sets.
Digital leaders are rethinking how their organisations utilise technology to operate more efficiently and better meet customer needs. As companiesembrace digital-first strategies, this means that marketers are reevaluating the technical skill sets needed to do their jobs, and businesses are rethinking organisational structure to optimise operations.
Dive deeper intro insights and trends from the report bydownloading the Digital Trends report.
This post originally appeared on the U.S.-version of the LIKE.TG blog.
5 Ways Sansiri Creates a Cohesive Customer Journey
Marketers must create a cohesive customer journey across channels and devices. This is the top priority for Thai marketers, as revealed in the 7th edition State of Marketing report.
Kavin Manomaiudom is VP and Group Head of Tech BI at Thailand property developer, Sansiri. He believes creating a cohesive customer journey begins with digital transformation.
“It’s about cultural, organisational, and operational change,” he shared at a LIKE.TG webinar. “We must combine an agile mindset with processes and tools to deliver value to customers.”
Mr Manomaiudom outlines five ways Sansiri is creating a more cohesive customer journey.
1. Respond to changing customer behaviours
Sansiri turned to LIKE.TG three years ago to begin its digital transformation. Mr Manomaiudom says LIKE.TG technology helps the company identify changing customer behaviours. This has been vital to staying agile during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Before COVID-19 hit Thailand, our customers were visiting showrooms in person,” he says. “Now, we have a significant number of customers viewing our properties virtually. We needed to react fast by adjusting our marketing priorities.”
Mr Manomaiudom says that means using customer data “to know more, see more, and do more. Marketers must leverage customer data to analyse and understand changes in customer behaviour.”
2. Map customer journeys
New customer journeys must align with changing customer behaviours. Sansiri used Marketing Cloud and Journey Builder to map a range of new customer journeys.
Mr Manomaiudom explains that it’s helpful to begin with the customer’s end destination. Then reverse engineer the customer journey.
“We always begin with the end in mind,” he says. “Our customer journeys at Sansiri have evolved with COVID-19. To date, we have built a total of 25 journeys. This has decreased customer attrition. These journeys have also increased sales conversion across all customer touch points.”
3. Personalise customer communications
Link customer communications to specific points on each customer journey. Doing so helps to personalise customer communications. Sansiri uses marketing automation to achieve this.
“We send an automated email to remind customers about their viewing appointments,” Mr Manomaiudom says. “We also send relevant messages to convert our customers when they register online.”
This, says Mr Manomaiudom, has doubled conversions. “It helps us make sure we are achieving good return on investment (ROI) against our marketing spend.”
4. Innovate digital payments
Payment is a critical point on every customer journey. Sansiri launched an online payment gateway during the pandemic. The company also now accepts cryptocurrency.
Mr Manomaiudom says that digital payment innovations help to engage the younger generation. This stimulates revenue growth.
“One of our big steps is to make cryptocurrency purchases in the real estate sector a reality,” he explains. “Especially amongst the young generations who are keen on using this technology.”
5. Stay agile and use data as your guide
Customer behaviour may continue to change over next 12 months. Mr Manomaiudom says marketers need to stay agile. They also need to track campaign ROI, and shift priorities when needed.
“We started to shift our advertising budget to online, but surprisingly did not see as strong returns for some product segments and some zoning,” he explains. “As a result, we reallocated the budget back to offline marketing.
“Marketers must be agile to run successful campaigns, stay on budget, and hit KPIs. You must be adaptive at all times and do not stick with what might work.”
Rather, use customer data to identify what will work. This is how marketers adapt to change and keep delivering cohesive customer journey.
Download LIKE.TG’s 7th edition State of Marketing report in English or Thai for more marketing trends and insights.
Cybersecurity Insights: Secure Your Business Data at Every Touch Point
Virtual spaces are new territory for cyber attacks, data leaks and company breaches. In fact, according to the IBM Cost of Data Breach Report 2021, phishing attempts have risen 600% and cloud-based attacks rose 630%.
What would you do if your business data fell into the wrong hands?
To stay secure, there are a number of layers of data security you need to consider. From physical hardware, to digital networks, and every manner of encryption in the cloud.
Explore our cybersecurity infographic below to see how to secure your data, and get more tips on data security and compliance for every IT Leader in this e-book.
Can you afford not to protect your most important business asset?
For details on this infographic, please click here.
How To Build Thriving Slack Communities for Marketers
It’s no secret that marketers love to connect with each other to learn, trade stories, or simply make new friends. But with so many channels to choose from, it’s hard to find a comfortable, virtual place to meet regularly. That’s why I’m passionate about building Slack communities for marketers.
I’ve been using Slack within the digital marketing community long before I started working at LIKE.TG. It’s helped me get to where I am today. My role at LIKE.TG focuses on collaborating with our amazing Trailblazer community. I use Slack channels to connect with people on everything fromMarketing Cloud certificationsto best email marketing practices.
Building Slack communities for marketers has helped me build relationships that last — as a mentor, a marketer, and a collaborator. Slack has many tools for knowledge sharing and relationship building, so it’s important to use it wisely. Here are a few of my best practices for making Slack a tool for building strong communities in your marketing space.
Be strategic with Slack communities for marketers
I won’t lie: Slack can be tricky to navigate. There are public and private channels, direct messaging,Huddles, video calls, and more. I’m a part of 22 external Slack channels and twice that many for my LIKE.TG job. These channels cover a lot of ground and can take up a good chunk of my time, so I have to be very strategic with how I incorporate channel engagement into my day-to-day work life – especially since Slack is always “on” as a global platform.
I’m also intentional about creating new Slack channels, knowing that other marketers are in the same situation. Before starting a new channel, I look at what’s already out there on the platform. I consider the community’s needs and how my channel can meet those needs. I also identify the rules for a new private channel, including approval processes, conversation topic guidelines, and other channel guardrails.
You may be wondering: what’s a channel? Think about channels like you think about a Facebook group, or even an email chain with multiple parties (but way better organised). It’s a common space for people to discuss a topic, like new marketing strategies, or a place to collaborate on an upcoming campaign launch.
Some of the most powerful Slack channels emerged out of a desire to help others attain something, whether it was knowledge, career development, or community. Slack channelsmustserve the good of the community. When you bring this spirit of service to your channels, you’re more likely to engage with others in impactful ways.
Lean in to organic, authentic conversation
My introduction to Slack was throughEmail Geeks, a community of developers, architects, and email marketers. I wanted to write some LinkedIn thought leadership pieces to help customers understand Marketing Cloud, so I reached out to Email Geeks members on their Slack channel for feedback on article ideas. Since then, Slack has been a collaborative space for authentic knowledge sharing in my work as a marketer.
Today, I keep the same principle in mind when using the platform. I use Slack to engage with the entire Trailblazer ecosystem in very different ways, from updating people on upcoming events or program opportunities to answering community questions and offering helpful resources. I’m able to connect with other marketers and Trailblazers in these relevant ways because the conversations and interactions come from a place of authenticity – honestly interacting with others in a way that benefits everyone involved.
Take one of my favorite public Slack workspaces, for example:Marketers Chat, a place where thought leaders from various companies gather to discuss marketing topics, events, services, suggestions, and tools. I heard of Marketers Chat through word of mouth, as did many of its 7,000 members. Its value as a collaborative, engaging space for knowledge sharing has proved itself naturally. This is the magic of a well-created Slack workspace. It makes space for meaningful dialogue within appropriate guidelines, which makes it a place where relationships can thrive.
Know the rules and stick to them
Some Slack channels have specific rules around channel use, self-promotion, and selling products to keep the space relevant and distraction-free. When stepping into Slack conversations, it’s crucial to know and adhere to these rules. Remember that Slack is considered a private space for our marketing community to be open, honest, and vulnerable.Many channel admins automatically share channel guidelines to new members upon joining.
It’s also helpful to understand what Slack means to other members in these channels – not necessarily what Slack means to you or your organisation. Everybody uses Slack for different reasons. They may use it as a hub for answers to pressing questions. Or it may be a place for venting about a product, service, or certification exam. Regardless, always ask yourself how you can achieve a goal or help a fellow team member in the most respectful way possible.
For example, at LIKE.TG we have ‘broadcast only’ channels, where team leads publish critical updates, and designated QA channels for company-wide meetings in which employees can ask questions in real time and search for answers afterward. Having a specific purpose for each channel helps everyone get the most out of Slack.
When in doubt, check in with channel owners and admins. Back when I was sharing thought leadership on Twitter, for example, I regularly consulted the owner of Email Geeks before posting anything in that Slack channel about Twitter events I was leading. I did this out of respect for the community and also for the sake of transparency, a key piece in building trust with peers and customers.
If used mindfully, Slack can be a powerful tool for creating meaningful conversations on the topics we marketers care most about: relationships with our customers, brand strategy, certifications, and so much more. Given that the platform continues to add new features and integrations every year, I’m keeping my eyes on the Slack horizon for even more ways to connect with my digital marketing community.
Ready to deepen your own engagement with colleagues and brand fans? Check out my favorite public Slack communities for marketers:EmailGeeks,Marketing Cloud Learning Camp,Ohana Slack, andPardashians.
This post was originally published on the U.S.-version ofthe LIKE.TG blog.
How To Attract and Grow a Talented Field Service Team
Field service teams have helped customers navigate changing circumstances throughout the pandemic. They provided vital support and stability when customers needed it the most, and became the trusted face of brands.
A motivated and skilled field service team helps your business drive revenue and improve customer retention. However, talent attraction can be a challenge. That’s because the older generation of workers are retiring, so field service leaders have to think about how to attract younger workers.
Here’s what organisations can do to attract and grow field service talent:
1. Reposition the field service team as a strategic asset
Service teams are no longer regarded as cost centres. According to 80% of decision makers, field service is key to their overall strategy. Seventy-five percent of decision makers say field service is driving significant revenue.
How so?
Service teams interact with customers and keep them happy. By providing excellent service, they can reduce churn. They can also help to upsell equipment. LIKE.TG research finds that 91% percent of customers are more likely to make another purchase after a great service experience.
Think of upselling as an extension of an outstanding customer experience — not just pushing more products in order to meet sales targets. Upselling develops from the trust your customers have in the organisation. Service agents have an important role in nurturing that trust. They can create starting points for sales and marketing to introduce new campaigns to receptive customers.
2. Empower your team with field service management technology
Field service workers expect to have the technology needed to get their jobs done well. Your best talent would be unlikely to stay if they have to make do with inferior or outdated tools.
One type of technology that would help field service workers immensely is a connected field service management solution. It gives agents, dispatchers, and mobile workers updated information. This includes customer data, job details, asset history, and warranties. Having full customer context is crucial. Without it, 79% of field service professionals say they can’t provide a great customer experience.
With full customer context, field service teams can achieve a high First Time Fix Rate with:
Automated dispatch based on mobile worker availability, skill set, and location (if an in-person visit is needed). This eliminates manual effort, scheduling errors, and any unintentional bias.
Route management reduces time-to-site. It also automatically responds to schedule changes, whether it’s a late arrival or a new job request.
Appointment Assistant automatically updates customers with an estimated time of arrival, pre-arrival checklist, and the mobile worker’s details.
Digital work order management instantly tracks updates about an assigned job, assesses current inventory volumes, and reviews warranties.
Visual Remote Assistant connects mobile workers at a job site with an experienced team member by video to collaborate on a resolution.
3. Look after your field service workers’ safety and wellness
Many organisations implemented new safety policies in 2020. Moving forward, here are more ways you can enhance the safety and wellbeing of customers and workers:
Not every issue requires a worker to go onsite to resolve it. Consider using alternative field service options such as Visual Remote Assistant. With Visual Remote Assistant, your workers can invite customers to an interactive video session and walk them remotely through the troubleshooting process. If the issue is more complex, customers can schedule an onsite visit for further support.
When customers make in-person appointments, let them know how to best prepare for a site visit. For example, you can request that they complete a short safety checklist beforehand.
Finally, don’t forget to do regular checks on employee wellbeing. You can do monthly employee wellness surveys to understand the team’s health and wellbeing challenges. Use the data to address areas where employees are struggling. For example, if teams are struggling to get their work done because they don’t have the right tools, make arrangements to get them the equipment they need.
4. Show mobile workers their career potential
Eighty-five percent of mobile workers in high-performing teams say that they have a clear path for career growth, compared to just 39% of underperformers.
Work with your field service team early in their careers to set short and long term career goals. Learning new skills is a crucial part of career development. Use digital learning platforms like Trailhead to upskill and reskill your team. In addition to technical skills, encourage them to learn relationship management, customer service basics, and even sales skills.
Another way to show your field service team that they are valued is to include them in decision-making. Field service workers might have valuable insights into how the business works or what customers want, which their colleagues at the office might not have. Don’t forget to reward your field service team when they do a great job. Rewards can be custom tools to use on the job, or opportunities to represent the company at high-end conferences.
You’ll want your field service workers to feel included and appreciated. Give them opportunities to level up and take on decision-making roles. Then your workers will be more likely to stay and grow with your organisation.
Read more about how to strengthen your field service management strategy.
What Is Business to Business Sales, and How Can You Improve It?
Isn’t business to business (B2B) sales just like any other type of sales? In the simplest sense, maybe this statement is true. But in the real world, B2B sales is very different from business to consumer (B2C) sales. In the battleground of B2B sales, salespeople face multiple decision-makers, lengthy closing times, and complex sales cycles.Helping other businesses realise what they need to be successful, and fulfilling these needs with your offerings and solutions is B2B sales.With the digital age, the traditional model of B2B sales has been disrupted by changes in the way people purchase goods and services. Internet penetration and the consequent explosion in easily accessible knowledge and networking have affected B2B sales as much as anything else. But in every change, there is opportunity.What is B2B sales?B2B sales involve one business selling goods and/or services to another business, as opposed to selling them directly to end consumers. B2B salespeople need to be more convincing and good at negotiating, as business buyers are highly evolved and deal sizes can be huge. They must thoroughly understand their prospect’s organisation, needs, challenges, and industry. The role of B2B salespeople has evolved from simple selling to something more consultative, making them advisors to their customers.What does a B2B sales process look like, and how does it work?The B2B sales process is a series of steps that is meant to take a business buyer from the initial stage of discovery to a closed sale. It requires a well-thought-out strategy and the use of sales techniques suitable for each target persona.Every organisation will need a slightly different B2B sales process involving anywhere from five to eight steps. A typical eight-step sales process consists of:Developing in-depth understanding of offerings: The best sales reps have great command over their offerings and where these fit into specific markets. They can easily justify their value proposition to the right customers. This requires them to do the background work and continuously hone their mastery of the products and services they sell.Prospecting: Prospecting involves finding new prospects that have a need or use for your offerings. Salespeople can use both online (LinkedIn, Quora, digital marketing campaigns, etc.) and offline (conferences, expos, referrals, cold calls, etc.) channels to find new prospects.Qualifying: Once new quality leads are identified, salespeople connect with them to know if they are potential buyers. Taking prospects through the sales process, especially for B2B sales, can be expensive and time-consuming, which is why it is important to qualify leads early in the process.Research: A salesperson should know about the prospect’s organisation, their needs, challenges, and industry trends. Research is vital in B2B sales due to its complex nature and the professional expertise buyers are likely to have. Also, with a single view of past interactions, sales reps can access all the relevant information about each prospect in one place for more contextualised conversations. Good research enables salespeople to tailor their pitch to each stakeholder’s needs.Pitching: Pitching can be in the form of a presentation, product demonstration, or a combination of multiple methods. Pitching is one of the most crucial steps in converting a B2B prospect into a customer.Handling objections: Savvy business buyers make decisions based on the value your company can add to theirs. Salespeople should use the qualification and research stages to anticipate questions prospects might ask. The better a salesperson can respond to questions and objections, the more confidence they can inspire in prospects.Closing: Depending on the situation, closing a deal can take the form of a quotation, price negotiation, or contract signing.Nurturing: B2B sales are rarely one-off transactions. Most B2B sales are focused on getting repeat business. B2B salespeople need to maintain and nurture relationships with their clients even after deals are closed. This could involve following up with them on delivery of their purchased products and services, providing after-sales support, or simply checking in periodically for cross- and upsell opportunities.The B2B sales process serves as a roadmap for B2B salespeople to maximise their efficiency by stringently following the steps crucial for closing deals and ensuring repeat business.What is a B2B sales funnel?A B2Bsales funnel is the sales process from the customer’s perspective. Like the sales process, the sales funnel too can have multiple stages. But today, this customer journey is not linear. Customers spend a significant amount of time researching and discussing their options with friends and colleagues. By the time a salesperson is involved in this journey, customers may even be close to a decision.A typical B2B sales funnel involves these stages:Awareness: The buyer finds out about your offerings either by themselves, a targeted ad, or from a cold-calling salesperson.Interest: A conversation with a salesperson piques the buyer’s interest in the product; they get an early idea of whether the product or service will serve their needs or not.Objection: After receiving a pitch from the salesperson, the buyer considers it and raises objections, if any. Objections allow the buyer to get more information about the product or service.Decision: After responding to their objections, the buyer decides if they want to buy the product or service being offered.Purchase: This is when the deal is closed after the prospective buyer’s organisation arrives at a decision.Evaluation: After purchasing the product or service, the buyer uses it and evaluates whether it fulfils their needs and solves their problems.Repurchase decision: After evaluating it, the buyer may or may not decide to repurchase the product or service. If the evaluation is positive, the buyer might consider repurchasing. If it’s negative, they might look for other suppliers. Outreach from salespeople can often greatly help swing the repurchase decision in favour of the seller.The B2B sales funnel helps a B2B salesperson better understand the buyer’s journey and align the sales process accordingly, thereby increasing the chances of closing the sale.B2B versus B2C sales: What’s the difference?The most obvious difference between B2B and B2C sales is the nature of the customers. Selling clothes to a customer is a completely different process from selling industrial textile looms to a manufacturer.For B2B sales, professional buyers or executives from various industries are customers. Anyone can be a customer for business to consumer sales.The differences in the customers’ nature also create differences in their decision-making and purchasing processes. Business buyers make purchases based on rational, strategic bases to generate further value. In contrast, consumer buyers can make decisions based on reasoning, emotions, desires, or personal values.The difference in purchase decisions calls for B2B and B2C salespeople to adopt very different sales tactics and marketing strategies.Here are some key characteristics of B2B sales:Larger average transaction values: B2B sales typically involve larger order quantities and pricier products, both of which contribute to higher average transaction values. Businesses are usually willing to pay a good price for the goods or services they need, if they perceive value in them.Multiple stakeholders: B2B sales often involve several stakeholders on the buyer side and are rarely dependent on one person’s approval. Some stakeholders might merely influence the sale, while others will have the authority to sign off on the final contract. More people involved means more of the salesperson’s time and effort needed to convince each stakeholder.Professional buyers: Businesses buy products and services that are likely to have a marked impact on their operations, justifying the due diligence needed to arrive at any decision. Some businesses even hire professionals to guide their purchasing decisions. B2B salespeople also need discipline and a high level of expertise to address purchasers’ objections and arguments satisfactorily.Fewer customers: Due to the specificity of most B2B products and services, the addressable market for a B2B salesperson is often quite narrow, especially when compared to B2C products and services. B2B customers return a higher lifetime value, compensating for their fewer numbers and high acquisition costs.Long sales cycles: The B2B sales cycle is usually lengthy owing to the involvement of multiple stakeholders and decision-makers, higher average transaction values, complex purchasing processes, and the material impact of the purchase and offerings on the buyer’s business. A typical B2B sales cycle can last several months, involving multiple meetings, emails, and phone calls.In B2B sales, relationship building through constant nurturing is needed to ensure repeat business. Getting new customers costs 5-10 times more than keeping existing ones. Since B2B sales typically involve bigger deal sizes and complex processes, repeat business becomes crucial for your business’s predictable growth.Not that repeat sales don’t matter in B2C sales. However, relationship building in B2C sales is done at a personal, emotional level, and involves smaller purchase values than B2B sales.How do you make B2B sales?Making B2B sales requires you to follow the same loose framework for making any sale. Build a sales strategy that is well-suited to target your ideal customer, break it down into repeatable steps that your sales team can follow, measure performance, and make improvements as and when needed.The difference is in the way you approach your prospects and customers and how you align your selling model with their purchasing process.Try to make your sales process as convenient, fast, and transparent as possible. Salespeople also need to have a good understanding of what they sell. B2B customers do not appreciate their time wasted, and showing a lack of knowledge and experience will not inspire confidence.Research well and get to know what they sell, to whom, which markets, etc. Understand the role of each stakeholder and their individual challenges and needs. This can help you hyperpersonalise your pitch to show how your offerings can address multiple pain points and goals. In addition, automating parts of your sales cycle is an effective way of making it faster.What are some B2B sales techniques?Within a basic sales process, sales teams can employ one or more of the following sales techniques to increase their chances of succeeding:Solution selling: This involves gaining a deep understanding of the buyer’s business, needs, and problems, and offering a tailored, holistic solution in response, rather than pushing one-size-fits-all products. Solution sellers almost never offer products off-the-shelf. Solution selling might incur higher sales costs, but the solution’s suitability usually results in a higher rate of closing.Account-based sales: This method focuses on premium customers, offering them end-to-end, highly tailored experiences. Each account, with all its shareholders, is treated as a complete market. A host of resources that would otherwise be put into full market segments is allocated to each account. This helps grow revenues from each key account through more targeted cross- and upselling.Challenger sale: In this method, salespeople educate and inform the customer about their needs in response to market trends, risks, and opportunities. The salesperson takes on a more active role here, helping customers realise a need in the first place.Sandler selling system: The system places greater emphasis on the buyer-seller relationship. Salespeople need to establish themselves as trusted advisors to clients, inspiring mutual confidence to work towards shared success. This system leverages human psychology and the buyer-seller dynamic to accelerate the sales cycle.Value selling: Value selling instructs salespeople to emphasise and establish the value addition their products or services can make to the buyer’s business. The value additions presented need to be concrete and measurable, such as cost savings, revenue increments, or productivity improvements.What are some key B2B sales tips?No matter the sales techniques used, all B2B salespeople can benefit from the following tips:Tailor customer communication on a case-to-case basis. This helps convey the value your offerings can add to the customer’s business faster.Continuously train your sales team. Professional B2B buyers appreciate salespeople who demonstrate expertise.Focus on solving problems rather than pushing your products, as B2B buyers are constantly looking for ways to improve efficiencies and reduce costs. Show active listening, empathy, and critical thinking by asking the right questions and providing relevant information.Adopt omnichannel outreach to stay in touch with B2B customers. With greater digitisation, B2B buyers too are warming up to newer channels to engage and buy on.Use social selling techniques to get B2B customers’ attention and approval. They care about their peers’ opinions, making referrals a great way to establish contact.Collect and display positive customer feedback, using these case studies for your sales playbook.Ensure all other customer-facing teams, such as marketing and customer service, are aligned to the sales goal.Beyond CRM solutions, employ sales engagement tools that use data and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to enable faster, smarter decision-making and action.Consider building a dedicated B2B sales team to increase revenue shares from your most valuable customers. This makes more sense if your organisation has different business units or departments that handle both B2B and B2C customers.Inside versus outside B2B salesInside B2B sales is made remotely by reps sitting in an office (or any location), whereas outside B2B sales is those made by reps in the field.Outside sales tend to be more successful because of the personal touch salespeople can add by interacting with customers directly. Outside salespeople might close more sales and drive order values up. However, outside sales is more expensive and time-consuming.With a wide variety of communication tools now available to salespeople, selling from anywhere is increasing in popularity, more so since the pandemic struck. Inside sales cost less and give managers more control and better oversight of the sales process.How is B2B sales changing?B2B sales has undergone a dramatic change in recent years. Business buyers now have access to a lot of information about products, services, and suppliers. They also have a wide range of options to choose from. This makes the B2B sales space more competitive and requires B2B salespeople to engage customers more meaningfully.Business buyers now expect a highly personalised purchase experience. To deliver this, salespeople must possess an intimate understanding of the needs and desires of buyers. Salespeople can also leverage technology to conduct better research about a prospect and their organisation or industry.Sellers also have access to a range of B2B sales tools that they can deploy, including data analysis tools, sales reporting and tracking, B2B marketing automation and targeting programs, and sales management and forecasting software. These tools improve the efficacy of sales teams, helping reps move clients along the sales funnel faster and more successfully.The way forward for B2B salesB2B sales has changed, but for the better. With more tools at the disposal of both buyers and sellers, salespeople can proactively reach out to prospective buyers at the right time. With business buyers expecting highly personalised purchase experiences, salespeople need to leverage data-driven tools and their social skills. Addressing the needs of business buyers and forging lasting relationships with them is the key to success in B2B sales.Now more than ever, it’s important to build deeper connections with customers, manage your business in real time, and adapt fast as the world continues to evolve.Learn how Sales Cloud can help you grow your business and bring out the best in every rep.This post was originally published on the LIKE.TG I.N. blog.
Achieve Digital Transformation Step by Step With Customer 360
You’ve decided that you’re ready for digital transformation, you’ve developed a strategy, and you might have even begun implementing it. Now, it’s time to configure the Customer 360 platform to serve the specific needs of your business.
Customer 360 consists of more than a dozen independent products, or ‘apps’, which can either be used on their own or linked together.
This modular approach means you only implement the components your business actually needs. You and your team can enjoy streamlined workflows, with the option to add or remove apps if and when you need to.
Further customisation is possible within each app, or you can use them straight out of the box — whichever suits you better.
How do you figure out which products are right for your digital transformation?
It’s simple: just complete the Create Your Own Customer 360 Package quiz for an accurate summary of which apps will benefit you the most.
Read on for a couple of examples of how LIKE.TG Customer 360 can be configured, plus some top-line questions to think about before you dive into the quiz.
Unique solutions for every sector
LIKE.TG’s core industry solutions are for Financial Services, Media, Communications, Energy, Utilities, and Manufacturing. That said, Customer 360 can be configured to provide solutions for any business.
For example, a growing retail business that has just started selling online might add the Commerce Cloud and Marketing Cloud apps to its Customer 360 platform.
The business can use the Commerce Cloud app to personalise each customer purchase and to sell through any channel. It can also use the Marketing Cloud app for curating hyper-personalised customer journeys, based on deep customer insights
Another example: a subscriber-based media business in the midst of a digital transformation might select the Sales Cloud and Service Cloud apps.
The Sales Cloud app helps maintain in-depth records for each subscriber, track sales opportunities, and review sales forecasts. Service Cloud provides advanced call-centre management and insights into every customer interaction.
Which Customer 360 apps should I choose?
Which apps could benefit your business the most? To prep for the LIKE.TG Customer 360 quiz, consider the following questions:
What is it you want to do?
Every business wants to prosper, but each has different ideas about how to achieve that prosperity. Is the goal of your digital transformation to achieve more leads? Shorten your sales funnel? Improve customer satisfaction? Or something else?
The answer (or answers) to this question will lead you to the Customer 360 apps that can make your digital transformation a success.
Who’s going to use the platform?
Knowing which of your departments will start using Customer 360 is another effective way to identify the specific apps you need. As time goes on and you roll out the platform to other departments, more apps can be considered.
Each app you choose can be tailored for use by certain people within a department. Therefore, it’s a good idea to know from the outset who those people will be. For example, Sales Cloud can be used differently by sales reps, sales leaders, and service agents.
Should you opt for a package designed for small or new businesses?
If your business is young, you may not yet know exactly how you will use the Customer 360 platform, and that’s OK.
LIKE.TG has off-the-shelf solutions for fledgling businesses, such as our LIKE.TG Essentials package. If you are new to using a CRM, this package contains everything you need to get up and running.
As your business grows, the Customer 360 Package quiz or a LIKE.TG rep can help you modify your platform.
Could you benefit from a business collaboration space?
Any business that’s planning digital transformation should consider how its team members will communicate while working. That’s especially important if employees are working remotely in various parts of the world.
Consider using Slack.
In July 2021, LIKE.TG acquired Slack. Slack is a channel-based messaging platform that brings people and tools together in one place. This helps teams to stay productive and aligned from anywhere.
Slack is used by millions of people around the world and enables entire organisations to work far more efficiently and effortlessly.
Adapting to every step of your digital transformation
As your organisation grows and you begin to reap the rewards of digital transformation, you can add functionality to your Customer 360 platform in order to amplify your gains.
In fact, using more apps within the Customer 360 platform directly correlates with positive business outcomes. Almost three quarters (72%) of businesses using more than one Customer 360 app report improved time to ROI, while 95% of those with two or more apps report improved efficiency and productivity.
Want to ensure your digital transformation succeeds but aren’t sure where to start? We can help you. Take the Customer 360 Package quiz to learn which LIKE.TG apps will benefit you the most. Soon, you’ll be on your way to realising your digital transformation vision.
AI Is Here and It’s Rewriting the Way Call Centres Work
These days, AI seems to be everywhere and in everything — from our cars and refrigerators, to our food delivery services, sleep measurement apps, even our toothbrushes. It’s been called the holy grail of computing. But what exactly is AI?
Put simply, it’s a piece of code which derives its intelligence from existing data to solve problems and make complex decisions easier and faster. That makes it extremely useful in automating repetitive business tasks, uncovering opportunities for growth, engaging with customers at scale, and saving costs.
These benefits are very evident in the call centre scenario.
Make every service experience memorable with AI
Gone are the days when customer support was perceived as a cost centre. Today, business leaders recognise good customer service as a way to differentiate their organisation, boost customer trust, and catalyse business growth. In fact, 78% of service agents say their company views them as brand ambassadors.
But to live up to these expectations, agents have to be empowered with the right tools. This is especially true in a COVID-19 world where the majority of service professionals (75%) say that managing case volume has become more challenging. Not only are they dealing with a rise in cases, but they’re also facing more complex cases with anxious customers who are harder to satisfy.
Here’s where AI-powered tools can help. They enable agents to be more productive, find answers quickly, deliver smarter recommendations, and make better-informed decisions. AI chatbots can also help customers self-resolve issues faster.
6 ways AI can add value to your service organisation
Here’s a look at how AI tools like Service Cloud Einstein can be used in call centres to optimise both employee efficiency and customer satisfaction:
Auto-triaging cases: As case volumes go up, AI can help your call centres do more with less by quickly triaging and routing cases. For instance, Einstein Case Classification automatically predicts and pre-fills case fields based on historical data. This saves agents valuable time and effort. Meanwhile, Einstein Case Routing uses machine learning to direct cases to the right queue in real time — so, customers don’t have to be kept waiting.
Recommending responses: Einstein Article Recommendations helps your agents find the right answers to customer cases quickly by surfacing the most relevant knowledge articles within the agent console itself. Einstein Reply Recommendations goes a step further by empowering agents with responses to common questions during chat and messaging conversations. This lowers case resolution time, while enhancing customer satisfaction.
Enabling customers to self-serve: Most customers (65%) prefer self-service for simple matters. So, it’s no surprise that AI-powered chatbots like Einstein Bots are becoming increasingly popular. They can immediately engage with customers to answer common FAQs, check the status of a claim, or provide personalised advice.
Using voice as digital medium: A solution like Service Cloud Voice can help transcribe the customer’s voice in real time, and route it to the AI engine in LIKE.TG to suggest the next best actions instantly. Let’s say a customer is on a live call with an agent, saying they’re unable to change the temperature on a recently purchased geyser. Based on their inputs, AI can automatically surface a trouble-shooting workflow. This makes it easy for the agent to choose the best course of action, and reduce the turnaround time.
Cross-selling and up-selling: Every interaction with a customer is an opportunity to build trust and loyalty. The challenge for agents is to know what to offer customers at what time. AI-powered tools like Einstein Next Best Action can help by automatically recommending products, offers, discounts, or actions that are most likely to boost customer satisfaction. Say, the customer has purchased a travel package. The next best action might be to offer them a good travel insurance plan, or connect them to a local transport service partner. This way, you maximise the impact of your customer interaction.
Uncovering actionable insights: Not too long ago, businesses could only analyse a fraction of customer calls — that too, manually. But with AI tools like Service Analytics, you can analyse customer interactions at scale, and derive practical insights on customer churn, CSAT scores, and contact centre performance. These insights delivered in real time can help you proactively adjust and optimise service to deliver the best possible customer experiences.
4 things to think about before adopting AI
Everyone wants a piece of the AI pie. But first, identify what exactly you want AI to do in your call centre. Then, determine whether or not the solution you select actually has those capabilities. If you aren’t clear about your objectives, then your agents will only end up with one more tool that isn’t really useful.
Some things to consider before you embark on your AI journey:
Data quality:AI models are only as good as the quality of data on which they’re built. So, pay attention to the completeness, accuracy, bias, consistency, and labelling of your data.
Employee learning curve:Ensure that your AI-enabled tools are intuitive, easy to use, and seamlessly embedded in your CRM. If employees have to struggle to use AI, then it won’t matter how powerful the tool is — it won’t yield optimal returns.
Out-of-the-box technology:Look for AI tools that are already robust, comprehensive, and flexible enough that they don’t have to be customised heavily. Too many customisations could result in costly technical debt.
Effort investment:You want an AI solution that can be rolled out swiftly and with minimal effort. Complex and lengthy implementation cycles will simply bog down the business.
LIKE.TG’s AI offering, Service Cloud Einstein is specially designed to meet these criteria. It can be implemented quickly with minimum customisation and rapid employee adoption. The best part is that Einstein is built right into Service Cloud, your service channels, and your CRM data — which makes it super-easy to roll-out and use. Agents don’t have to toggle between multiple tools when talking to customers. With all AI capabilities they need on a single screen, agents can coordinate service requests much more smoothly, and deliver connected service experiences that your customers love.
We’ve only just scratched the surface of AI’s potential. As the technology grows more sophisticated, it will undoubtedly unlock new opportunities to improve both customer and agent experiences, as well as revenue growth.
Find out more about our AI offering, Service Cloud Einstein.
This post was originally published on the LIKE.TG IN blog.
Being Human in the Time of Automation
If you’re like most people, you probably think there’s a good chance that AI or robots will have a significant impact on the global job market. Yet surveys also show that most of us think that these disruptive technologies are primarily going to affect someone elseーsomeone with a skill set or an educational background that lends itself to repeatable work. This is a risky assumption on everyone’s part, including mine.
AI and robotics aren’t just for everyone else to think about. The robots are not only coming —they’re already here. But that doesn’t mean we’re all out of a job. It means that we need to explore opportunities for ourselves and our teams tohumanise the future of workto complement and even enhance AI, automation, and productivity.
At LIKE.TG, we recently invited award-winning New York Times technology columnistKevin Rooseto discuss the impact automation is likely to have on our lives and jobs. Roose shared that AI and automation are already changing the way we work — particularly for highly-educated, white-collar workers, whose everyday jobs are already evolving thanks to AI.
Predicting the impact of automation technology on the future of jobs
In the course of research for his book “Futureproof: 9 Rules for Humans in the Age of Automation,” Roose found that for hundreds of years, we’ve been predicting what machines can and can’t do — and that usually, we’re wrong.
Here are a few examples to his point:
“I can state flatly that heavier-than-air flying machines are impossible.” —Lord Kelvin, 1895
“There is no prospect whatsoever that the employment of electronic digital computers in the field of translation will lead to any revolutionary changes.” —Yehoshua Bar-Hillel, 1962
“You won’t get the best seating or the best fares … what happens if you just press the wrong button?” —travel agency owner quoted in a 1984New York Timesarticle on the first automated ticket machines at airports
The disruptive technologies that would prove each of those predictions wrong went on to reshape economies and workforces forever. Yet at the time, each statement reflected widely-held beliefs. In the early 1980s, for instance, people were very skeptical that computers would ever meaningfully replace human travel agents. That changed quickly with the advent of travel-booking websites, which gave consumers direct access to making arrangements without a travel agency rep or the associated fees. Today, it’s a lot more likely that you use online sites to book everyday travel, except when using a travel agent is mandated as a workplace policy.
Where AI is changing the job landscape
Although many of us still think of robots on the assembly line as the typical agent of job displacement, AI has made advances in fields that many people never imagined were vulnerable to automation:
Healthcare: Machine-learning algorithms can diagnose some types of cancer or perform common X-rays with better accuracy than human radiologists. Other AI applications are in the works that can detect illnesses that range from cancers to Parkinson’s disease from smelling human breath.
Creative work: AI can compose music, write prose, build video-game levels, and write newspaper articles indistinguishable from human output.
Coding: Low-code or no-code development platforms take the complexity out of coding.
Analysis/pattern recognition: AI and machine learning are analysing data sets to identify patterns and trends. They are reporting real-time insights and can even predict, in some cases, what’s likely to happen next.
Influencers: Some of the biggest social-media influencers aren’t human — they areAI-designed models.
Lip-reading: While the average human accurately lip-reads 54% of the time, a deep network created byOxford and Google DeepMind scientists, LipNet, reached a 93%success score in reading people’s lips.
Creating AIs: Given the ability AI has to quickly process large data sets, it’s able to create child AI applications thatoutperform human-created AIs.
Listening: Whether it’s adding items to your shopping list, or producing meeting minutes from our Zoom calls, AI applications can more accurately capture and process what they hear than many humans.
When you hear stories like this, it’s easy to feel uneasy. Like many of us, as Roose was writing about the inroads AI was making, he got worried about his own replaceability as a journalist. He embarked upon a path to research how we can avoid being replaced by robots, which is the premise of the book and the bulk of his presentation.
How to future-proof your career
Now an important question: What can we do as individuals to protect ourselves from being replaced by AI and robots? First, the bad news: Pretty much every job as it exists today can, in some way, be automated. In all honesty, there isn’t any technology-proof job or career path for the long-term.
Now, the good news: Human creativity and resolve is at an all-time premium. And it’s not limited to big “C” creatives like (insert your favourite artist, composer, scientist, or performer).
This is not a time to panic — it’s a time to build on the roles and capabilities that can be automated to deliver new value at every level. Upskilling is now for everyone. We are all students again. Creativity, empathy, critical thinking, collaboration, data science, resilience, adaptability, and other “not-so-soft” skills are ranked as critical for everyone in apandemic worldand beyond.
As AI drives down the price of goods and automated services, it also increases the value of human goods and human experiences. It rewards those that are good at creating these new things in collaboration with machines.
With this in mind, there is one primary thing you can do to make your job a little more future-proof, regardless of what it is: not so ironically, be human.
The best way to differentiate yourself is through your humanity and creativity, not your productivity. Accentuate the human labor involved in what you do or what you make — whether it’s making a ceramic bowl, providing customer service, selling a technology product, or how you show up in any given moment to be present, aware, and ready to participate.
Think beyond using AI and automation to work as fast, at scale, and cheaply as possible. That’s what everyone else will do. Make that human touch more visible and more value-added. This is what the human economy is about: experiences and feelings that machines cannot replicate. Experiences are personal on every side. That’s what makes them special. They involve human beings and in reality, it’s that humanity combined with meaningful experiences, that we’re going to seek out and pay a lot for.
This post was originally published on the U.S.-version of the LIKE.TG blog.
What is a Relational Database? Features & Uses
A relational database is a type of database that stores and organises related data points. Data is organised into tables that are linked based on shared data. They are the most common type of database used by businesses today.
A database like this enables you to search across one or more tables with a single query. It also helps you understand the connections across your data so you can make better business decisions.
Relational databases are ideal for complex data analysis and operations. In a non-relational database, tables can share the same data but they can’t ‘relate’ to each other. With a relational database, they can.
One use of a relational database is connecting tables for customer data and transactions. A business will have both data sets but they may be siloed. A relational database brings these together.
For example, in the customer table, there may be fields for:
Customer ID
Customer Address
Customer Email, etc.
In the transaction table, there may be fields such as:
Customer ID
Transaction Amount
Item Purchased, etc.
As both tables contain a Customer ID, the tables can be related. This means a warehouse team can find the Customer Address that corresponds to the Customer ID, without this information being recorded as a separate data point on each transaction. Relating these data sets can also be used to produce reports, such as a customer statement.
We explore the features, uses, and benefits of a relational database below. Plus, we outline LIKE.TG’s relational data features.
Features of a relational database
Relational databases need ACID characteristics.
ACID refers to four essential properties: Atomicity, Consistency, Isolation, and Durability.
These features are the key difference between a relational database and a non-relational database.
Atomicity
Atomicity keeps data accurate. It makes sure all data is compliant with the rules, regulations, and policies of the business.
It also requires all tasks to succeed, or the transaction will roll back.
Atomicity defines all the elements in a complete database transaction.
Consistency
The state of the database must remain consistent throughout the transaction.
Consistency defines the rules for maintaining data points. This ensures they remain in a correct state after a transaction.
Relational databases have data consistency because the information is updated across applications and database copies (also known as ‘instances’). This means multiple instances always have the same data.
Isolation
With a relational database, each transaction is separate and not dependent on others. This is made possible by isolation.
Isolation keeps the effect of a transaction invisible until it is committed. This reduces the risk of confusion.
Durability
Durability means that you can recover data from a failed transaction.
It also ensures that data changes are permanent.
Uses and benefits of a relational database
Relational databases are often the backbone of a customer relationship management (CRM) system — such as LIKE.TG.
But tracking customer transactions is just one use case for a relational database. There are many others. We even use some in everyday life. For example, when you withdraw money from an ATM, your bank balance may instantly update on your mobile app if it’s using a relational database. This is because this scenario’s data point (“Account Balance”) is consistently updated across all platforms.
There are multiple benefits of using a relational database over a non-relationship database. And many of these affect other systems, including LIKE.TG.
Some of the main advantages of a relational database are:
Data consistency
As mentioned when we outlined ACID, a core part of a relational database is consistency.
A relational database model ensures that all users always see the same data.
This improves understanding across a business because everyone sees the same information. This ensures that nobody makes business decisions based on out-of-date information.
Data working together
All the data in a relational database has a ‘relationship’ with other data. Columns are built in a way that makes it easy to establish relationships among data points.
Data working together gives a more holistic view of all your data — including your customers.
Data flexibility
Relational databases allow for flexibility. Users can change what they see. And it’s easy to add additional data at a later time.
A relational database also allows for a subset of data to be viewed. This means you can hide certain data if some users only need access to a specific set of columns or rows.
Relational data features in LIKE.TG CRM
LIKE.TG’s CRM is built on a relational database.
LIKE.TG calls its tables “objects”. And these objects can relate to each other. These relationships can be used to share information and create connected views of data.
There are two types of relationships in LIKE.TG:
Lookup relationships
This is the most basic relational connection in LIKE.TG.
A lookup relationship links two objects so that you can “look up” one object from the related items on another object. Lookup relationships can be one-to-one or one-to-many.
A standard one-to-many relationship is an Account-to-Contact relationship. This allows you to connect several Contacts to a single Account.
A one-to-one relationship is when only one set of data needs to be related. For example, if you’re in real estate, you may have a Property object and a Home Seller object. The Property only has one Home Seller, so there is only one set of data that needs to be related.
Parent-child relationships
Parent-child relationships are harder than lookup relationships.
With these, one object is the parent, while the other is the child. The parent object controls some of the behaviours of the child object, such as who can view its data. It also means if you delete a parent object, you delete all the associated child objects.
As an example, you may have a parent-child relationship between Property and Offer. All offers are exclusive to one property. Should the property be taken off the market, you can remove the Property object to delete all of the associated offers from your system.
Parent-child relationships are used when objects are always related. When objects are sometimes related, this is a lookup relationship.
Why choose LIKE.TG
LIKE.TG gives you all the benefits of a relational database with the enhanced features of a CRM. Plus, LIKE.TG is taking CRM to the next level, with innovations such as LIKE.TG Einstein which utilises artificial intelligence.
LIKE.TG Customer 360 is the world’s #1 CRM system. It brings sales, service, marketing, commerce, IT, and analytics together. And it’s all made possible by a relational database.
The Future of Commerce – Connected Data, Headless, and More
If 2020 was a year of turbulence for commerce, the future of commerce is all about momentum.
The mass acceleration to digital has changed the customer experience forever, providingmore channels, choices, and flexibility. But each new offering sets the customer expectation bar a little higher, increasing the pressure on companies to deliver more at a faster pace.
To help teams prepare for what’s ahead, Lidiane Jones, LIKE.TG’s executive vice president and general manager of Commerce Cloud, offers her perspective on the future of commerce.
How has commerce changed over the last year?
Our customers are turning away from traditional channel planning and embracing a digital-first approach that brings more flexibility. Digital is also leading our customers to use their physical spaces in more intentional ways.In automotive, for example, dealers can know a lot about customers who research vehicles online before they ever walk through the door.
As I mentioned atDreamforce 2021, digital transformation is here to stay and commerce teams are betting on customer-centric experiences throughout all of it. Even B2B sellers are trying to understand the end user of their products. That’s not just to develop a better relationship with buyers, but to understand the feedback from their customers’ customers.
The key to all of this is data. More and more, companies are looking for full ownership of their data to get true insight into what shoppers or buyers want.
How can brands take the buying experience to the next level in 2022?
I recommend that brands step back, figure out their unique value proposition, and then apply the right strategy that will capture customers and keep them coming back for more.
Building a greatcustomer loyalty programis an important trend, but the approach depends on the brand. For some companies,sustainability is important. Their customers want to know if the brand is socially responsible. In other cases, it is about promotions or other financial incentives. It can also be about personalised experiences or social connections, like what brands a shopper’s friends are considering.
That could be a very different approach for some brands. How are teams preparing for the future of commerce?
Our Commerce Cloud customers talk a lot about choice and flexibility, which is something a fullheadless commerce implementationoffers. More and more, commerce teams are moving away from traditional architectures and choosing headless because it gives them the freedom to be agile and deliver compelling experiences faster across any kind of engagement channel, from social to mobile. Over the last 12-18 months we’ve focused on building the tools our Trailblazers need to build a connected experience where data isat the centre of everything.
Creating those highly personalised experiences across the customer journey can be really challenging. So, we are excited to give our customers the chance to deliver the most complex interactions withLIKE.TG CDP.
Speaking of planning, we’re getting close to the holiday shopping season. How can brands prepare for spikes in demand?
Profitability during peak shopping periods is all about preparation. Two things are top of mind for our customers. First, when you hit that peak demand, you’re wondering, “Will I have enough products? Will I have the right inventory to fulfill those needs?” You never want to be over or under. You want to be as close to what your demand is as possible, so having the data and tools to plan is essential.
The second thing is, “Am I going to be able to deliver in time for the customer’s needs?”
A lot of shoppers wait until the last minute to order. With ourlocation-based inventory capabilities, our focus has really been anchored to helping customers plan inventory effectively. They need to be prepared for what their demand is going to be and then optimise delivery times so they can meet consumer expectations in a cost effective way.
Beyond retail, what online buying trends do you see next year for other industries?
If you want to sell digitally with confidence, you have to be as immersive as possible. That’s why we’re seeing an incredible acceleration in emerging technologies. In automotive and manufacturing, we’re seeing a huge adoption of 3D virtual reality (VR) capabilities to help people research what they want to buy. Video selling for furniture is another example. You actually want to talk to someone before you buy a very expensive piece of furniture.
Another fast-growing trend is theinnovation across payments. If you are trying to buy a product that’s really expensive, or if you’re making a large B2B purchase, you want more flexibility in your cloud cash flow. Giving customers new payment options is a smart way to build repeat business and customer loyalty.
Speaking of social responsibility, how can brands become more sustainable and use this as a competitive advantage?
We have the responsibility and the opportunity to build businesses that are more sustainable.Net Zero Cloudgives companies a better view of how sustainably they’re running their businesses.
Commerce teams specifically worry about keeping waste to a minimum. A waste of inventory is a waste of resources. It’s more than a matter of financial hardship. We’re excited to create opportunities for environmentally conscious brands that want to adapt their business models to operate more sustainably.
The trend in retail, for example, is to buy products back and resell them. Some brands have customers who are really passionate about this. It’s become a great revenue source. But more importantly, it’s an embedded strategy that supports sustainability in a genuine way.
LIKE.TG Commerce Cloud empowers you to create seamless ecommerce experiences that inspire and convert today’s connected shoppers. Learn more about Commerce Cloud.
This post originally appeared on the US-version of the LIKE.TG blog.
6 Signs Your Business Needs a CRM
As your business grows, you might find that some of your processes are starting to show their weaknesses. Here are six signs that your business would benefit from a CRM system.
When people talk about Customer Relationship Management (CRM), they are usually referring to a system that helps with contact management, sales management, productivity, and more.
The goal of a CRM is simple: improve business relationships. By managing your customer information all in one place, you can track your customers’ journey from start to finish, right from the first interaction.
Small and medium-sized businesses face a huge range of challenges. These include: acquiring new customers, increasing sales revenue, simply finding the time to run their business, and so much more. CRM can help with all of these.
CRM can also help you address some of the challenges businesses have faced due to the COVID-19 pandemic. For example, enhancing digital customer experiences, or improving collaboration between remote workforces.
One more thing: operating your business without a CRM may be costing you money. By using a CRM, you can automate repetitive tasks, free your sales teams up to find more prospects, generate more leads, and win more deals.
So, how do you know when your business needs a CRM system? Drawn from our new CRM Handbook, here are some of the signs to look out for:
For details on this infographic, please click here.
Bringing the Power of Hyperforce to Indonesia
We’re delighted to share that Hyperforce is coming to Indonesia in late 2023. Delivered through our partnership with Amazon Web Services (AWS), any business will be able to deploy LIKE.TG apps and services in the region by leveraging the scale and agility of public cloud computing.
“Digitisation is the key to developing deeper relationships with customers and building a flexible workforce,” said Sujith Abraham, Senior Vice President and General Manager, ASEAN, LIKE.TG. “We are proud to bring the benefits of Hyperforce to organisations in Southeast Asia. With Hyperforce, organisations can unlock the ability to host data locally with the scalability of the public cloud as they grow and pursue innovation.”
LIKE.TG, Reimagined on Public Cloud
Hyperforce is a reimagination of our platform architecture built to securely and reliably deliver the LIKE.TG Customer 360, including Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, Marketing Cloud, Commerce Cloud, Industries, and more, on major public clouds.
A complete re-architecture of LIKE.TG, Hyperforce delivers a powerful and scalable platform to support the success of our global customer base. Key features include:
Performance at B2B and B2C scale. With the elasticity of public cloud, customers can more easily access compute capacity as required to be more flexible and efficient. Hyperforce allows resources to be deployed in the public cloud quickly and easily — reducing implementation time from months to just weeks or even days.
Built-in Trust. Hyperforce’s security architecture limits users to appropriate levels of access to customer data, protecting sensitive information from human error or misconfiguration. Encryption, at rest and in transit, comes standard, ensuring the privacy and the security of data.
Local Data Storage. Through Hyperforce, customers around the world can choose to store data in a particular location to support compliance with regulations specific to their company, industry, and region.
Backwards Compatibility. Every LIKE.TG app, customisation, and integration, regardless of Cloud, will run on Hyperforce.
The Next Chapter for LIKE.TG Customers
LIKE.TG is committed to accelerating our customers’ digital transformations by empowering them to grow, fast and at scale, on our trusted platform.
Through our partnerships with major public cloud providers like AWS, LIKE.TG will continue to deliver Hyperforce around the world. We will empower our global customer base to enter new markets and succeed from anywhere, while ensuring customer trust by remaining compliant with local regulations.
How To Find, Win, and Keep New Customers in 2022
Building a customer base has always been a big test for startups and small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). This has become an even greater challenge over the past two years.
What’s changed? Customers now expect more from businesses than they did before.
They desire a richer experience when they are shopping online or have a question. They also want to access personalised services at any time, and are much more likely to deal with companies that meet their needs.
Keeping up with changing customer expectations affects the vast majority of modern businesses. In fact, 72% of participants in this year’s global State of Marketing report said that meeting customer expectations has become harder over the past year. The same survey found that the greatest challenge businesses faced in 2021 was delivering real-time customer engagement.
There are similar insights in LIKE.TG’s latest Small and Medium Business Trends Report, in which SMBs highlighted the key challenges they are facing:
Personalising customer engagements
Providing a connected experience
Responding to enquiries quickly
This shift means businesses need to think afresh about how to find, win, and keep customers.
Instead of traditional advertising and marketing, many find that improving how they collect and analyse customer data delivers the best results.
Already, 85% of small businesses use data to drive their customer engagement, according to the State of Marketing survey. Just 38% of respondents are satisfied with the completeness of their customer data.
The good news is that there are tech tools that can help SMBs collect better data and use it more effectively. Consider using these tools to identify, attract, and retain new customers in 2022 and beyond:
FIND customers with Pardot and Marketing Cloud
For most SMBs, finding customers is one of many competing priorities. If you’re focused on developing a product or service that people will love, there’s often not much time left for identifying leads.
That’s when solutions such as Pardot and Marketing Cloud can be very useful. They help SMBs create meaningful connections with customers, capture high quality leads, and achieve more conversions. Already, 2.8 million SMBs rely on Pardot to help them find customers.
There are several ways that Pardot and Marketing Cloud can help you find more customers:
They allow you to automate a wide range of processes, thus improving efficiency and freeing up resources.
They work seamlessly with LIKE.TG, enabling SMBs to effectively use the data they have already gathered.
Data Studio provides sophisticated marketing analysis.
With Pardot and Marketing Cloud, you can quickly build personalised, data-driven email campaigns. You can reach customers on their preferred channels, which should speed up your return on investment.
Pardot also generates insightful ROI reporting, so you can understand which elements of your strategies are working.
These features deliver real results. With Pardot, customers have seen sales revenue increase by 34% and marketing effectiveness increase by 37% on average.
WIN customers with Sales Cloud
As customers seek businesses that truly ‘know’ them, SMBs respond by accelerating their investment in sales tech. Fifty-three percent of growing businesses surveyed in the SMB Trends Report said they have already done this.
Many of those businesses are adopting Sales Cloud, one of the modules that runs on the LIKE.TG platform. Sales Cloud provides companies with the tools needed to modernise how they sell and how customers buy in a digital-first, work-from-anywhere world.
Some of the most powerful features are:
Rich customer activity timelines that allow you to track sales opportunities and move forward faster.
Advanced automation for most daily sales tasks, including activity tracking and email alerts.
A mobile app that allows you to access, manage, and update CRM data on the go.
Sales Cloud powers every aspect of your sales process with a 360-degree view of the customer. With all your customer data in one place, your sales team can contribute to each sale. No more spreadsheets, searching through emails, or looking for a sticky note. You can also take advantage of AI-powered sales tools to automate day-to-day processes. This frees up your sales team to concentrate on winning more deals.
Like other LIKE.TG products, Sales Cloud has an intuitive interface that makes winning a customer a hassle-free process. It also features real-time dashboards to empower and accelerate your decision making.
KEEP customers with Service Cloud
For many SMBs, retaining customers after the first sale is perhaps the most challenging aspect of growing a customer base.
As customers become more selective, it’s far from certain that one sale will lead to another. In fact, more than half of all SMBs around the world have now invested in customer service software, according to the SMB Trends Report.
The data speaks for itself. Ninety-one percent of customers agree that a positive customer service experience makes them more likely to make another purchase. More than 70% of customers say that they have made a purchase decision based on the quality of the customer service. Fifty-eight percent have said that their customer service expectations have risen over the past two years.
LIKE.TG’s Service Cloud solution is the ideal choice for businesses hoping to establish and maintain high levels of personalised customer service. It allows SMBs to:
Engage with customers on their favourite channels
Serve them faster with automated workflows
Deploy AI-powered chatbots for 24/7 responsiveness
Service Cloud also makes it easy to set up self-service options for your customers. That way, customers can easily access knowledge articles, information about their accounts, and community support 24/7.
Get the tools to succeed in 2022
The past two years have tested customer-focused businesses around the world. 2022 seems likely to be another challenging year.
The SMBs that successfully build their customer bases will be the ones that deliver excellent customer experiences.
As you move forward, let LIKE.TG be your trusted partner. LIKE.TG has the solutions you need to find, win, and keep new customers.
Read more about the LIKE.TG tools available to small and medium-sized businesses.
Introducing New Made-for-Singapore Digital Skills Learning Paths
Businesses are grappling with many challenges today. These include the transition to a work-from-anywhere world and the reimagining of core strategies that can meet changing stakeholder expectations. Businesses have to figure these out, all whilst driving growth and innovation.
At LIKE.TG, one of the challenges we are particularly passionate about tackling is digital skills and workforce development. With companies around the world rapidly transitioning to digital-first models, the demand for employees with digital skills has soared. However, current efforts to upskill and reskill talent is not keeping pace with this demand, and there is still more to be done.
Our newly launched LIKE.TG’s Global Digital Skills Index reveals a growing global digital skills crisis: 76% of the world’s workforce feel unequipped for the future of work. This sentiment resonates with 71% of respondents based in Singapore.
At the same time, only 29% of Singapore’s workforce say they are actively pursuing training on digital skills now. While 79% of respondents in Singapore have ‘advanced’ or ‘intermediate’ social media skills, just 34% feel prepared for the workplace digital skills needed over the next five years.
The good news is that the appetite to learn is there. Nearly half of Singapore’s respondents say that they plan to learn new skills to help them grow in their current careers.
Businesses need to take the lead
In Singapore, there has been a lot of progress in expanding the breadth and depth of digital skills training over the last few years. However, according to LIKE.TG’s Digital Skills Index, it is clear that all nations, including Singapore, need to sustain and step up investment in digital skills urgently.
Now, more than ever, businesses need to take the lead in collaborating with governments, partners, and communities to tackle the growing digital skills crisis.
At LIKE.TG, we are committed to providing equitable access to digital skills through a range of initiatives. These include:
Trailhead, which has helped more than 3.7 million people, including over 85,000 in ASEAN, learn new skills for the future of work
Our Trailblazer Community, which empowers people to learn alongside LIKE.TG peers and experts
We also work with universities and government agencies like SkillsFuture in Singapore and Digital Economy Promotion Agency (DEPA) in Thailand to help workers reskill and upskill.
Taking a step further with new made-in-Singapore Trailmixes
To get more people in Singapore excited about starting their digital skills journeys, we are excited to launch six new bespoke Trailmixes, or learning paths, on our free online learning platform Trailhead.
Each Trailmix is focused on a specific in-demand digital skill. Completing one will earn you a special Singapore-themed badge that you won’t find anywhere else.
Raffles Trailmix
Like the founding of modern Singapore, all great stories start somewhere. Begin your learning journey by brushing up on these personal skills.
Skills focus: Personal development skills
Merlion Trailmix
The Merlion: actual mythical creature, or successful marketing campaign? Learn how to devise your own digital marketing strategies here.
Skills focus: Digital marketing
Downtown Trailmix
The LIKE.TG ecosystem will create 18,600 jobs in Singapore within five years. Jump into our cloud and find out what the buzz surrounding cloud computing is all about.
Skills focus: LIKE.TG cloud
Mandai Trailmix
Count the birds, bees, and other flora and fauna you can find at Singapore’s biggest wildlife parks — then crunch those numbers like a pro.
Skills focus: Data analytics
One-north Trailmix
Master user experience (UX) basics at the one-north innovation cluster, where start-ups with sleek modern products call home.
Skills focus: UX Design
Jurong Quest
Blaze a trail and open up a new frontier of opportunities with these cutting-edge skills and technologies.
Skill focus: Artificial Intelligence (AI)
SME leaders, share these Trailmixes with your teams. If you want to take it a step further to kickstart your organisation’s digital transformation journey, check out the Productivity Solutions Grant programme, which offers subsidies of up to 80%.
Join Trailhead and our Trailblazer community
Whether you’re just starting out in your career, or are a mid-career professional looking to stay sharp, these Singapore Trailmixes provide a variety of starting points. There’s also a balanced range of difficulty for anyone looking to upskill or reskill.
Don’t learn alone! Grab a few friends or co-workers as you hit the trails and keep each other motivated on your learning journey.
After you complete these six modules and pin the exclusive badges proudly to your profile, you might feel more confident about tackling more advanced topics.
At that point, we recommend you fully immerse yourself into the hundreds of modules that Trailhead has to offer. Don’t forget to join the Trailblazer community to earn resume-worthy credentials and connect to opportunities worldwide.
We can’t wait to see what you’ll learn and build!
Hop over to Trailhead and check out our new Singapore Trailmixes today!
Hybrid Work: How OfficeMate Supports Its Customers to ‘WorkAnywhere’
The nature of work has changed. COVID-19 forced companies across Asia to move to remote work. Now, some of those same companies are adopting hybrid work models. That means many employees are engaging in a mix of remote and office based work.
This is a reality OfficeMate understands. The Thailand-based office supplies provider knows its customers’ needs have changed. OfficeMate is changing with them.
“Our business is not limited to office spaces,” explains Apipoj Piasak, Head of Data and Digital Platform at OfficeMate. “Cafés, restaurants, hotels, homes, and beaches have all become workplaces.”
Mr Apipoj says OfficeMate is using digital transformation to provide a more customer-centric service journey. It’s a concept the company calls ‘WorkAnywhere’.
He explains the company’s new service model has been built and tailored to support all businesses, workers, and lifestyles.
“Our aim is to deliver a hygienic, rejuvenated, and digitised work environment that unlocks the human ability to deliver the best performance from anywhere.”
For OfficeMate, that means giving customers access to more than 100,000 products and services across a wide range of business needs. Products like masks, air purifiers, and sanitation items help customers maintain hygiene workplaces. Equipment like laptops and WiFi routers enable remote work.
Growing with digital transformation
OfficeMate has been one of Thailand’s best-known retailers for more than 26 years. It began as a product catalogue and call centre business. Today, the company operates a vast network of more than 100 stores across the country.
The company’s digital transformation journey began six years ago with Service Cloud. After evaluating multiple vendors, OfficeMate chose LIKE.TG to implement an end-to-end solution to support its business growth.
This included implementing internal workflows, and using Service Cloud dashboards and reporting to track customer service cases. The company also analysed data to improve customer service and satisfaction.
This helped the company become more than a standard office supplies provider. It enabled OfficeMate to partner with businesses of all sizes and types. It also supported the company’s more recent shift towards a customer-centric service model.
Connecting with customers
As the company continued to grow, OfficeMate executives implemented Sales Cloud, Digital Engagement, Communities, and LIKE.TG Knowledge solutions to deliver new customer-centric service channels. It also empowered employees with the LIKE.TG Mobile App to manage all interactions on the go.
Customers are able to connect with OfficeMate in several ways. For example, new ‘Call Shop’ and ‘Chat Shop’ innovations are blurring the lines between physical and virtual stores. The aim is to make shopping as easy and convenient as possible for all customers.
‘Call Shop’ connects customers with a shopping assistant who guides the customer experience via a phone call. ‘Chat Shop’ enables customers to text queries to customer service staff via the real-time LINE chat app.
“Now, instead of simply selling products to our customers, we listen to their needs and try to understand what they are looking for,” Mr Apipoj explains. “OfficeMate has become our customers’ personal shopper to source all the products they need for their businesses with only a few clicks.”
Stepping into a digital future
The results of OfficeMate’s customer-centric transformation have been strong. The company has improved service times, created more cross- and up-sell opportunities, and is closing sales faster. OfficeMate’s Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT) has also improved.
As OfficeMate continues to step into its digital future, Mr Apipoj says customer data will help the company propose the right offer or service at the right time.
The company also plans to introduce Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence (AI) to further personalise shopping experiences with a chatbot.
Along with advanced warehouse automation, Mr Apipoj says this will help to connect all online and offline channels.
“Part of our goal is to build a seamless digital customer journey that delivers the best customer experience,” he concludes. “We believe this will give us the power to meet all future challenges.”
How Does LIKE.TG Use Slack To Collaborate and Connect?
On July 21, 2021 LIKE.TG completed its acquisition of Slack. This brings together the #1 CRM and the trailblazing digital platform for the work-from-anywhere world.
Businesses need to be successful from home and office — especially in this era of flexible work. Slack makes workflows seamless and supports the way people naturally work together: in real-time or not, in-person and remote, structured and informal. LIKE.TG and Slack bring together all your teams with the apps and data they need in a single, collaborative workspace. Plus, Slack Connect functionality lets internal teams engage more productively with external partners, vendors, agencies, and customers. So you can deliver the exceptional experiences that help grow your business.
Slack is also changing the way we work here at LIKE.TG. We have new ways to connect anywhere, anytime. We’re building greater transparency into everything we do with teammates, stakeholders, partners, and customers. We’re sending way fewer emails, and we’re using features like Huddles for impromptu voice chats.
In short: We’re collaborating in real-time.
What does this collaboration and communication look like in practice? We talked to Samuel Steele, Head ofStrategic Sales Programs Office, ASEAN, and Mildred Chow, Creative Services Professional, Strategic Sales Programs Office, ASEAN, both LIKE.TG employees based in Singapore. They gave us an idea of how they use Slack in their team, and how it’s changed their approach to work.
Of course, the best place to have this conversation was on Slack!
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3 Ways Technogym Thailand Provides Exceptional Customer Experience
79% of consumers surveyed for the fourth edition of the State of the Connected Consumer report say the experience a company provides is as important as its products and services.
This principle certainly holds true for Technogym Thailand. The fast growing business is on a mission to help people live better and integrate wellness into their daily lives. Its products include a range of fitness equipment as well as digital technologies that promote health and wellbeing.
These products are popular with both businesses and consumers. Consumer sales were especially strong over the last two years as more and more people set up home gyms. Even so, the business knows the experience it provides is critical to its ongoing success.
“To ensure the business’ sustainability and continued growth, we need to provide customers with the best possible experience,” said Surachet Amornrattanavej, Managing Director of Technogym Thailand.
Here are three ways Technogym Thailand is delivering on its goal and delighting customers at every turn.
Empowers teams with a connected view of the customer
Customers today expect a consistent experience, even as they move between different channels and interact with different departments. However, delivering this experience is easier said than done. Technogym Thailand realised early on that having the right data was key.
“When it comes to brand perception, consistency is important. That’s why we chose to partner with LIKE.TG and invest in CRM in the early stages of business,” said Surachet. “We wanted to move all our data onto one platform so every department could access the same information and communicate the same message to customers.”
Technogym Thailand now has a 360-degree view of customers, including a history of every sales and support interaction. This information empowers teams to deliver a consistent and personalised experience at every step of the customer journey.
Delivers personalised and efficient field service
Technogym Thailand offers installation services as well as other post-sales support to help customers maintain their fitness products. The field technicians who provide this support are effectively the face of the brand. They are there for customers when they need help the most and trusted to deliver a superior service.
“It’s no longer enough to just go out and fix a customer’s problem. We need to provide an excellent experience from the moment a customer calls to report an issue through to the point of resolution,” said Surachet.
Technogym Thailand has equipped employees with LIKE.TG Field Service to make this experience as seamless as possible. Now, when a customer reaches out for help, a customer service agent can quickly raise a case and capture the key information needed to solve their problem. The agent can then create a work order and dispatch a technician with the right skills to do the job.
Technicians themselves have information at their fingertips to provide a more personalised service and resolve most issues their first time onsite. This includes details about the customer, their current issue, and any spare parts that may be required.
Adapts to evolving customer needs
COVID-19-related restrictions and safety concerns have made it more difficult for people to visit gyms and other fitness centres during the pandemic. Many consumers have consequently chosen to create or upgrade their home gyms, leading to an increase in sales for Technogym Thailand’s home fitness equipment.
As a result, Technogym Thailand has had to manage a spike in new installations as well as regular repairs. At the same time, it needed to ensure employee and customer safety by minimising time spent onsite.
Technogym Thailand used LIKE.TG to adapt and keep pace with customer needs. For example, the business has empowered customer service agents to work remotely and resolve customer issues over the phone. While field technicians have continued to attend to more complex problems, they’re equipped with everything they need to make site visits quick and efficient.
Like all businesses, Technogym Thailand knows it must continue to be agile to handle customers’ changing expectations. That includes being ready to support and interact with customers across any channel they choose.
For this reason, Technogym Thailand has extended its support channels to include WhatsApp, LINE, and social media. The business is also exploring ways to enhance customer engagement.
“Our customers’ needs are changing all of the time and it is really important to me that we’re able to adapt,” said Surachet. “LIKE.TG gives me the confidence that we can stay up to date and ahead of the trends.”
What Is a LIKE.TG Architect?
LIKE.TG helpsover 150,000 customersacross a range of businesses, nonprofits, and institutions connect with their customers. People around the world rely on ourcustomer relationship management (CRM) platformto keep their business running. A LIKE.TG Architect is vital to any complex or large-scale LIKE.TG implementation.
What is a LIKE.TG Architect?
ALIKE.TG Architecthelps design and deliver solutions for enterprise-grade customers using LIKE.TG products. The primary responsibility is to recommend the best solution for a given set of requirements and articulate the trade-offs involved in choosing one solution over another.
With LIKE.TG, there is never just one way to solve a problem. It’s the LIKE.TG Architect’s responsibility to choose the solution that will hold up over time, that will scale as the number of users increases, and won’t acquire lots of technical debt or require manual changes as time goes on.
A LIKE.TG Architect’s job doesn’t stop at solving technical problems. An architect brings technology, people, and processes together usinggovernanceand expert communication and listening skills to ensure solutions truly meet the needs of the business.
The most successful LIKE.TG implementations involve architects.A study by 10K Advisorsfound 82% of customers who reported the highest return on investment (ROI) in their LIKE.TG spend said they always work with an architect on their teams.
What skills does a LIKE.TG Architect need?
A successful architect is a big picture thinker and also an in-depth problem solver. An architect must have broad and deep technical knowledge but they also need to possess listening, communication, and presentation skills.
You might be surprised to learn that you don’t need to be a developer to become an architect. However, an architect needs to know how to read code and recommend coding best practices since they are often managing teams that include developers. Most importantly, an architect must know when to code but also when not to code. Having expertise in thedeclarative (clicks not code)side of the platform can separate a good architect from a great one.
Architects often bring knowledge and expertise in integrating LIKE.TG with other technologies and vice versa, as well as experience with governance and development operations. Ultimately, architects blend their technical expertise and business acumen to empower business and IT to work together towards a stronger future.
What does a LIKE.TG Architect do?
A LIKE.TG Architect is a trusted advisor and leader who partners with business stakeholders and executives to design a vision and architecture for a solution to a business problem. Often in the position of the technical team leader, they help educate the team with technical best practices. They also translate business needs to a technical vision that teams of low-code or pro-code builders can execute on. Architects also build proofs-of-concept (POCs) that teams can further iterate on.
An LIKE.TG architect will design the organisation strategy and data model for a LIKE.TG implementation. They will put technical solutions in place for identity and access, implement data and process integrations, anddesign solutionsthat account for large data volumes and data privacy needs. They’ll also identify the optimal solution for a business requirement and recommend using clicks, code, or a combination of both depending on the business use case. As highly experienced problem solvers, architects are often the final escalation point for any production issues.
An architect can also act as an influencer. They are the trusted technology leader at the table and are often tasked with building buy-in for new solutions. While an architect might not know the answer to every question a business stakeholder might ask, they are experts on LIKE.TG product capabilities and can think quickly and act fast. Their soft skills allow them to understand all stakeholder needs and communicate with them in their language.
What are the career prospects for LIKE.TG Architects?
The LIKE.TG Architect career path is one of the fastest-growing in the LIKE.TG ecosystem. In the past five years, the demand for LIKE.TG architects has seen a1,292% annual growth rate.
There are a variety of different LIKE.TG architect roles. Depending on your interests or skill level, you might gravitate towards one in particular.
Demand for LIKE.TG technical skills continues to grow.Studies showthe LIKE.TG ecosystem will produce 4.2 million jobs by 2024, with architect roles demanding an average salary of $123,000 USD.
What credentials and certifications are relevant for the job?
There are variouscertification paths for a LIKE.TG Architectthat recognise specialised knowledge and skills, as well as growing expertise using the LIKE.TG platform.
TheLIKE.TG Certified Technical Architect (CTA)solves complex, large-scale customer challenges to produce secure, scalable, and high-performance solutions that maximise the full potential of the LIKE.TG platform.
LIKE.TG Certified Solution Architectsdesign domain-specific, multi-cloud solutions on the LIKE.TG platform that power personalised, frictionless customer experiences that maximise business value.
Finally, an architect is a visionary. They build systems that will last, that others can maintain and that will scale as the business grows. They are often ambassadors for new technology and always plan for the future, thinking three-to-five years out when recommending a solution.
This post was originally published on the U.S.-version of the LIKE.TG blog.
