效率工具
Get To Know the Spring ’22 Release
Innovation is one of LIKE.TG’s core values, and we commit to this value by releasing hundreds of new features and enhancements three times a year. Many of these innovations come from ideas that are crowdsourced and prioritised by real customers via theIdeaExchange.
Our first release of the new year, Spring ’22, is now generally available. With hundreds of new features and updates, you can maximise your LIKE.TG return on investment (ROI) with these three tips:
1. Learn about the top new features through Release in a Box
TheRelease in a Boxis a comprehensive guide with high-level summaries of the top innovations across all our LIKE.TG products. WithRelease in a Box, you can decide which new features and capabilities are relevant for your organisation.
2. Next, check out demo videos to see innovations in action
Our demo video playlists, found on theSpring ’22 release marketing website, showcase how you can utilise some of our top new features and updates. For example,see how Slack Huddlesoffers an audio-first way of connecting with colleagues, customers, and partners in real time. Watching demo videos provides an easy way to see new innovations in action.
3. Lastly, be sure to take the Spring ’22 Release Highlights Trail
TheSpring ’22 Release Highlights Trailis a great way to learn some of this season’s innovation highlights, all while earning a new badge.
This post originally appeared on the U.S-version of the LIKE.TG blog.
Upskilling for the Future of Work: Tips From Our LIKE.TG Community
The way we work together is evolving at such a pace that it is important to reflect on the learnings. The pandemic brought with it significant logistical and technological changes that continue to reshape the workplace as we head into 2022, and each of us has our own unique experience of that change.
Which is why I turned to my network on LinkedInto hear their biggest insights on the future of work. The responses were thoughtful, astute and inspiring. Here, I’ve listed as many as I could fit into a blog and paired them with the most helpful Trailhead modules for a productive 2022 — no matter where you are working from.
My own biggest lesson from this year is about listening. Particularly as a leader, when we’re not next to each other in the office, it is even more important to listen to a fellow team member, to learn about what is going on in their mind.
Here is what our community shared:
Leadership with human qualities reign supreme
Perhaps the biggest takeaway is that 2021 has placed new emphasis on what’s human. In times of great flux, the best leadership is grounded in our shared humanity, as it enables meaningful decision-making and impactful action.
Teamwork skills start with empathy
Empathy was always important, but the dial has been turned up these past few years with work and home life colliding in the hybrid workplace. Karin Flores, Vice President Strategic Events, Customer Experience Center and Programs at Okta, encapsulates why the need for empathy has skyrocketed saying “Learning to balance work life and home life has never been more important, especially since the two have collided for many of us. As a leader, I have learned that it’s important to listen to your team and understand where they are in their journey”.
In fact leading with empathy is “absolute hygiene for any leader in this work-from-anywhere world”, an insight I agree with from Wendy Walker, Senior Director Marketing Asia Pacific at LIKE.TG.
Learning: How to dial up the empathy in leadership
As leadership is constantly evolving, we are also learning along the way. In the digital-first environment, many leaders have had to step into new mentoring roles, in flux and all online.
To help leaders learn new insights and to begin with empathy, we have designed a learning module to build empathetic leadership in business.
This Trailhead module helps leaders to navigate communication with team members amidst change. You can find practical tips on how to make your one-on-one meetings meaningful and help to balance your workload with your colleagues. We have included tangible ways to support your team members to work with their strengths, interests and the business goals.
Creating a diverse and inclusive workplace across the globe
Upender Rao, Manager of Global Business Services at LIKE.TG highlights the importance of sensitivity, diversity, and inclusivity. Both to cultural sensitivity and forgiveness of cultural stumbles, saying “We need a tad more sensitivity interacting with other cultures. We can’t know everything about every culture. If you don’t know, just ask. For the recipient, be forgiving if the speaker doesn’t understand your culture.”
Learning: Pathway to equality
LIKE.TG is committed to driving equality within our own community and beyond. We are on a path to cultivating a workplace that reflects our communities, to create an environment where everyone feels valued, heard, and has a sense of belonging. As a leader, I am proud to share our approach to equality.
We also believe that it is our higher purpose to create a world where everyone has equal rights, equal pay, equal access to education, and equal opportunities to succeed. We are working together with our entire community—customers, partners, employees, industry, and so on — to build a path forward.
Learning: Cultivating equality at work
More and more business leaders are seeing that cultivating equality is not just the right thing to do, but also the smart thing. Infact, employees who feel their voice is heard at work are nearly five-times more likely to perform their best work.
We are naturally social creatures, so we have developed a module on how to cultivate equality at work.
Laughter is the best medicine
One of my favourite insights on the humanity imperative is “The role of laughter – at ourselves, at each other and at the situation. We get so caught up in the daily grind and this year wouldn’t have been survivable without the LOLs.” Summed up so clearly by Leah Jackson, Head Of Digital Marketing at Goodman Fielder.
Infusing everything with kindness
Complimenting the need for empathy is the importance of kindness and its role in fostering equality, as LIKE.TG Marketing Director Andrew Ward put: “I feel many of us have learnt to be a little kinder to each other. I love the idea of linking kindness to results or outcome orientation in the long term.”
New ways of working and working together
It’s no surprise that a hot topic of conversation was just how different our work lives look in comparison to just two years ago. Calibrating this difference can be hard, because just as you think you’ve become used to the way things work, they shift again!
Aligning your business and people goals
Shahin Hoda, the Founder of xGrowth reiterated the importance of aligning your people with your business goals. For maximum impact, you want business vector alignment, this means creating a great culture to attract top talent, who then go out of their way to make a great experience for your customers. He added that “How result-oriented an organisation and its business units are is going to make or break future organisations.” Going on to say that “business vector alignment – has always been important.”
Listen to team members
Brent Ombler, Senior Business Analyst at Commonwealth Bank of Australia added that deep listening is pivotal, to hear what is being communicated, especially in a hyper distributed, or hybrid, working environment. He adds that “it’s more important now than ever to ensure that the communication channels are made available, and their usage continually encouraged.”
Trust still leads the way
Sarah Hargreaves, Marketing Director, Demand Generation at LIKE.TG, had some thoughts on the subject, particularly on trust and the use of Slack:
Learning: Collaborate with your team from anywhere
Essentially, work can happen at all hours of the day. So how do leaders stay in touch with team members across the globe? An easy answer is to set up a Slack channel to get out of the inbox, and into a dynamic virtual team environment. Stay across the project no matter your time-zone byworking with Slack.
Engaging with your team
Like trust, fostering team engagement is a big one as we move through 2022. Steve Elmore, Director of Advisory at Fresh Consulting shared insights into the importance of leaders’ EQ in the era of the great resignation. “Many organisations no longer have the stickiness of location as remote working becomes more the norm. Opportunities are no longer geographically bound. This places an increased burden on leaders to be more than they have been before.”
Learning: Keeping your teams engaged
Leaders will need to shift their approach to combat the great resignation. CEO LIKE.TG ANZ ASEAN Pip Marlow recently spoke to the Australian Financial Review on the opportunities facing Australian companies with her view to forget the great resignation, we are ready for the great realignment.
At LIKE.TG, we believe that our people, from individual contributors to top executives, are our greatest resource and the reason for our success. To keep your team motivated and create a great place to work, you can follow the trail on employee engagement to find why engagement matters.
Employees are looking for more flexibility, opportunity and to create work that has meaning. Virtual working has accelerated rapidly, and there is always more to learn. If you want to add in some new ways of working, then follow the remote work tips Trailmix.
Shift in mindset
The importance of mindset, balance and wellbeing is growing in the workplace. Effective leaders aim to balance stress in their own day as well as motivate others to achieve goals together. Equipping people with the resources to thrive is essential, particularly with the challenges we are facing. In fact, we have an entire series on the Wellness Playbook designed as a leader’s guide to employee wellbeing.
Remember to smile
Ian Gotts, CEO of Elements.cloud’s reminds us to stay curious, to not take ourselves too seriously because “humour is the best medicine but also accelerates connections and trust”.
Embrace change
David Barzilay, Senior Growth Strategist from Five Faces responded from the heart when he told us he’d learned to appreciate change. For him that means “not just being reactively adaptable, but understanding and appreciating the fact that change is the only constant in our lives, like it or not. So, we may as well start enjoying it.”
Learning: Practicing mindfulness
I encourage my team to embrace the power of mindfulness to reduce stress and create peace and joy in the day. You can connect to your inner mindfulness practices with the World Meditation Day Trailmix.
Virtual teams need radical honesty
This one strikes a chord with me – it is the power of radical honesty – for me, giving feedback is a gift.
Archana Sinha, Senior Director Corporate Marketing at LIKE.TG shares about “promoting a culture of radical honesty. Ensuring that as a leader you keep the team informed and aware and make sure information flow is seamless at all times. Being vulnerable and sharing when you don’t have all the answers is extremely important in the world of tomorrow. Sharing your vulnerability when you may need downtime or when you may not be at your best also encourages the team to be open about wellness and mental health.”
Winning in 2022
This has been an illuminating exercise for me to listen to your insights from this year. I have thoroughly enjoyed the sense of community that has emerged from this thread. As we are all evolving to the changing landscape, it is important to keep sharing the lessons and insights along the way.
Thanks for the fantastic reflections provided by everyone – there were too many to list, so if you’d like to check out some of the other insights, head here to see my original post.
Once again, I’d like to thank all who took the time to share their unique takes on the future of work, teamwork, and the hybrid workplace. If these contributions are any indication, the 2022 landscape is looking brighter than ever and I look forward to walking it with all of you.
Visit Trailhead to learn new skills from anywhere.
This post originally appeared on the A.U.-version of the LIKE.TG blog.
4 Expert Tips on How To Build Your Retail Experience Around Customers
Retailers have been incredibly responsive to changes in consumer demand, supply chain availability, and store operations over the past two years.
In a short time, brands and retailers launched a variety of new services and customer experiences. These included options to buy-online-pickup-in-store, virtual appointments, flexible payment options, and livestream e-commerce.
As a result, customer expectations for what makes a great digital experience have increased. In fact, more than 80% of B2B and B2C customers now believe the experience provided by a company is as important as its products or services.
The greatest challenge now — for B2C and B2B businesses — is to keep up with customer expectations. Expectations of customers in both groups are converging in terms of speed, connectedness, and personalisation.
How can retailers harness technology and data to deliver a seamless customer experience and build relationships? LIKE.TG’s Global Head of Retail and Consumer Goods Industry Advisors, Matt Marcotte, shares his top tips:
Tip 1: Collect data at every customer touchpoint
Recommendations and personalisation are only as good as the data you collect and the accuracy of it.
Take every opportunity to ask your customers about their likes, wants, and desires at every touchpoint with the brand.
Tip 2: Let your brand’s personality shine
Whether it’s a promotion, limited quantities, or just reminding them to complete their purchase, it’s not just about sending the message.
The tone of voice and approach makes people either want to engage with you or just ignore your message. Find creative, fun, and personal ways to engage customers.
Tip 3: Make sure customer service is 24/7
One of the biggest customer frustrations is not being able to get in touch with a brand when they need to.
The right combination of self-service chatbots and customer service agents — with access to the customer’s data — is critical to ensure not only fast resolution of an issue, but also excellent customer experience. These types of engagements can make or break a brand and people’s willingness to continue buying from them.
Tip 4: Tap into social media feedback
Once brands see comments from customers, it is critical that they connect with that customer, deepen the relationship, and gather more information to inform their single source of truth. Just listening is not enough — customers want relationships with brands. Maximise every opportunity to build on that relationship through interaction.
Creating genuine customer connections
The brands that will experience the greatest success will be the ones that focus on:
Connected customers: responding at the speed the customer expects by using a unified platform and centralised data.
Connected stores: including virtual selling and engagement.
Connected employees: empowering team members through mobile, virtual service, and intelligence capabilities.
Together, these provide a seamless experience. It helps teams get smarter about their interactions with customers, and lets customers know you’re listening to them.
The secret ingredient is a relentless focus on knowing your customer. It must be at the core of everything. Get this right, and you’ll serve the right product and message to the right customer, at the right time and place.
Learn more about how consumer brands and retailers can deliver seamless, personalised experiences in our ebook The Connected Customer Experience: A Guide for Retail and Consumer Goods Brands in ASEAN:
How CRM Helps Small and Medium Businesses Win Customers
Customer expectations are always changing. As more and more customers become digitally savvy, it’s important that you adapt the way you do business. One thing that is increasingly important is a consistent customer experience. In particular, personalisation is becoming a vital part of marketing, sales, and service.
CRM can help you with this task, and it’s not just for large enterprises. Based on the latest research presented in our Small and Medium Business Trends Report, 67% of growing SMBs have invested in CRM software. In the same report, more than half of SMBs that we talked to said they were investing in service, sales, and marketing technology.
A CRM system gives you one unified view of your customers. It helps with contact management, sales management, productivity, and more. Using CRM helps companies stay connected to customers, streamline processes, and improve profitability.
Faster sales: Win more deals with less effort through automation of your sales process.
Smarter marketing: Find more leads and engage your audience with personalised content.
Better service: Keep more customers with outstanding personalised service.
LIKE.TG has solutions for every kind of organisation. Even the smallest business can get started with powerful CRM technology that will change the way they work.
Read the infographic below to learn how using a CRM platform can help you win customers:
Data sources:
* Win The Deal With The #1 CRM For Small Businesses: https://www.LIKE.TG/ap/solutions/small-business-solutions/win-customers/
^ Find Customers with the Best CRM Tools and Packages: https://www.LIKE.TG/ap/solutions/small-business-solutions/find-customers/
# Fifth Edition Small and Medium Business Trends Report
✝ LIKE.TG for Small Business: CRM and Customer Support Software: https://www.LIKE.TG/ap/solutions/small-business-solutions/overview/
For details on this infographic, please click here.
The Top 3 Small Business Trends for 2022
Last year was an unpredictable one for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) in the ASEAN region. As we look forward, we can’t be certain about what the year ahead holds for us. That said, we do have recent research that hints at the trends that will be important in 2022.
In the fifth edition of the Small and Medium Business Trends report, The Harris Poll spoke with 2,500 SMB leaders across the world. The results illustrated new trends, highlighting the links between revenue growth and certain approaches to business.
This latest update of the report shows that SMBs consider attracting new customers to be their number one challenge. This is consistent with the results from the previous editions. On top of that, the new report also shows that SMB leaders worry about retaining existing customers more than they used to.
For the SMBs planning in the months ahead, we believe these three trends will determine who’s staying ahead of the curve and who isn’t.
1. A focus on shifting customer expectations
The pandemic accelerated customers’ digital habits and their appetite for seamless, omnichannel experiences. It’s little wonder that survey responses show that 92% of SMBs in Singapore and Thailand plan to offer contactless services permanently. More than half of SMBs have increased customer engagement channels.
Customers don’t just expect more channels. They also expect convenient and personalised experiences with your business. Any time, anywhere. SMBs say that keeping up with demand and personalisation are two of their biggest customer engagement challenges. Therefore, SMBs will need to keep finding scalable solutions for meeting new expectations.
That’s why we’re confident 2022 will see an even greater focus on reshaping business operations around customers’ evolving needs and expectations.
2. Happy employees mean happy customers
Customers aren’t the only ones with changing expectations.
LIKE.TG research reveals that flexible working arrangements are now the number one employee expectation in Singapore — with growing SMBs more likely to provide this. In Thailand, the focus is on employee safety, with mask wearing and access to vaccinations among the top concerns.
Great customer experiences depend on employees having the data, tools, and circumstances necessary to do their jobs well. Empowering your employees with the right tools will lead to greater job satisfaction. This, in turn, leads to a sharper focus on customer needs.
3. Investments in technology that empower customers and employees
Underpinning these trends are digital solutions that empower both employees and customers.
Solutions in marketing and sales empower employees through better, more holistic customer data, helping them meet evolving customer needs. Additionally, technology like self service, AI, and chatbots can help SMBs’ service teams meet demand, while customers are freed to find answers on their own.
For sales, a CRM solution gives teams access to information about prospects in great detail and at a massive scale. With so much information on each prospect, your sales team has the power to deliver a personalised sales pitch every time.
Marketing teams can use CRM to organise marketing campaigns and assets in one place. With one central hub for marketing campaigns and lead records, your marketing team will also have unprecedented visibility into how campaigns are performing and driving revenue for the business.
Customer service teams can use CRM to get one cohesive view of the customer. Agents will have access to complete case histories, detailed account information, and even the customer’s preferred method of communication. All this information makes it easier for your agents to provide personal service that will turn customers into advocates for your company.
More than three-quarters of SMBs from Singapore and Thailand said they wouldn’t have survived the pandemic if they had been using technology from 10 years ago. It makes sense, then, that customer service technology, as well as sales and marketing solutions, are among the top investments made by SMBs in Singapore and Thailand.
Want to learn more?
No matter what 2022 brings, we’re sure that continued digitalisation built on a flexible tech foundation will be key to future success.
In our recent webinar, 4 Key SMB Trends shaping the future of work, Brian Solis, Global Innovation Evangelist, put it this way:
In the webinar, we discussed the main trends affecting small and medium businesses today. Brian also talked about what SMBs can do now to help them grow in the future.
Watch the webinaron how the latest key SMB trends can shape your future of business.
Email Marketing Best Practices That Drive Engagement and Results
Brands today can connect with customers using a wide array of digital channels. Still, good old email remains one of the most popular and effective.
Email offers solid return on investment and can be an important touchpoint along the customer journey. It also enables businesses to deliver hyper-personalised customer experiences at scale.
Effective email marketing requires a good balance of experience, critical thinking skills, and specialist knowledge of marketing and email techniques. It also requires a lot of hard work, as LIKE.TG’s Edna Tan and Chris Munro can both attest.
Edna is Senior Analyst, Field Marketing Operations, while Chris is Marketing Automation Data Senior Analyst. Together, they’re responsible for planning, building, analysing, and continually optimising email campaigns and journeys for LIKE.TG in the Asia-Pacific region.
In this interview, Edna and Chris shared their top tips for creating successful email marketing campaigns, as well as pitfalls to avoid. Read on to learn how you can make your emails stand out in your subscribers’ inboxes:
What do you think makes a successful email marketing campaign?
Edna: I believe there are four key elements to ensuring every campaign is effective and delivers an authentic experience. The first is relevancy and empathy. Consider what’s happening in the world, empathise with what customers are experiencing, and adopt an appropriate tone. The second element is segmentation. Understand the audience and segment your lists to send more relevant content. These targeted campaigns will lead to greater customer engagement and inspire recipients to take action. The third element is personalisation. True personalisation goes further than segmentation. It involves using your data to create compelling and personalised email experiences.
The final element relates to execution. Don’t skip the review process. The content and design of every email needs the review and approval of key stakeholders.
Chris: Edna has touched on our core philosophy: for us to be successful, we need to send people the right information, at the right time. We also need to align with what’s happening at the moment. Otherwise, they’ll disregard our email or it won’t have the desired effect.
What other tips do you have for creating emails that people want to receive in their inbox?
Chris: If you are establishing a new email brand, take time to understand the landscape around you. Find out what other businesses or industries are doing. Identify the metrics to track and understand the benchmarks for performance.
Once you have the lay of the land, turn inwards. Determine what information your customers want from you and start sending out emails. Never stop making changes and trying to improve. As long as you pay attention to what your customers tell you with their clicks, you’ll be in a good position to communicate with them in the way that they want. That’s the end goal.
What sets brands apart when it comes to email? What do you see in the market that inspires you?
Chris: I would say incredibly strong branding that follows through to every part of the business. So, when an email lands in your inbox, it has the same look and feel as the brand’s store or website. One of the reasons I find this so effective is because it immediately tells me who the brand is and I can just get straight into the content.
Edna: For me, it’s about personalisation. I do a lot of online shopping and there are a couple of brands that proactively email me recommended items based on what I’ve browsed or bought in the past. I now look forward to these emails—especially around events like Black Friday.
Chris: That’s the best possible thing you could hope for as an email marketer: subscribers who are ready and waiting for your email. I don’t think a lot of businesses necessarily achieve that, but it would definitely be the pinnacle of success.
When it comes to delivering successful campaigns, how does Marketing Cloud support you? What are your favourite features?
Edna: I spend most of my time in Email Studio, which allows me to quickly build emails with a responsive design that’s optimised for any device. It also enables a lot of automation that makes our workflow really efficient.
Chris: My favourite function is AMPScript. This is a scripting language that supports the creation of more personalised emails. Early on in my marketing career, I found AMPscript made it easy to add that extra bit of personalisation that shows people we know who they are. Seven years later, it allows me to continually elevate emails and make them as engaging as possible for each person.
What are some common misconceptions about email marketing or traps that marketers should avoid?
Edna: I feel there are a lot of studies on the best way to optimise email campaigns. However, not all approaches will work for every organisation. The best thing you can do as an email marketer is take in the learnings and then use A/B testing to see what strategies work best for your audience.
Chris: There’s a misconception with email that more is better, which can mean longer emails, greater frequency, or sometimes both. However, these things can actually be detrimental. So again, it goes back to knowing your audience and testing to see what works best for them. Look at how many times people engage with your message and notice when that engagement starts to drop off.
What are your best practices for measuring engagement?
Chris: LIKE.TG, along with a lot of other businesses, are now measuring the click-to-open-rate (CTOR) of our emails. This tells us how many of those who opened an email actually took the next step in the journey. It is a good indication of how successful the content of your email is for conversion and I’d suggest it’s an important metric to adopt.
We also look at metrics deeper into the customer journey to ensure that our emails are effective in driving the targeted behaviour. For example, we look at how many people download an asset after visiting a landing page and look at how many leads the campaign generates overall.
Recent changes to email privacy protections will impact metrics and temporarily make measurement harder. However, I think the changes will lead marketers to reevaluate what success looks like and rely more on measures like customer engagement scores.
Any final words of advice for those looking to refresh their email marketing strategy?
Chris: It is easy to get excited about building email journeys. However, these projects can often become overwhelming to the point that organisations get stuck and can’t move forward. My advice is to go ahead and plan out big journeys, but then break them up into bite-sized pieces that are more achievable to implement. For example, start with a welcome email. Then, add to the journey as you go, rather than trying to build ten emails at once.
Edna: Know your audience and that means using your data to personalise their experience. Also, continually test your messages to ensure they remain relevant.
Find out how you can put these best practices into action. Read our guide on how to find the right email marketing tools to reach your customers here.
How SMB Leaders Can Win Employee Trust Post-pandemic
Trust is the true currency in business; a value that sets successful businesses apart. It helps build work cultures where employees are encouraged to speak up, experiment, and give their best. But trust doesn’t come easy; it must be fostered carefully over time.
Small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) that had to take tough decisions to survive, such as reducing work hours or perks, are looking to earn back their employees’ trust. LIKE.TG’s fifth edition of the Small and Medium Business Trendsreport shows that SMBs are taking steps to address employee concerns around workplace safety, flexible schedules, location, etc.
Based on the report’s insights, here are seven ways SMB leaders can win employee trustby making working easier and workplaces more conducive to growth:
1. Communicate transparently and consistently
Help employees understand company policies that matter most to them: safety measures, annual leave, remote working, and appraisals.Be transparent about your plans to handle health risks or economic downturns.You can do this by holding regular company- or team-wide meetings, making policy details available on your website, and sharing open calendars with employees.
Transparency is one of the best ways to build trust and increase employee retention. It is especially important for growing SMBs that want to attract high-performingprofessionals.
2. Be empathetic and supportive leaders
Allow employees to freely discuss personal and professional challenges. Ensure you let all employees know they have your support to overcome challenges and are free to seek time off when needed.
Penalising employees for simple mistakes and not allowing them to take risks reduces trust and productivity. Instead, work alongside them to help improve their performance. Also, set up an internal support group and forums to discuss everyday challenges. Empathy can allow SMB leaders to build strong relationships with each employee, enabling them to handleworkplace challenges better.
3. Listen to employees’ voices
Hear them out on the changes they would like to see at work. They can also share valuable feedback on how to improve processes and organisational structures at the ground level. SMBs that have small teams can have one-on-one conversations. Alternatively, hold team discussions and conduct anonymous polls to get employee feedback.
4. Entrust employees with greater autonomy
Give employees the autonomy to follow their styles of working. Employees dislike micromanagement. It isn’t a good use of an SMB leader’s time either.
In any case, SMB leaders can only don so many hats at once, making it important to encourage employees to be more accountable. This also instils a greater sense of ownership and pride in the employees.
5. Enable employees to contribute to business growth
Do this by continuously aligning their goals with company goals and visions. This shows that you trust them to be capable of doing more, encouraging them to trust you back and contribute towards achieving these goals.
Come together regularly to align individual and team goals with those of the leaders’. This can help SMBs come up with innovative ways to achieve their goals as a team and grow faster.
6. Help employees connect their passions with work
Enable them to grow professionally and explore their true calling. SMBs can do this by providing employees with opportunities to learn from colleagues, connect with industry experts, usefree learning tools, and encouraging teams to think creatively.
7. Walk the talk
Company values should be reflected in the way you work and your worldview towards employees, customers, and important causes. This reflects in how diverse your workforce is, what you do to enable work-life balance, how you approach mental health issues, and whether you use technology responsibly.
Furthermore,SMBs that stand by their values are more likely to be trusted and supported by their employees and communities. According to the Small and Medium Business Trends Report, 67% of SMBsconsider community support important for their survival.
SMBs should aim to win employee trust by supporting them
Resilience and grit are characteristic of SMBs. SMBs can take inspiration from those that thrived during the pandemic to tackle their challenges. They can use these insights and ideas to enable their employees to contribute to their organisation’s success collaboratively.
This post was originally published on the I.N.-version of the LIKE.TG blog.
7 Ways To Improve Your Customers’ Online Shopping Experience
Thanks to the rapid shift towards digital, the close relationship between company and customer has become king. Online shopping has quickly moved from the fringes to the centre of commerce.
This reality brings with it as many opportunities as it does challenges. Organisational success now comes from a combination of understanding customer expectations on the deepest possible level and choosing the best tools to meet them.
According to data from the fourth edition of the State of the Connected Customer report:
Digital engagement spiked by 18% over the past year.
Eighty percent of customers say that their experience of dealing with a company is just as important as the products or services they receive.
Almost 60% of consumers expect to shop online more often in the future.
These statistics are just the tip of the iceberg. The popularity of online shopping is rising fast. That is why marketing, sales, and service teams are looking for any competitive edge that will improve the customer experience.
Here, we’ve broken down seven tips to help you get that edge. These include practical tips that you can act on as soon as you finish reading. We also share longer-term strategies that promise ongoing rewards. These tips, when implemented in combination, are a great way to improve every step of the customer journey.
1. Get to know your audience
We live in an age with plentiful access to customer data, even as the third-party cookie crumbles and privacy regulations tighten. However, that data is doing very little to benefit your business unless you use it in the right way.
The right way, in this case, is not only understanding the individual customer as intimately as possible. It’s also being able to group together similar individual customer profiles. You can use these to create audience segments and buying personas.
This is where CRM technology comes in. LIKE.TG Customer 360 offers a range of products, integrations, and add-ons. It allows you to arrange detailed pictures of your target audiences, enabling you to personalise your approach.
Whatever you want to achieve, LIKE.TG offers a selection of solutions to meet your needs. Take our quiz to build your own Customer 360.
2. Make your images work for you
Never underestimate the power of the image. We live in an increasingly visual world, where getting consumer attention is paramount. When online shopping, it’s easy for the attention of consumers to wander or get lost altogether, if the visual experience is sub-par.
By sub-par, we mean images of products that are underlit or overexposed, or look amateurish. Consumers crave the most enticing, dynamic, yet accurate representation of what they are looking to buy. If you have the budget, a 360-degree video of your product can boost sales even more.
Conversely, including images that are unrelated to the specific purchase can make your pages difficult to read.
In other words, images can make or break a sale. Implement them properly, and they’ll also help your site’s SEO ranking. Using images effectively requires thought and discernment, but if you get it right, your customers will appreciate the effort.
3. Show customers which products are most popular
The power of suggestion is always going to sway some consumers, but that’s not the only reason why popular products should be placed front and centre on your site. In almost all cases, products become popular for a reason, whether due to functionality, quality, or trends.
Your bestsellers are bestsellers for a reason. While new products are always enticing, never forget that customers are drawn to what others have purchased and endorsed.
Tableau for LIKE.TG Customer 360 allows different teams to gain a single view of customer data and act on the same insights. Amongst its many capabilities, one is the ability to bring together individual purchasing behaviours to get a real sense of product popularity. Tableau can help you present data in an easy-to-understand way, allowing every team to understand the insights. You can use this data to present popular products to different target audiences, offering deeper personalisation and greater ROI.
4. Remarket now and close more business
In the past, post-engagement retargeting had been quite clunky and, in some cases, off-putting to the consumer. Think of how annoying it is to receive ads for the exact product that you purchased a month ago. It’s also frustrating to get ads after accidentally clicking a link and closing it.
The good news is, this complicated process can be refined.
By using Marketing Cloud, you can track customers who’ve made a purchase, those who demonstrated interest but didn’t buy, and those who have been browsing elsewhere for similar products that you offer. You can then remarket to those individuals based on their personalised online shopping journeys. This minimises wasted ad spend and gives the customer what they want.
You can also take this flexibility further into real time with Marketing Cloud add-ons such as Interaction Studio.
5. Simplify the checkout process
The importance of the checkout process during an online transaction is often underestimated. Friction during the path to pay can easily lead to cart abandonment, and therefore a missed opportunity for customer loyalty.
Fortunately, the antidote to this undesirable result is: keep it simple. The customer shouldn’t have to wade through multiple lengthy pages to pay for what they want (particularly in the case of returning customers). Most people are time-pressed, and want to make a quick, safe, and hassle-free purchase.
You should also be clear about the extra information customers want, such as shipping costs and return policies.
Commerce Cloud is a sure-fire way to help you with all of the above.
6. Keep in touch with follow-up emails
Fact: a simple follow-up email can turn a one-time buyer into a loyal customer.
Chances are, if an individual has appreciated both the purchase and the experience, they’re far more likely to come back for more. Marketing Cloud can facilitate these kinds of meaningful interactions. You can send review requests, similar product recommendations, or maybe an inventive marketing campaign targeted to their preferences.
With the deep customer data that you have in your CRM, you can make each follow-up communication relevant to the individual customer. In this day and age of broken funnels and tangled pipelines, these benefits are priceless.
7. Do it all with consistency in mind
Tending to one or all of these individual aspects of the customer experience will be beneficial to an extent. The more you consider how each improvement relates to each other, the bigger the reward.
Consistency across channels and platforms is key. That’s because consumers use multiple channels to shop online, and they expect continuity across them all.
Products such as Commerce Cloud allow you to grab the attention of more customers and create a seamless omnichannel customer journey. One that stretches across marketing, sales, commerce, fulfillment, service, and beyond.
Here’s How a ‘Digital HQ’ Can Help Your Business Achieve Customer Success from Anywhere
The past two years have seen businesses in every industry embrace digital-first strategies to better connect employees, customers, and partners. In tandem, new collaboration tools and remote working technologies have provided flexibility and choice around where and how we work.
However, the future of work is not just about technology — it’s about people and talent. Expectations around flexible work have changed, and many employees are looking for companies with flexible work options to give themselves a better work-life balance.
According to research from Future Forum and Slack, flexibility is no longer just about where we work — it’s also about when we work. The research found that 76% of employees indicated they want more location flexibility, while 93% said they wanted schedule flexibility.
Businesses without flexible work practices might be alarmed to learn that 57% of employees said they were open to looking for a new job in 2022, according to the Future Forum and Slack research. Beyond financial compensation, flexibility is the next selection criteria for employees when choosing a job.
At its core, the shift to flexible, hybrid working is about moving from an offline to an online environment. This impacts the places we share information, the way we communicate, how we resource teams, scheduling, and how we react to changing market conditions.
How to address these criteria and build a ‘Digital HQ’ was the subject of a recent webinar featuring experts at LIKE.TG, Tokopedia, and Slack. Titled ‘LIKE.TG + Slack: Your Digital HQ for Success from Anywhere’, the webinar asked this expert panel to share insights and advice on how businesses can create a single, unified platform that connects everyone — helping work flow and customer success grow.
What is a Digital HQ?
When organisations take a Slack-first approach to collaboration across their functions, they help to enable real-time interaction. Add that to the power of LIKE.TG solutions and Customer 360, and it’s a win for both customers and employees. Businesses have never been able to respond, solve issues, or manage customers faster than they can now.
Imagine your sales, service, and marketing teams all with the ability to collaborate in real-time to solve issues for customers. This includes digital deal rooms, instant access to product experts, case swarming, and the ability to include agency partners.
Digital collaboration has also given some businesses the opportunity to say farewell to inefficient practices. With Slack, companies are discovering that not every issue has to be solved in a meeting. Instead, these issues have morphed into live threads on Slack where participants join in whenever they like and offer deeper levels of interaction to solve them.
Indonesia’s Tokopedia tapped its Digital HQ for growth
Tokopedia is a technology company with the largest marketplace platform in Indonesia. The company recently merged with Southeast Asia’s leading mobile on-demand services and payments platform Gojek to form a holding company that is now the largest technology group in Indonesia, GoTo. Despite two different work cultures coming together, the process has been smooth. Both companies adopted Slack before the merger and shared a digital-first mindset that helped teams to blend effectively and collaborate remotely.
Tokopedia was already well into its digital transformation journey when the pandemic hit, so it was prepared for the switch to remote working. With more than 17,000 islands composing the country, serving Indonesia can be a logistical challenge for any company. Tokopedia used its digital readiness to tap new talent pools outside major cities to scale up its team — something that might not have been possible without the right digital tools.
For Tokopedia, its employees and sales teams are seen as brand ambassadors. The philosophy is to give the sales team an exceptional experience, so their enthusiasm and efficiency pass straight through to customers. To do this, sales teams are given access to VIP customer service channels through Slack. As they engage with customers, they can solve queries faster, be served with recommended next steps, and expertly manage all aspects of the relationship through LIKE.TG.
Transparency and collaboration are just the beginning
With Digital HQ and a digital-first mindset, companies are finding new benefits that rise out of this style of collaboration. Trust is critical for effective flexible working arrangements. Using tools and technology to hold each other accountable, through transparent processes and data, helps teams foster unity and trust in each other.
One aspect that sets Slack apart from other team collaboration tools, is that all the collective intelligence that gets shared on Slack remains accessible, like an encyclopaedia. That valuable knowledge doesn’t disappear over time or get lost in a never-ending feed of information. This means that teams can access the right information as and when they need it.
Businesses are finding creative new ways to use LIKE.TG and Slack to deliver exceptional experiences for customers. One large financial institution set up their customer issues on Slack as a visual swarm room, allowing their teams to monitor priorities and solve customer challenges more efficiently.
Meanwhile, a leading university used automation to improve retention and student course completion. New Slack channels were created with tutors and support staff with students if their marks dipped below passable levels, helping them to stay on track.
If your company is already on its digital transformation journey, watch the ‘LIKE.TG + Slack: Your Digital HQ for Success from Anywhere’ webinar to learn more about how you can equip your business with the tools it needs to operate effectively in today’s changed world of work.
Customer Data Platform (CDP) Explained in 60 Seconds
It’s the question on many marketers’ minds: how can I unify my customer data?
EnterCustomer Data Platform(CDP). What is CDP you ask? Simply put, it is analytics software designed to help marketers manage their customer data. But because CDP is such a versatile piece of marketing technology, it’s not always easy to quickly summarise its many capabilities. Which is why we challenged our product marketers to do exactly that.
Here, LIKE.TG’s Pam Samathivathanachai and Robert Colborne sit down to explain why CDP is the game changer we’ve all been waiting for in 60-seconds.
Let’s see how they fared.
The customer experience, but supercharged
Success! In a nutshell, LIKE.TG CDP allows you to bring together first-party customer data across sales, service, and marketing to build the most accurate ofunique customer profilesand understanding of the individual customer.
For the customer, this means their interactions with your brand are not only personalised to them but appear at the right time and on the right channel. Never again will your customer see an ad for or receive communications on a product in which they have no interest, or that they already purchased months ago.
Finally, here’s the kicker: the more data you feed into your Customer Data Platform, the more you get out of it.
To take ultimate control of your customer data,get started with the Customer Data Platform e-book.
This post originally appeared on the A.U-version ofthe LIKE.TG blog.
What Can and Can’t Be Automated in Customer Service?
Automation technology has allowed major advancements in customer service. Unfortunately, 73% of service agents still think that managing case volume has become more challenging. In other words, as customers spend more of their time online and expectations grow, employees are increasingly under-resourced. This is not ideal for customer satisfaction.
Simultaneously, 70% of executives agree that good employee experience creates good customer experience. Almost as many agree that customer service drives revenue. Automation – with its power to answer customer queries without always relying on a human customer service agent – might have the answer.
Automation comes in all shapes and sizes, and is useful regardless of geography or maturity of the market. Automated processes can benefit small teams by complementing limited human resources. They can also help larger organisations prioritise processes that require more human input.
Digital tools offer powerful solutions to some customer problems. That said, it’s imperative that we never forget the necessity of the human touch. Let’s have a look at what can and cannot be automated in customer service:
Automated workflows
One of the most significant developments in customer service over recent years has been the ability to automate workflows.
Technology allows you to automate processes that would otherwise waste hours and resources. This automation can radically reduce the amount of time spent on a process for both the employee and the customer.
Global medical device company Dornier MedTech uses Service Cloud to provide more efficient and personalised support. Inquiries can now be automatically routed to the right team and support engineers are notified right away when a customer needs help. In the past, it could take up to four hours. By integrating Service Cloud with other LIKE.TG solutions it has also provided its employees with a better understanding of its customers preferences.
Automated workflows remove the need for service agents to dedicate resources to time-consuming processes, freeing them up for tasks that require more human flair. It also minimises wait times for the customer. This is a win-win situation.
AI for customer service
Just as with automation, Artificial Intelligence (AI) comes in various forms.
Generally speaking, AI is used to automate more complex interactions between employee and customer. With Einstein built in, Service Cloud can use AI technology to automate everything from answering queries to assessing insurance claims. It does so while reducing administrative load and delivering employees the customer data they need to provide the best service.
A prime example of AI’s potential can be found in the insurance industry. Imagine that you accidentally hit a pole while driving. In the past, you would attempt to reach a customer service agent, who would then send out a surveyor to assess the damage. This drags out the process and delays the end result – fixing your car.
Now, insurance companies are turning to AI for this process, assessing damage automatically via video or photography. AI can detect the damage, then assess which parts require repair or replacement, and calculate the costs.
This increases satisfaction and frees up time for both the employee and customer. It also offers peace of mind to the customer in their moment of distress.
Field service automation
A great field service team can become the trusted face of your brand. However, they need the best support to do their jobs properly.
Field service automation is used to enrich and streamline face-to-face situations. In traditional field service scenarios, like fixing a broken washing machine, technology allows the specific issue to be determined before face-to-face contact. It also ensures the right technician with the right skills is deployed to your home at the right time.
AI and automation can assist other industries. Take healthcare, where technology can help schedule a nurse to tend to a patient. When properly set up, Service Cloud can allow a doctor to receive notification that a patient is in need, then send out a nurse to ensure the correct treatments are given.
In other words, automation is perfect for all kinds of field agents who are overwhelmed by basic tasks that get in the way of their ability to help customers. Service Cloud and the Customer 360 platform allow you to equip your team with AI-powered scheduling, resource optimisation, inventory, guided safety protocols, knowledge articles, and much more.
Self-service
While not strictly an automated task, never underestimate the convenience of a good self-service portal. They can provide the customer with the information they need without having to resort to unnecessary person-to-person interaction. They also allow customer service agents to concentrate on more complex customer problems, just like automation.
The best self-service options complement the total service experience, rather than detract from it. But the opposite can also be true. I’ll give you an example of an inadequate customer service portal. I once landed at an airport at roughly 8pm and noticed, via a self-service portal, that I had a $200 charge on my credit card. The customer service centre was closed until morning. When I finally was able to speak to a representative, I was reminded that I had pre-authorised the $200 charge three months before. I cancelled my credit card as soon as the conversation ended.
Why? Because the self-service portal had not provided any specific information about the transaction other than an ID number. If it had listed who the payment had been made to, I wouldn’t have spent 12 hours worrying. There would have been no need to call customer support. Self-service automation, in this case, did not complement the larger customer service experience, but made it worse.
The reason for this kind of poor self-service is almost always insufficient customer data. Your self-service portal should be integrated with the rest of your CRM. This allows customers to find answers and complete processes quickly, with all the relevant data presented to them at the right time.
So, what shouldn’t be automated?
As you can see, automation continues to be a game changer. That doesn’t mean it’s the solution to every problem. There are some tasks that should be left for a human to handle.
Here are some customer service tasks that shouldn’t be automated:
Providing comprehensive, five-star service: while automation can serve the customer, we are not yet at a point where a customer can be entirely served by automation. Some tasks require intervention and improvisation from an agent to deliver the best results.
Treating customers with empathy: By definition, automated customer service has to follow predefined steps. Unfortunately, this means that some interactions lack the empathetic touch that a human being can bring to customer service. Sometimes, a customer in need requires a human being who can make an emotional connection.
Going the extra mile: Sometimes, the warmth, kindness, and personality of a service representative can have a huge impact. A customer could be in a state of distress or panic and their mood can be completely changed through conversation. Never underestimate the ability of an employee to save a customer’s day. It’s a reality that isn’t going away anytime soon.
Is Customer Loyalty the New Currency?
Recently, I sat down with Neeracha Taychakhoonavudh, Executive Vice President, Global Customer Success and Strategy. We talked about why customer loyalty is now worth its weight in gold. These are just some of my takeaways from that conversation, along with some quotes from Neeracha that I think get to the heart of the issue.
In early 2020, the way the world conducted business underwent a sudden yet necessary transformation that placed digital technologies at the centre of everything. Now, a little over two years later, the move to digital continues to accelerate, with both companies and customers operating primarily in online environments.
Understandably, such a seismic operational shift has led to radically changed mindsets and behaviours on a human level. Customer expectations are still evolving and increasing in complexity. Organisations are racing to meet them as simply and effectively as possible. For CEOs, doing so requires putting the customer first and catering to their demands for new levels of personalisation.
“Everyone wants to go digital faster than ever” Neeracha told me. “They expect results now, or really, yesterday. And they’re thinking about things in a much more agile and flexible manner”.
Because digital has bred this kind of customer-centricity, Neeracha says that “customer loyalty is the new currency.” What this means is that because consumers now have more options, securing customer trust in your brand is considerably harder. Therefore, customer trust holds more value than ever before.
It’s easier to retain an existing customer than attract a new one
With businesses of all sizes worldwide attempting to operate via multiple platforms and channels, it’s understandable that the market is oversaturated. Companies now have access to a wide variety of ways to compete for the attention of consumers. Consumers can now choose brands based on unique preferences, tastes, and values. In this noisy environment, it can be difficult to attract new customers.
That is why it is not only easier to retain existing customers, but as Neeracha puts it, it’s “cheaper to do so”. Customer loyalty is built upon existing relationships. If you leverage that brand recognition, adopt the right tools and work with the right data in the right ways, you can deliver exactly what the customer wants in 2022 and beyond.
The rise of the subscription-based model
One such way of securing brand loyalty is through subscription services.
These services are gaining popularity across many industries including retail, consumer goods, media, and publishing. Consumers will stick with a company that gives them what they need, but they also want to feel a sense of personal connection to a brand.
Giving customers a reason to ‘opt in’ is fast becoming an imperative for businesses of all sizes. This is because a subscription-based model can help create and develop those close bonds with the individual customer.
As Neeracha said in our conversation, “companies actually want that direct customer connection, even if they are operating in traditional distribution channels”.
A prime example of a subscription service is the loyalty program, which can be used to provide premium experiences to existing customers. Such programs come in different forms, both free and paid, including those based on purchase history. Through the proper use of data, these programs can be hyper-targeted to a customer’s moment-to-moment needs.
A 2020 McKinsey survey revealed that members of paid loyalty programs are 60% more likely to continue purchasing from a brand. These paid (and often points-based) programs are rising in popularity due to the exclusive benefits to the customer. These can include discounted offers and unique content.
At the same time, free subscription services such as newsletters should not be underestimated. These can provide personalised recommendations and communications that also foster customer loyalty.
Neeracha drew on personal experience to get to the heart of the power of these services – “As a consumer, I want my favourite businesses to survive and thrive. I’m a subscriber to my favourite restaurant and that’s forging a far deeper relationship between us.”
Why is customer loyalty a CEO-level mandate?
Prior to the pandemic, digital operations were often siloed or relegated to individual departments such as IT. Since then, these operations have blossomed into an organisational priority – from the CEO down. Those at the top now see that digital is not only here to stay. They understand that harnessing digital and data in meaningful ways leads to an endless list of benefits, including increased customer loyalty.
One of the primary reasons CEOs are seeing the link between digital technologies and customer loyalty is the speed with which that loyalty can grow. When everything was mostly face to face, relationships took time to build and nurture. Now, organisations can use sophisticated tools to grab a customer’s attention from anywhere, at any time, from a multitude of touchpoints.
Neeracha has witnessed this change first-hand. The Chief Digital Officer (CDO) of a LIKE.TG customer in the Netherlands reported that their CEO was not only prioritising digital, but promoting further acceleration: “In just a few weeks, they had been able to accomplish more than they had in the previous three years. So much so that the CEO was actually calling and asking: can they push the tech further? Can they set it up even faster?”
This is the way of the new world. CEOs are seeing the effects that digital acceleration has on customer retention, and are actively digging deeper into the tools that enable it.
The power of data
The tools that enable this speedier (and richer) customer loyalty rely almost exclusively on data. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software and related technology platforms afford organisations new ways of seeing and understanding consumers. By collecting, integrating, and acting on the insights gained from a 360-degree view of the individual customer, companies can now offer unprecedented depth of personalisation.
Personalisation is the lifeblood of customer loyalty. Consumers want to feel that they are seen and heard, and not just another entry in a spreadsheet. They want to be given what they want, when they want it. Just as much as they don’t want to be on the receiving end of impersonal communications or irrelevant offers.
“The whole idea is that you are able to understand your customers much, much better,” says Neeracha. “Then you can engage in the appropriate way.”
Using the right tools to harness data allows organisations to engage in the right way. That is, eliminating what detracts customers and building upon what retains their loyalty.
The right tools
New heights of customer loyalty can be reached through LIKE.TG digital technologies such as Customer 360, which is the world’s leading CRM platform.
For every phase of the consumer journey, Customer 360 offers a best-in-class application. The more you build your CRM, the more you connect applications and integrate data, the closer you can get to the individual customer.
The closer you get to the individual customer, the stronger the loyalty. Considering that customer loyalty is the new currency, then Customer 360 is the best place to get it.
4 Ways Thai SMEs Are Leading the Way in Digital Transformation
Over the last few years, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Thailand have embraced technology faster than many other countries, according to LIKE.TG’s latest research.
Thai SMEs faced a range of challenges related to customer expectations, and they adapted quickly. The determination they have shown in the face of adversity has been admirable. The rapid adoption of technology is a testament to the perseverance and creativity of SMEs and the communities in which they operate.
In the same research, Thai SMEs identified the following as the top three challenges they experienced in the past year:
Keeping up with demand
Providing a quality product
Personalising customer engagement
This year’s Small and Medium Business Trends Report provides an insightful benchmark for what’s changed and what we can expect from SMEs if they move ahead. Digital transformation has peaked in Thailand, as the research showed that 100% of Thai SMEs have shifted their operations online and most believe that the shifts they’ve made will benefit their business in the long run. We can expect to see more contactless services in Thailand as up to 99% of Thai SMEs plan to offer contactless services permanently.
Based on the data presented in the Small and Medium Business Trends Report, we have pulled out four key themes important to Thai SMEs:
Embracing the digital-first future
Prioritising customer loyalty
Meeting local employee needs
Adopting technology
Embracing the digital-first future
The circumstances of the last few years forced many businesses to reappraise the way they worked, and the ways they engaged with their customers.
Despite some new restrictions on in-person interactions, communities and customers still want to support SMEs. In response, SME leaders are prioritising moving their businesses online, so they can connect with customers from the comfort of their homes.
One hundred percent of Thai SMEs have shifted their operations online to meet customer needs. Alongside this, 96% of SMEs in Thailand have said that changes they’ve made to their operations over the last two years will have a long-term benefit to their business.
This contrasts with the same data for the rest of the world. Internationally, the number of SMEs who have moved their operations online is a little lower. Ninety-five percent report that they have moved operations onto the Internet. Interestingly, only 75% of SME owners across the world think that the changes they’ve made will benefit their business in the years to come.
Prioritising customer loyalty
As Neeracha Taychakhoonavudh, Executive Vice President, Global Customer Success and Strategy, recently said, “customer loyalty is the new currency.”
Around the world, an average of 29% of SMEs said that they are prioritising the development of ongoing relationships rather than one-time transactions. In Thailand, this number is much higher: 51%.
After more than a year of adjusting to customer demand and bringing innovations to the fore, however, SMEs still face significant hurdles. These include personalising customer engagements, responding quickly to inquiries, engaging customers on their preferred channels, and providing a connected experience. This has proven that using the right technology will be the business differentiator for sustainability, success, and growth in this fast-changing environment.
Thai SMEs have adopted new practices to meet changing customer expectations. Our research has shown that 79% have offered more flexibility for customers and 75% are more careful about their communications. In addition, 68% have expanded the number of ways customers can reach them.
Local conditions change employee expectations
While customer expectations are changing, employee expectations are also evolving.
In Thailand, we saw that local conditions made a big difference in what employees were most concerned about. Among Thai workers, widespread vaccination against COVID-19 was the number one employee expectation. This was followed by mask usage and social distancing in the workplace.
In the rest of the world, access to flexible schedules was at the top of the list. Mask usage was also important to these employees, followed by the daily sanitation of their workspace and materials.
Whilst it can be interesting to look at the differences between SMEs around the world, it can also be illuminating to look at the similarities. SMEs everywhere have identified that employee trust and engagement is important, and the ways they earn that trust seem to be universal. Collaboration, responding to personal needs, and asking for employee feedback all feature high on the list of priorities, both in Thailand and around the world.
Adoption of technology
When we look at the adoption of CRM systems, there’s a significant difference. More than 80% of Thai SMEs have implemented a CRM system to help them maintain customer relationships and win deals. That’s compared to an average of only 56% globally.
Thai businesses have stepped up their adoption of technology systems for specific roles, too:
Seventy-one percent of Thai SMEs have accelerated tech investments in customer service, compared to just 41% of global SMEs.
When it comes to both sales and marketing, 68% of Thai SMEs have adopted technology solutions, whereas only 40% of global SMEs have done the same.
For IT operations, 77% of SMEs in Thailand have adopted new tech solutions, compared to 39% of SMEs globally.
Finally, 52% of Thai SMEs have implemented human resources solutions, against only 25% of SMEs around the world.
The majority of SME leaders (62%) cite technology as the reason that they have been able to stay afloat over the last few years. We have seen SMEs across the board adopting technology to solve a range of problems, such as marketing automation or collaboration.
The full Small and Medium Business Trends Report contains even more insight from around the world to help you succeed in 2022. Download a translated version in Thai here.
3 Women in Tech Share How They #BreakTheBias & Promote Gender Equality
Addressing the challenge of gender bias in the workplace can feel overwhelming, and it’s hard to know where to begin. Gender bias is a complex issue, and there isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution. However, even small changes can have a massive impact.
To better understand how individuals at any level of an organisation can create and influence change, we asked three professionals from beauty retailer LUXASIA for insights on how to #BreakTheBias this International Women’s Day. Avis Easteal, Tatyana Gonzaga, and Kimly Scott, who all work in different roles and regions for LUXASIA, share how they support gender equality at work and at home. Read on to learn their thoughts on the role that individuals and businesses can play in promoting gender equity.
Gender equity is good for business
Equality makes good business sense. High-performing teams that welcome diverse opinions create more innovative solutions, with more inclusive and effective workplaces. In fact, diverse groups perform better by developing ideas from myriad perspectives, solving problems with smarter outcomes.
That’s why addressing the topic of gender bias is important to ensure a fair and more cohesive workplace. Gender bias can show up in teams in the way employees are treated differently, from different pay rates to the creation of exclusive teams. Recognising and addressing this topic takes courage and action. Even small changes made at the individual level — and at every level of an organisation — can have a significant impact.
Avis Easteal: Leading with equity
Avis Easteal leads the marketing division as Regional Head of Consumer. As part of the leadership team in Singapore, Avis has pioneered many new digital innovations at LUXASIA.
During my career, the gender equality conversations have changed, and companies are adjusting their ways of working. At LUXASIA, 60% of our leadership team is female, and we have a majority of female employees. It is refreshing to be encouraged as a female leader to expand the team’s ways of working.
How to recognise gender bias
Firstly, if your meetings have only a few non-male genders and they are not contributing, you have a problem.
Within my team, the first thing I look at is parity in pay across my team. This gives a good indicator of how the organisation takes practical action.
Also, men and women promote their achievements differently. A male colleague once said that men do 80% of the job and loudly celebrate their achievement while many women are still striving to move from 97–98%. Leaders should look at results rather than just listen to the rhetoric.
We can all be part of the solution as well as the problem. How we act emboldens or diminishes the people who work with us. When all genders have a voice and equal pay, your organisation will prosper faster. Diversity of views helps you make smarter decisions.
Leaders are role models, so set your intention for equality and follow up by being bold. For example, state that gender bias is not accepted in this organisation. Then, get your HR teams to support you with the right policies, and the ability to resolve issues and live the behaviours.
Tatyana Gonzaga: Young professionals bring fresh perspectives
Tatyana Gonzaga is the Regional Digital Marketing Coordinator and runs complex customer journeys daily. Tatyana takes every opportunity to upskill with Trailhead.
In 2021, the Philippines was ranked number one in Asia for closing the gender gap. I saw how this benefitted my undergraduate studies. Even though my cohort was predominantly male, the women weren’t at any disadvantage when it came to educational opportunities.
LUXASIA ran a year-long program to cultivate emerging talent with workshops, strategic projects, and seminars. Taking part in this program, I have learned that leaders can recognise and provide opportunities for young professionals to grow and develop in their careers. This helps to cultivate a more talented and fair workforce.
I think the most important contribution of any young generation is their ideas on what type of future to build for ourselves. It’s all about fresh perspectives.
In 10 years’ time, we will be future leaders. Having a voice in the conversation allows us to shape and participate in creating this future. This includes ending gender bias and establishing a better working environment for all.
Never think the world is against you. My advice is to hone in on your own personal development. Try to embody the values you would like to make happen. Most of all, be kind, to yourself and others.
Kimly Scott: Welcoming women in tech
Kimly Scott is an Analytics Manager based in Melbourne, Australia. Kimly is a Tableau Public Ambassador, Data Queen and leads the charge on Tableau usage at LUXASIA. She is also a member of the Tableau Speaker Bureau.
When I first started working in analytics, female representation was lacking. There was no one who looked like me in senior or executive roles. As a young woman starting out my career, it was discouraging.
Now, I have two young girls and I want them to achieve anything, regardless of their gender. I always tell my girls, ‘there are no boys or girls toys.’ In that vein, I want them to grow up knowing that there are no male jobs or female jobs.
It can be hard to call out biases or inequalities when you see them. Don’t stay silent. If you feel uncomfortable starting the conversation in public, consider leaning on other women — a mentor, your manager, or a co-worker.
Over the years, we have seen a rise in educating women and girls, especially in the tech industry. There are fabulous organisations, such as She Loves Data, Data + Women, and Women in Analytics. They work to educate, elevate, and connect women. The tide is turning, but there are still many challenges.
Equality is a core value at LIKE.TG. We believe that businesses have the opportunity to make the world a more equal place for all. To learn more about how we’re doing that, visit our Equality site.
How IT Can Measure Return on Experience (ROX) Effectively
Information technology (IT) people love to measure everything. Clicks, files stored, uptime, load times, costs, error rates, and other metrics tie to our companies’ digital footprint. Why are we so obsessed with metrics? Because you cannot grow what you don’t measure. We want to capture the value gained from digital transformation, and help identify the gaps. If you’re looking to track progress, the most comprehensive measure of business value delivered by IT is return on experience (ROX). You simply can’t afford not to include it in your metrics analysis.
IT leaders carry huge responsibility for return on experience
Every digital experience is a path to customer, partner, and employee success. It’s up to IT leaders to deliver digital experiences that move the company forward on time and on budget. Measuring ROX as you go keeps projects on track and makes them far more successful in the end.
ROX captures the results of your investments in digital experiences. In many cases, it’s the justification and rationale for these investments. These experiences include everything from blogs, mobile commerce, online customer service, HR portals, and novel uses of connected devices. To measure ROX, you need to proactively track and measure key metrics related to the experience and your organisation’s overall vision.
To measure ROX for IT, use a combination of these metrics:
One or two relevant speed and cost metrics, like how long it takes a person to fill out a registration form.
A customer-focused metric, like net promoter score or customer satisfaction.
Include a metric or two from the business leader driving the experience, such as seamlessness to implement across teams.
For instance, on a website, make IT metrics and other success metrics part of experience planning from the beginning. IT may be focused on 100% uptime, 20% cost reduction, and simple integrations with existing systems. A marketer might care more about conversion rates or otherkey marketing metrics.
Key metrics for evaluating ROX for IT
Here are a few sample metrics you can use to get started:
1. Speed
You’re probably already tracking speed performance metrics for your digital experiences, such as commerce, service, and mobile. Keep it up — no one will stick around for a digital experience that takes too long to load. You can also measure and track time to task completion for key user experiences, such as subscribing to your newsletter, updating account information, or making a purchase. A good experience will be faster for users without increasing bounce or abandon rates. Consider PUMA, whichtransformed and relaunchedits mobile sites, and gained speed in the process. Its mobile sites render 35% faster and load 69% faster.
2. Time to market
This metric measures the total time required to develop and launch a product or feature. Consider it a key IT success metric for digital experiences.
3. Cost to maintain
Track the impact of digital experience investments in both technology and resource use. Moving to better digital experiences will likely involve an upfront IT investment. But very often, that investment involves removing a dated technology that drains resources. Take content management systems (CMS) as an example. Traditional CMS can turn content management ideas into IT projects. In contrast,some approaches to CMSempower content creators to do more without requiring IT resources other thangovernance. More importantly, they also support better digital experiences.
4. Cost to implement
Upfront costs impact ROX, too. Add up all the costs of the technology, professional services, and training needed to support the experience. Consider budgeted costs as well as actual costs. Delivering at or below budget is appreciated by any organisation, large or small.
5. Engagement
Successful digital experiences engage an audience. You can measure the ROX of virtually any experience simply by tracking engagement rates for the intended audience.
6. Customer satisfaction
Calculate this metric by asking customers to rate their satisfaction with an experience or specific interaction on a 10-point scale and average the results.Customer satisfactionprovides you with an idea of how successful a digital experience is overall. This is a good metric to consider along with costs. A digital experience that positively shifts costs but lowers overall satisfaction is incomplete.
7. Net promoter score (NPS)
Like customer satisfaction, you capture data for this metric by surveying customers. NPS measures the likelihood of customers to recommend your brand. Ask customers how likely they are to recommend your brand using a 10-point scale. Scores of 9s and 10s are promoters, 7s and 8s are satisfied, and lower scores come from detractors. Subtract your percentage of detractors from the percentage of promoters. That’s your NPS.
Learn how you can connect and build with Slack and the LIKE.TG Platform.Watch demos or take a tour to create and ship anywhere — no heavy coding required.
This post was originally published on the U.S-version of the LIKE.TG blog.
Meet Trần Việt Thắng: Helping People Work Smarter
At LIKE.TG, Nichola Palmer works with customers to bring their stories of innovation and transformation to life. In this blog series featuring Trailblazers, Nichola introduces Trần Việt Thắng, a LIKE.TG Specialist at VinGroup in Vietnam. Thắng leads the LIKE.TG deployment across VinGroup’s B2B and B2C subsidiaries, and has a passion for helping others.
Trần Việt Thắng has always wanted to help people. His vision was to be a caring person. As a young boy, he dreamed of becoming a doctor. His motivation was simple — he wanted to make people feel better. But studying medicine at university was expensive. So, he chose another path.
“I had a good teacher who convinced me to study IT,” Thắng says. “I was very lucky to meet him. He taught me that, as a developer, I could help many people.”
Thắng moved from his hometown to attend university in Hanoi. During his studies, he helped to develop patient admissions software for a local hospital. He quickly discovered that the scalable nature of software development enabled him to help many more people than he could as a doctor.
“There were long queues at the hospital and people had to wait a long time to see a doctor,” he explains. “We made a back-end program the admissions office could use to quickly check-in new patients, collect information about their symptoms, and share that information with the doctor with one click.”
Thắng’s program significantly increased admissions efficiency and reduced patient wait times. The young developer saw the positive impact his program had on the patient experience at the hospital, and he was hooked.
“It was amazing,” he says. “It was a simple program but it helped so many people. I could see how technology can be used to help hundreds of people — maybe even thousands or millions of people. The program made doctors happy too because they could help more people every day. I was inspired by how one program could help doctors and patients together.”
Building better solutions
Thắng took those learnings into his early career as a developer. He understood that he was in the solutions business. He was passionate about developing software that helped solve problems — and made life better — for businesses, employees, and customers. So, it was a natural fit for him to work for a LIKE.TG independent software vendor (ISV).
“I saw that LIKE.TG is a very powerful platform,” he says. “What took us a month or a year to develop ourselves, we could deliver in a week with LIKE.TG. I could develop custom components within the LIKE.TG platform with very little code in a very short time.”
Thắng says that building applications on the LIKE.TG platform also ensured he could deliver more stable solutions. “To develop custom software without LIKE.TG, we might have to make 10 versions before it’s stable. But LIKE.TG gave us a stable base we could more easily build on.”
This kind of agility and stability meant Thắng could help more customers with much shorter development timelines. But the speed of deployment doesn’t guarantee the success of a project.
“We must understand how to best utilise the benefits of LIKE.TG for each customer,” he explains. “We need to think about the customer’s pain points, understand their workflow, and identify LIKE.TG components that will best fit their requirements.”
One size doesn’t fit all
Building that knowledge has made Thắng a sought-after LIKE.TG Architect. He joined VinGroup as a LIKE.TG Specialist and now leads LIKE.TG deployments across the company’s B2B and B2C subsidiaries.
This presents its own challenges. VinGroup is a diverse corporation with many subsidiaries across the technology and industry, trade and services, and social enterprise sectors.
Prior to LIKE.TG, VinGroup had no centralised 360-degree view and no collaboration across the group. Part of Thắng’s role is to maximise usage of LIKE.TG and drive change management within the company’s business units.
Thắng has already led LIKE.TG deployments for subsidiaries in the company’s hospitality (VinPearl), automotive (VinFast) and healthcare (VinMec) sectors. However, what works for a five-star resort operator is very different from the needs of an electric vehicle manufacturer. That’s why Thắng says he treats every business unit as a new customer with a different set of needs.
“LIKE.TG provides a stable architecture, but we must meet a range of different needs within that structure,” he explains. “To do so, we must understand the pain points of each stakeholder and the processes behind them. In other words, we need to know what the employees do so we can create a system that helps them do it better.”
Humans helping humans
Thắng knows that at the core of any technology-based solution are humans helping humans. He says the best way to succeed is to collaborate and share knowledge with each other.
That’s a central value of the Trailblazer community in Vietnam, and Thắng is a passionate member. Since the pandemic started, he has organised several virtual meet-ups with LIKE.TG Architects across Vietnam.
“I’ve met many people like me through the Trailblazer community,” he says. “The core value of LIKE.TG is using technology to help people work together. All of us in the Trailblazer community work together to help each other find better ways to leverage the LIKE.TG platform for our employers and customers.
“We are not in competition with each other. We share best practices and learnings, and help each other to make the platform better every day and deliver more value to the end-users.”
The young Thắng dreamed of making a positive impact on his community as a doctor. While he may have taken a different path, Thắng has remained committed to helping others. He uses technology as a healing medicine for business, and makes his colleagues and customers feel better.
Check out these other posts from our Inspired Trailblazers series:
Meet Joanna Teo: Customer-Focused Data Evangelist
Meet Francisco N. Collantes Jr. : Delivering Energy Through Collaboration
Bringing Service Back To Banking
Customer experience (CX) at retail banks has dropped in priorityover the past year. It is important to address this shift and reprioritise the relationship between customers and banks. Doing so is beneficial for both long and short-term financial goals.
Eighty percentof customers value the experience a company provides as much as its product and service offerings. Consumers want a personalised experience and instant resolution and communication from their banks.
One proven way to deliver meaningful experiences at every customer touchpoint is by implementingautonomous finance, which uses artificial intelligence (AI) and automation to deliver optimised experiences. Autonomous finance can help provide these personalised, seamless experiences for consumers and bring the “service” back to banking.
Here’s how retail banks can optimise customer experiences in this new, all-digital world.
Personalising the customer experience matters
No one wants to feel like just another name on a list of customers. By analysing customer data, businesses can predict their customer’s needs and communicate consistently across all channels providing apersonalised experience.
Banks should tailor offers to each customer, keeping in mind what their financial portfolio looks like. For instance, if a customer already has two credit cards, they’ll find constant offers for a new credit card exhausting. Although people demand the convenience of digital offerings like mobile and online banking, they still want to know there’s a person on the other end who cares. Understand where your customers are at in their lives and offer services to best fit them atthat moment in time— whether it’s refinancing student loans or creating a new savings account to prepare for a family.
Transparency is key to establishing trust and loyalty
A little transparency goes a long way, especially in personal banking when dealing with people’s finances. Communicating with customers often can build trust and loyalty while also improving financial literacy. Offering automated notifications for high and low balance as well as free credit scores establish transparency.
If a small business needs a loan, they’ll want to know what stage the loan review process is in. In this case, a real-time digital tracker or notification updates can provide the transparency customers seek.
Users want a simple, intuitive experience
Digital banking services are now standard, which means customers know what to evaluate when comparing the speed and usability of online and mobile offerings. Users want easy-to-use banking platforms that offer quick logins, digestible features, and products they need.
Banks need to meet customers where they prefer to communicate, whether it’s through a chatbot, live agent, contact form, SMS message, WhatsApp, or social media.Chatbotsare especially helpful in addressing customers quickly and helping them navigate the platform to get the answer they need, without being put on hold or speaking with an automated representative.
Digital culture drives experience improvements
Banks need to be flexible and allow both in-office and remote work as we navigate through the COVID-19 pandemic. If not all teams are digital, it can create a disconnect and a subpar customer experience. Getting all employees from the back-office to frontline workers onboard with the digital journey to work towards one goal as an organisation is important. For example, in early 2020, people working from home had to constantly make trips to the office to get loan paperwork when it could have been transferred to digital files. This inefficient practice led to delayed customer service and communication.
Consumers today have so many choices of who they allow to manage their finances. For retail banks, improving customer experience is a critical competitive edge.Research shows81% of companies will mostly or completely compete on the basis of CX over the next few years.
People want all the benefits of digital but still crave human interaction. But, overhauling any aspect of a business can sound intimidating. However, it can drive business growth and customer loyalty. Autonomous financecan address these areas, setting the industry up for future success.
This post was originally published on the U.S.-version of the LIKE.TG blog.
LIKE.TG Women’s Network Shares How to Break Gender Bias
Every year in early March, groups around the world take time to pause and celebrate the contributions of women for International Women’s Day. While it’s a day for sharing success stories and celebrating progress, this is also a time to reflect on and address the challenges that stand in the way of a more gender-equal world.
This International Women’s Day, individuals and businesses are encouraged to share how they are breaking gender bias. To honour the day, members of the LIKE.TG Women’s Network (SWN) share what today means to them, as well as what changes they hope to see in 2022.
Wendy Walker
Wendy Walker is JAPAC President, LIKE.TG Women’s Network and Vice-President, Marketing ASEAN.
Equality is something I have always been incredibly passionate about. As a marketer, I am naturally curious about all human beings – what makes us different, how we interact – and I love having the opportunity to be surrounded by a vast diversity of thought. Like many of us, I have had situations throughout my career where I have experienced inequality, and I‘ve seen others in the workplace experience inequality. Those moments drive me to want to do whatever I can to contribute to fixing the problem.
Our LIKE.TG Women’s Network (SWN) started as a grassroots vehicle for women supporting each other. It has evolved into a global, sophisticated team that brings together women and allies with a focus on nurturing and growing equality within LIKE.TG. I feel very privileged to have the opportunity to lead this group across JAPAC.
We aim to make all SWN activities inclusive for all employees, to ensure we can empower our allies to learn and show up as even more supportive.
We want to support everyone in the workplace, and help with guiding, mentoring and navigating to get to an outcome of equality for all.
Rebecca Haly
Rebecca Haly is ASEAN President, LIKE.TG Women’s Network and Director, Customer Success, APAC.
International Women’s Day (IWD) is a celebration of the female voice and female talent. It’s an opportunity to recognise those who haven’t necessarily had a voice or a platform to raise their voice. It’s also an opportunity to reflect on how far we have come in improving the equality agenda as well as a reminder of how much more there needs to be done to improve opportunities for everyone.
How do you plan to celebrate the day?
I plan on sharing my appreciation to those who inspire me, as well as connecting with the women and men who have lifted me up throughout my life and career.
I’ll also be conducting an interview for our LIKE.TG employees in Asia with a very talented female leader – Debbie Watkins, Co-Founder and CEO of mobile money app Lucy, will be joining us to talk about how they’re closing the financial inequality gap for female entrepreneurs.
The 2022 IWD theme is ‘break the bias’. What do you think are some effective ways to address bias in the workplace?
We all have blind spots and biases. We’re only human. But it’s important we learn to recognise them. Employee training on hiring practices and employee engagement is a great way to begin to address this. Regular training is mandatory for us here at LIKE.TG and it’s a foundational way to address any biases we carry when we are hiring or engaging the talent in our organisation.
Can you describe some of the changes that have inspired you on the path to gender equality, or changes you would hope to see to promote gender equality?
I would love to see attitudes and allyship improve. I’m always intrigued by the women I speak to who don’t see any issues with equality in their lives or in their workplace. That’s an incredible privilege but it’s certainly not what the data says or what experience tells us. Exercising allyship and educating ourselves around where the inequality exists for marginalised groups is important for all, and especially for those who consider that inequality and bias don’t exist.
Xinyi Li
Xinyi Li is ASEAN Vice-President, LIKE.TG Women’s Network and Account Executive.
IWD is a time of celebration of courage, connection, and contribution to the community!
How do you plan to celebrate the day?
As a gold facilitator for #IAmRemarkable (a 1.5-hour workshop that focuses on helping participants to understand and practice self-promotion), I will be running a workshop to help others to break bias, creating an environment where differences are valued and celebrated, not judged. And in doing so, I want to enable my participants to self-promote, to connect, and to feel empowered.
The 2022 IWD theme is ‘break the bias’. What do you think are some effective ways to address bias in the workplace?
The best way to address it is to openly talk about it:
Don’t assume. Clarify on the spot if we are uncomfortable with a comment.
Join events such as #IAmRemarkable or Human Library to share your personal experience of bias, your perspectives on overcoming limiting beliefs, and practical actions we can all take to help each other break bias at work and in personal life.
Can you describe some of the changes that have inspired you on the path to gender equality, or changes you would hope to see to promote gender equality?
Through my experience running multiple #IamRemarkable workshops, many women have expressed how they felt uncomfortable with self-promotion but want to do more like their male counterparts. It is definitely a muscle that needs to be built over time and I want to help more women to get started as soon as possible!
Namrata Khetrapal
Namrata Khetrapal is a SWN committee member and Global Onboarding Manager.
For me, IWD is an annual reminder to do a reality check. It’s a time of reflection for me to check if I am living up to the promises I made to myself as a woman and as an employee, to my community of women around me and at the workplace. In my previous V2MOM I had committed to creating safe spaces for women to learn and support each other (I also lead the LeanIn initiative in ASEAN) so IWD also is a perfect opportunity to renew that commitment and prioritise this goal again in the new fiscal year’s V2MOM. It’s personally important for me to know where I stand today vis-a-vis last year in terms of growing as an individual, empowering and educating myself, as well as helping other women at the workplace.
How do you plan to celebrate the day?
I will definitely be pampering myself a bit with some “me time”. I will also be reaching out to other women in my network to just send them a reminder that they should continue working on empowering themselves. I empower myself by being deliberate with my intentions to learn new skills for career progression, work on eliminating self-limiting beliefs, and having a positive outlook. I also create platforms and initiate conversations through initiatives like #IamRemarkable and LeanIn Circles within the company and outside to spark discussions around empowerment. It’s important to remind myself that once I’ve empowered myself, I should try to help another woman to realise her potential as well. We all need to pass it on!
What do you think are some effective ways to address bias in the workplace?
The very first thing we all can do is to recognise that we might have unconscious biases or might be stereotyping without realising. You can only solve a problem if you acknowledge it exists. I’m sharing some simple and practical steps that we can take in order to help ourselves in our individual capacity irrespective of our designations and roles in the company:
Let’s not discriminate based on gender
Let’s not attribute work skills to someone’s gender
Let’s make work-related decisions that could impact someone’s career based only on their work and merit, not their gender or any other similar aspects.
Let’s not judge others, especially fellow women on how they should dress, behave or not behave.
Respect everyone irrespective of their gender.
Create equal opportunities for growth for everyone and make conscious efforts to maintain gender parity
We do not need to wait for the organisation to take these steps for us – change starts with us!
Can you describe some of the changes that have inspired you on the path to gender equality, or changes you would hope to see to promote gender equality?
Apart from SWN, I also actively participate in other equality groups like Outforce. I like to regularly attend talks and virtual events to educate myself. I intentionally interact with women and allies from different professional fields and with those whose life journey is different from mine. It is only through education that we can empower ourselves or change ourselves for the better. By taking a simple step, starting with self reflection, to see where we are in terms of our biases and judgments today, we can really pave the way for self growth and self awareness. I also hope to see all of us support one another as we all together navigate our way to make our workplaces “bias-free”.
Tanushree Rohera
Tanushree Rohera is a SWN committee member and Solution Engineer.
I love IWD because of the conversation it sparks. I love it because it allows amazing women to learn from other amazing women, and realise that they’re not alone. And I love it because it reminds us that even though we have come a long way, we have a long way to go. For the past five years, IWD has prompted me to bring together women to understand their challenges and honestly, to face my own. Last year, for example, I worked with a TechNGO and we brought together women leaders and young working professionals. I was amazed by how different the backgrounds were but how similar the challenges were. IWD allows for these conversations.
How do you plan to celebrate the day?
The first thing I wanted to do this year was to take stock of the books I am reading and how many of them are by women authors. I read recently that we subconsciously end up reading mostly male-authored books, and I would like to balance that perspective, across genres. In terms of events, SWN has some great events lined up which I am keen to attend. I joined the UN Women’s Summit on the 4th of March and will attend the Fireside Chat with Debbie Watkins on the 8th of March. I’ll also be attending a “Be Bold” event hosted by Kearney and Stanley Black Decker.
The 2022 IWD theme is ‘break the bias’. What do you think are some effective ways to address bias in the workplace?
Earlier this year, I came across a book called, ‘Invisible Women: Data Bias in a World Designed for Men’. This book completely changed my perspective on decision making and I would recommend it to anyone who has decision-making authority. The broad point the author conveys is that we tend to make decisions based on the data we collect and the interpretation of that data. Through multiple examples across management, healthcare, politics and product design, she proves how there exists a very real gender data gap – we either do not collect a lot of data related to women or are not disaggregating the data related to women to understand how certain decisions affect women in different ways. With this context, a few things that I would think are helpful in overcoming this bias:
Representation in the data being collected: For every decision being made, it’s really important to re-examine the data and see if it’s broken up or disaggregated to include the holistic needs of the people who are being served. Small things like planning a team get-together over lunch vs. post work (a lot of parents find it hard to meet post-work commitments) can make a big difference in fostering an inclusive environment.
Representation in the voices being heard: People solve problems that they are conscious of. Often we may not solve a problem, not because we do not want to, but because we did not know it existed in the first place. That’s why ensuring a decision table is composed of people who are representative of the people being served is extremely important.
Representation in the role models shared: Gender data gaps are perpetuated in history. Often, we consider certain roles to be only for men, only because the success stories shared have largely been men. For example, did you know that the world’s first programmer was actually female? (Ada Lovelace in case you would like to look her up). And did you know that computing started as a predominantly female occupation? Learning and sharing these stories helps open up avenues that previously may have seemed too far away for a lot of women.
Can you describe some changes that have inspired you on the path to gender equality, or changes you would hope to see to promote gender equality?
For me, representation is by far the biggest driver of equality. My greatest influence towards gender equality has been representative role models. This started at home, with my mother. A trailblazer in her own right, she did not define or limit herself by gender. That mindset percolated down to my sister and me. Despite that, when I entered into the workplace as the youngest team member with tons of energy, I feared not being taken seriously. But then I met role models through work: super enthusiastic and very well-respected colleagues like Archana Ganeshalingam, a Solution Engineer in the London office, or Caroline Yam, a Program Manager in the Australia Office, and I learned to not limit myself and express that energy and enthusiasm. A few years later, seeing Jody Kohner opening All-Hands calls cemented that belief.
Representation takes different forms, but seeing someone who you can relate to succeed, especially if you are from a minority, is a very powerful kind of representation. It allows for more voices to be heard, paving the way for a more equal, representative workplace.
Clarissa Wang
Clarissa Wang is a SWN committee member and Senior Recruiting Manager, Asia.
While I’m glad that we have a “dedicated” international women’s day, it’s one of those things that isn’t just subject to the day, like Valentine’s Day. IWD to me is the icing on the cake, a platform to promote a cause that should be top of mind for everyone every day.
How do you plan to celebrate the day?
I have a toddler son, and I plan to introduce the concept of IWD to him. He probably will not really understand, but I have been intentional in introducing concepts of equality (everything boys can do, girls can do as well), trying to break the cycle of gender stereotypes (boys can’t play with dolls, etc.), and teaching consent (no means no and I will stop).
The 2022 IWD theme is ‘break the bias’. What do you think are some effective ways to address bias in the workplace?
I think breaking the bias comes from the top. It takes vulnerability from both genders to normalise topics such as mental wellness, family time, etc. As a people leader, I always emphasise the “success from anywhere” values. I encourage walking (camera off) meetings – I dial in to calls when I’m dropping off or picking up my son. I feel if I normalise doing these #parentthings, my team will be encouraged to do the same. It’s great to hear from senior leadership about how they balance family and work. I think breaking the bias is also advocating for female advancement in the workplace. So that we can see that it CAN be done.
Can you describe some of the changes that have inspired you on the path to gender equality, or changes you would hope to see to promote gender equality?
I think I have learned early on in my leadership journey that women find it more uncomfortable to share their achievements, and I found the #IamRemarkable training to be pivotal in how I think about this – it’s not bragging when it’s based on facts. Because I work in recruitment, I see the need for female leaders in the industry. My ideal future would be one where job descriptions are welcoming, not intimidating; where women dare to try even though they may not fit 100% of the criteria; that hiring teams have courageous conversations about transferrable skills vs non-negotiable competencies; and that we see more diverse faces in leadership positions so that we too can dream to “be like them when we grow up”.
LIKE.TG Live: Asia Is Coming – Here’s What You Can Look Forward To
Get ready for inspiration, innovation, and celebration!
On 12 May 2022, Trailblazers, industry leaders, partners, and LIKE.TG experts from across the region will come together at LIKE.TG Live: Asia. This year, our theme is ‘How the Future Works’. We can’t wait to inspire you for what lies ahead and equip you with the tools you need to succeed from anywhere.
We’ve worked hard to help you get even more from your virtual experience and make this LIKE.TG Live: Asia your best ever. Here’s a sneak peek at what you can look forward to:
Be inspired by our very special guests
Don’t miss the live discussion with Simon Sinek!
Simon Sinek is an internationally acclaimed visionary thinker and leadership expert. He is also the author of multiple best-selling books, including Start With Why, Leaders Eat Last, and The Infinite Game.
Simon will join Chin Yin Ong, Chief People Officer at Grab, and LIKE.TG’s Sujith Abraham, for a live discussion about business resilience and growth. You can ask Simon questions during the live QA. Make sure you drop those questions into your event registration form to get into the queue early.
Learn secrets to success from LIKE.TG customers
Hear practical learnings of how companies use LIKE.TG to stay connected to customers, partners, and employees.
Trailblazer Ninja Van will share insights into its advanced service engine, powering a dynamic customer experience. Ninja Van is one of Southeast Asia’s fastest growing tech-enabled logistics companies with a network in six countries.
You’ll also hear from our LIKE.TG leaders Sujith Abraham, SVP GM ASEAN and Cecily Ng, SVP GM Singapore.
Register now for LIKE.TG Live: Asia
We have an incredible show in store for you full of inspiration, learning, and entertainment. We can’t wait to share the very latest, exciting innovations to succeed from anywhere.
Register now for LIKE.TG Live: Asia. That way, you can stay up to date with our event announcements.
When: 12 May 2022, 10–11:30 am SGT
Where: Watch from wherever you are!
How: This year’s event will be delivered via virtual livestream, so you can watch from anywhere. Audio interpretation will be available in Thai, Mandarin, Vietnamese, and Bahasa Indonesia to make this event more accessible. Closed captions will be available as well.
5 Ways To Acquire and Retain the Best Talent
The Great Resignation: it’s a concept plaguing organisations globally, and the ASEAN region is no exception. In Singapore, for example, a survey by jobs portal Indeed revealed that 24% of workers intend to leave their current employer in the first half of 2022. Forty-nine percent are unsure if they will stay in their positions for the next six months.
So, what’s driving this instability?
There are a few factors at play. For one, many employees are re-evaluating what they want from their careers in the wake of the pandemic. Another contributing factor is around retention. Securing a great employee is all well and good. However, if you’re not working to keep them engaged, you risk losing them.
In fact, outstanding employee experience (EX) has become the competitive edge no business can afford to ignore. Why? Because highly engaged employees improve customer satisfaction and revenue. Now more than ever, a large number of the workforce is considering ditching their employer for a better offer.
Having been recognised as one of the Best Workplaces in Asia for the fifth year in a row, we’ve collected a few tips to help you attract the best talent and keep them engaged.
1. Embrace new ways of working
Having a flexible work environment is no longer optional. According to the EY 2021 Work Reimagined Employee Survey, six in 10 respondents in Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesian and the Philippines said they would quit their jobs if not provided post-pandemic flexibility. However, 60% of Singaporean respondents to the LIKE.TG APAC Employee Engagement Report said their employers have limited or no technology to support flexible work.
This disconnect will be a big driver in employee turnover, as flexible work practices become the norm, not the exception. In a tightening labour market, the most competitive talent will demand flexibility. If your business cannot fully support remote work, it will put you at a disadvantage.
Here at LIKE.TG, we’ve adopted a “success from anywhere” mentality, reimagining the physical office as a digital one. Our employees can cut down on time-consuming commutes, while introducing more flexibility to their work and home lives.
“From speaking to the market, we hear that most employees want to have the optionality of flexibility,” explained Clarissa Wang, Senior Recruiting Manager, LIKE.TG. “They have also been telling us that many employers are trying to offer this, but when it comes to executing and turning it into a reality, most employers fall short. We find that this is a great opportunity to share how LIKE.TG has frameworks, programs, and trainings to ensure flexible working is scalable and sustainable, and how the “flex team agreements” are critical in boosting psychological safety in a flex setting.”
2. Workplace branding is critical
Your employee-focused branding needs to be as strong and unique as your customer-focused branding. Just as you attract, engage, and retain customers, you need to do the same for employees.
An ‘Employee Value Proposition’ (EVP) is a useful way to define what makes your organisation special to employees. Gartner defines EVP as having five key attributes:
Opportunity: for career growth and development
People: quality of managers and coworkers, senior leader reputation
Organisation: market position and social responsibility
Work: high interest in job and work/life balance
Rewards: compensation, benefits, and leave allowance
If you can list meaningful responses to these, then you’re close to defining a clear and differentiated message around your employee brand.
According to a Mercer COVID-19 pulse survey, 68% of employers in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and the Philippines said having a reputation as a ‘great place to work’ helps attract talent.
3. Mixing your secret sauce: there’s no such thing as readymade business culture
Much like the sourdough starter you fed during lockdown, your business’s culture isn’t something that will just happen. It’s alive, ongoing, and develops with intention.
Culture comes from actions and is driven by leaders. Sure, you can take all the pieces of culture you’d like your business to have. However, like a bad jigsaw, it doesn’t mean all the pieces will fit together. To acquire and retain employees, culture needs to be differentiated, authentic and, ideally, built on a purpose beyond profit. It’s worth getting this right. More than three-quarters of employers who responded to the Mercer survey agreed that an organisation’s culture helps to retain talent.
Culture can cover many aspects of working life. These include wellness policies, aligning with employees’ values, and fostering development opportunities. Looking after your employees is also good for business. A whitepaper by HDR Asia found that a 1% increase in participation in employee wellness programs translates to a 5 to 10% increase in ROI.
4. Invest in the Employee Experience (EX)
Another important factor contributing to staff turnover is a failure to invest in a fulfilling employee experience.
In a hybrid environment, you need to make technology work for you. Your business might be bending over backwards to make your Customer Experience (CX) as smooth as silk. However, outdated technology and clumsy processes will leave your employees floundering.
More often than not, when a business introduces a technological solution for employees, it is selected and deployed based on the needs of the business. The employee’s needs are neglected, and adoption is low. Smart use of tech can invigorate your staff, drive value into the business, increase innovation, and enable seamless flexible work environments.
Frictionless productivity improves EX and benefits the business culture. Something as straightforward as giving employees the power to communicate easily wherever they may be is vital in unifying your workforce and building your employer brand.
5. Make every day count for staff, not just the first one
Are you welcoming new staff into the fold? Congratulations! Hopefully, your business provides a stellar hiring and on-boarding experience that sees new employees leaping out of bed to start work.
What happens after that? The first few days are just the beginning of the employee retention experience. It’s the rest of the journey that really counts. Just as you map the customer life cycle, the employee life cycle needs similar attention. Managing and planning for the long-term is key to developing and enhancing the employee experience.
An engaged employee has clarity about their role and how it contributes to the purpose of the business. Don’t leave them guessing. Instead, show them every day how their actions help build your business success.
Just as customers leverage the power of the connected world to explore their options and express their loyalty (or lack thereof), so do employees. The employee voice, when amplified through employer review sites like Glassdoor, is powerful.
Smart organisations will nurture their staff and create advocates for their business.
We spoke with more than 3,000 office workers and 75 IT leaders in Australia, India and Singapore about the relationship between technology and employee engagement. Download the APAC Employee Engagement Report to find out what we learned from them.
This post was originally published on the A.U.-version of the LIKE.TG blog.
How To Build a Data Culture: What Leaders Need To Know
Your company accumulates mass quantities of data every day. You collect information from marketing, sales, service, and more. There aremission-critical insightslocked inside. The question is, what trends are you missing? Can you surface them tomake smarter, more strategic decisions? If so, how?
Building a data culture is the only way to unearth these buried insights. That’s a formidable task for the83% of CEOswho want their organisations to be more data-driven. Yet, companies that embrace this approach to decision-making are more successful. In fact, leading data-driven companies to reallocate talent and capitalfour times fasterthan their peers. Furthermore, the 58% of companies that make decisions based on data aremore likely to beat revenue targetsthan those that don’t.
So, what’s next for leaders ready to build a data culture? See how CEOs can overcome challenges and empower their employees to make smarter decisions faster.
CEOs face countless decisions about where to start when building a data culture. Overcome analysis paralysis bystarting smallwith a use case that proves the value of your new data culture. Promote the payoff with skeptics: McKinsey research showsdata-driven companiesaccomplish goals faster and that their initiatives contribute at least 20% to earnings before income taxes.
Here’s why this works:
Data analysis surfaces actionable trends
Data analysis surfaces patterns thatunearth valueand enable companies to take advantage of market opportunities faster. That drives growth, nurtures innovation, and strengthens differentiation from competitors.
Artificial intelligence and machine learning take the guesswork out of decision-making
Companies that still rely on institutional knowledge and gut feelings to guide decision-making are leaving money on the table. With artificial intelligence and machine learning, employeesmake the right decisions quickly and confidently.
Strategic work keeps employees engaged
When data analyses guide routine decisions, employees spend less time on basic tasks and more time focusing on strategic work. That keeps them engaged and productive. That’s why84% of data-leading organisationshave observed an increase in employee retention.
Empower the right team to score a financial win
The best way to build a community of data champions is to demonstrate how data-driven decision-making grows revenue and streamlines operations. Don’t choose an analytics use case just because it might produce an interesting outcome. Instead, opt for a project that will yield a financial win and that you can later scale for maximum impact.
Here’s how to start:
Step 1: Choose the right team members
Start a working group that includes diverse colleagues from across the organisation. These team members should bring a collaborative mindset, differentiated skills and abilities, and distinct organisational perspectives. Make sure you include executives, line managers, data engineers, developers, and machine learning architects.
Step 2: Equip your team with the right training and technology
Withaccessible technology, you can connect team members and enable them to unlock hidden insights. Don’t assume your team members have the skills or tools to get started on their own. Instead, give themcomprehensive trainingso they can learn how to make data-driven decisions from anywhere (without having to be an actual data scientist).
Step 3: Start small
Test your assumptions on a small scale and iterate. You’ll know you’ve hit a winner when your colleagues can measure the value of your project on their bottom line.
Here’s how this worked at one financial services company. After a simple clustering analysis evaluated subclasses of data across sales territories, right-sizing the coverage led to$1 millionin incremental revenue the following year. That win was enough to build enthusiasm for data-driven decision-making across the company.
Step 4: Prioritise data culture’s human element
Ensure team members review raw data analyses to understand downstream utilisation. Only human eyes can determine if bias has influenced the conclusions.
Avoidbias by proxyby not taking data at face value. “Nobody can just drop all your data in and the right answer comes out,” said Mark Nelson, Tableau CEO. “It’s that human insight that helps you jump from raw data to conclusions.”
Take the next step to build your data culture
The process of iterating and scaling new data strategies means success won’t happen overnight. However, leading companiesencourage experimentationbecause they believe not being data-driven is the bigger institutional hazard. Inaction is the biggest risk of all.
This post was orignally published on the U.S.-version of the LIKE.TG blog.
The Most Important Phase in Digital Transformation is The Beginning
The pace of change is faster than ever. As a result, business and technology leaders tend to launch into projects with speed and momentum without first planning for success. Jonathan Hatcher uncovers a new framework called Phase 0, which aims to align business goals before the project starts. Jonathan draws from vital lessons that the LIKE.TG Professional Services team gathered from hundreds of highly complex, fully integrated enterprise-scale project implementations.
With inputs from Karl Kuchejda, Director, Services Leader, at LIKE.TG.
The most important moment in a digital transformation is at the very start. That’s where decision making is nimble and it’s easiest to affect valuable change.
Now more than ever there is an imperative for organisations to meet customer expectations, capitalise on new technology, and create a working environment that attracts and retains the best talent.
Although it is tempting to move fast into project-mode, shifting into action without proper planning introduces risk later down the line. This shows up as misaligned objectives, internal politics, and over-indexing on ‘getting it delivered’. As opposed to achieving high user adoption and realisation of business value.
To address this most critical stage, our team has developed a process called Phase 0. This helps businesses develop a clear roadmap of what they want to achieve, and how to get there.
Slow down before you speed up
The sheer scale and complexity of transformations needs a clear runway to ensure the project will be successful. There are innumerable moving parts to consider, competing business goals, and teams to align. With so much at stake, it is vital to get all the important details right.
Our team has gathered insights from hundreds of complex, enterprise-scale transformation projects. These insights are distilled into a framework we call Phase 0. The most successful projects use this precious time before the project starts to reimagine what is possible, gain internal alignment, and conduct detailed planning. Our aim is to help our customers develop a clear vision of what they want to achieve, and a roadmap on how to get there.
We recently worked with a customer in the telecommunications industry, who ran a strategic planning exercise with LIKE.TG Professional Services. The aim was to help align executives, pinpoint business value opportunities, and bring high value LIKE.TG user experience elements to life. We co-created a phased architecture and delivery roadmap, which will allow them to move into their LIKE.TG project delivery with confidence, alignment, and speed.
While every project requires bespoke advice for the customer’s scenario, there are three core elements to our approach. These are empathy, alignment, and action.
Empathy: Engage your customers and employees early
At the end of your project, a mark of success is your end users: your customers and employees.
Does it improve the way customers interact with you? Does it help employees do their jobs? Leading with empathy allows you to reframe preconceived ideas to discover the best possible solution. This is where we start with Phase 0.
Spending time with customers and employees to understand what they are trying to achieve, their frustrations, and hopes is core to our human-centred design approach. This discovery work is vital to ensure technology decisions centre around user needs.
Designing experiences with the LIKE.TG platform in mind from day one proactively balances user needs while maximising use of out-of-the-box capabilities. This paves the foundation for fast and agile implementation leveraging LIKE.TG best practices.
Here’s an example of a healthcare provider who wanted to build an online community for new mothers. We worked with the business and their community to explore how they ideally wanted to share information. Together, we found a solution that could be created with minor changes to an existing product and were able to offer a streamlined solution without reinventing the wheel. This is a win-win scenario for the business and the new mothers.
Empathy isn’t just about the user experience. It also applies to deeply understanding the customer’s broader technology environment. Enterprise customers invariably have multiple complex technology systems that need to deliver their capabilities alongside LIKE.TG. It’s important to take the time to understand each customer’s unique technology environment. This helps to develop an optimal approach around where LIKE.TG should play and how it should be integrated to deliver on CX outcomes.
Alignment: Bring everything back to your why
Executive alignment early in the process is critical. Without it, we commonly see issues arise during project delivery. These issues can cause delays and increase the risk of project failure.
As part of Phase 0, we map out specific project objectives and business success drivers. This is done with a LIKE.TG lens, identifying and quantifying the impact of desired changes. Once agreement has been reached, objectives are aligned to executive OKRs or KPIs. This provides a baseline for measuring success throughout the project and serves to align key stakeholders on transformation goals at the start.
For example, we worked with a multinational conglomerate company that was looking for opportunities to optimise their sales and service model and enable them to assist more customers. We proposed a model that would deliver process automation, increase digital channel optionality for consumers, and drive efficiencies across sales and service teams. We helped them gain insight into how a self-service model for customers and partners could be achieved. This enabled the team to visualise new opportunities for technology to streamline their business and better engage with customers and partners.
As strategic planning unfolds, sharing progress is important to align teams, showcase outputs, and gain additional feedback. We regularly bring cross-functional teams together to share insights, success, and lessons learned. This open forum helps to motivate the team, and keep them aligned on the vision.
Action: Propel your team into delivery
Planning allows a thorough scan of the project ahead, factoring in complexity, risks and navigating roadblocks through better program design.
At the action stage, you want to walk away with a plan that includes how the project will be delivered in detail. You should have a clear idea of the investment, phases, benefits, risks, and dependencies involved.
We look to understand the customer’s unique environment, the resources they have available, nuances of their business operating model, and their project delivery methodology.
Our approach is to dive deep enough into key aspects of the project such as costs, risks, integration, and data migration. Then, emerge with a transformation plan that decision makers can proceed with confidence.
It’s vital to have diverse input into this planning stage from both the business and technology teams. There should also be a single executive owner allocated to being accountable for progressing into a business case.
Launch your project into success
The most successful transformation projects clear the runway before launching their project.
Take the time to plan, reimagine where you are headed, and how to get there. Then the project can be launched into clear skies ahead, instead of building the plane while flying.
Give yourself a month or two to map out a strategic plan, based on empathy, alignment, and action. That’s how you can set yourself up for not just success, but transformation.
This post was originally published on the A.U.-version of the LIKE.TG blog.
How Daughters Of Tomorrow Is Using LIKE.TG To Empower Singapore’s Underprivileged Women
More than 25,000 women from low-income families in Singapore are struggling to find and sustain a living. That’s a statistic Daughters Of Tomorrow (DOT) is working hard to change. The Singapore-based IPC charity supports underprivileged women in Singapore to build financially independent and resilient families.
Since 2014, DOT has impacted more than 1,100 women through befriending, skills-training, job-bridging and post-employment support programs. That’s an excellent achievement, but Kaylee Kua, Senior Manager, Programs Operation at DOT, says there’s much more to be done for Singapore’s underprivileged women and families.
“There are a lot of women in Singapore who have challenges finding livelihood opportunities,” she explains. “Many of our beneficiaries have often had a long hiatus from work due to care-giving duties, and they may be disjointed from what is currently happening in the job market.
“Our beneficiaries often do not have the privilege to further their education, and this results in them only having the accessibility to work in blue collar jobs. However, that often requires shift work, which is not mum-friendly.”
To make matters worse, Kua says the financial situation for many of Singapore’s low-income families got worse during COVID-19. “A lot of low to middle income families lost their jobs during the pandemic,” she explains. “The income gap is widening, and this is creating a group of new poor.”
This has created a perfect storm for many of Singapore’s struggling families. Kua says it’s a battle that must be fought on multiple fronts.
“We have to help rebuild our beneficiaries confidence, and support them to reskill. At the same time, we need to help employers understand the challenges our beneficiaries face, provide working arrangements suitable for care-givers, and pay a living income.”
Consolidating the development journey
These are serious and complex problems. But the dedicated team at DOT is up to the challenge. They are using digital transformation to streamline operational processes and personalise their approach.
“We started with four employees working from colour-coded spreadsheets,” Kua explains. “But as our team grew, it became more difficult to collaborate. As a registered charity, we also need to make sure our annual reports are accurate. But this was difficult without a consolidated data source.”
DOT beneficiaries follow a thorough personal and professional development journey. This requires beneficiaries to engage with several DOT teams as they complete each stage of their journey.
Kua explains that after women are referred to DOT by their social workers, they complete the DOT Confidence Curriculum. Many move on to the befriending program, then go through a bridging process into employment. Finally, beneficiaries receive six months of post-employment support.
Each time a beneficiary moves onto a new stage in their journey, their case is handed over to the relevant DOT team. As the organisation grew, this process became increasingly difficult to manage.
Unifying beneficiary data
Kua says DOT needed a consolidated 360-degree view of each beneficiary’s personal progress and needs. The solution was LIKE.TG’s Nonprofit Success Pack (NPSP).
NPSP helps DOT to organise program, beneficiary and fundraising data. It provides a unified view of beneficiary data across programs, and supports personalised relationship management from a single platform.
“Initial adoption in 2018 was tough,” says Kua. “We had to limit access to our old database and spreadsheets, and put a cut-off date on employee access to it. But as our LIKE.TG system grew with new functionalities, the team saw how it was improving our processes.
“All the beneficiary data can now be easily handed over to the next team when a beneficiary progresses on their journey. LIKE.TG has helped us to streamline a lot of processes, and makes reporting much easier and more accurate.”
Jonathan Tan, Assistant Manager, Marketing and Data at DOT, holds fortnightly meetings with volunteer LIKE.TG Architects who help with user training and platform customisation.
“We use Trailhead for step-by-step guidance, and the LIKE.TG volunteers help us with more complex customisations. There are certain new processes we want to add in as we grow, and the LIKE.TG volunteers help us deploy new functions much more quickly.”
Closing the income gap
Tan says the next step on DOT’s digital transformation is to implement Pardot and Experience Cloud to increase donor funding and engagement, support outreach to volunteers, and provide more timely updates to befrienders about the progress of their befriendees.
Kua explains the organisation is also looking into technology to eliminate human biases in decision making. This, she says, will ensure every beneficiary has the same positive experience.
But in the short-term, Kua says DOT will remain focused on providing practical support and driving digital inclusion for Singapore’s underprivileged women and low-income families.
“The truth is that many of our beneficiaries who have been in long-term employment are still struggling to make it out of the poverty cycle,” Kua concludes. “Over the next few years, we will be advocating for employers to help close the income gap.
“Women are currently the main care-givers, and we need employers to understand their challenges and needs. While society changes its views on care-giving roles and responsibilities, we also need employers to re-evaluate the value of work and pay more sustainable wages, so that hardworking families can rise out of poverty. Technology will help us shift the needle.”
Learn more about how Nonprofit Success Pack (NPSP) supports charity organisations to help people in need.
Crafting a Customer Journey? Ask Yourself 11 Questions First
Regardless of which department you are part of, the best results will come when you have a relentless focus on your customer. By ensuring that your every action leads to a better customer outcome, you gain loyal brand advocates, and your business grows.
Part of your efforts to put the customer first should be to understand the customer journey, and how it can be improved. Before you create your ideal customer journey, you need to understand what your customers are experiencing today. According to the latest LIKE.TG research, 80% of customers agree that the experience a company provides is just as important as the products or services they offer.
What is a customer journey?
A customer journey is a description of your customers’ experience when interacting with your brand. In the past, this might have been as simple as a customer walking into a store, making a purchase, and then walking out. Never to be seen again.
Things are much more complex now. According to the State of Connected Customer report, nearly 75% of customers have used more than one channel to interact with a company when making a single purchase. Nearly 70% have even used more than one device in the course of a single transaction. Fifty-three percent of customers say they feel an emotional connection to the brands that they buy from the most.
It is, therefore, vital that you understand the different ways that customers interact with you. From the very first time they encounter your brand, all the way through to their first purchase, and beyond.
Ask the right questions
By understanding the journey your customer goes through when they buy from you, you can find areas for improvement. To generate a customer journey map that gives you these insights, you need to ask the right questions.
This list isn’t exhaustive, of course, but asking these questions will give you a good start:
Do you know all your customer touchpoints?
How many ways are there for your customers to interact with your organisation? You might be surprised. Advertising, social media channels, interactions with employees, search engine results pages, third-party information resources, reviews sites, the list goes on. That’s before they’ve even been to your website or store!
Do you know how your customers find you?
Are they finding your website? Do most of your customers come from word-of-mouth recommendations? Knowing how your customers find you will allow you to focus your energy on optimising those processes. There’s no point in optimising channels that don’t generate customers.
Can potential customers find what they are looking for?
When they arrive on your website, or in your store, can your customers locate the products they want?
You can check your website analytics, including site search, to assess how customers are browsing and what they might be looking for. Often, customers resort to search bars when they can’t find what they want.
Your in-store sales team could also share valuable insight. For example, do customers regularly ask for help finding particular products? This could inform decisions around in-store product placements.
Is there a place where your customers can look for the answers before contacting your customer support team?
Solutions such as Knowledge Base allow you to create repositories of company and product information, including frequently asked questions. This allows customers to serve themselves rather than contact your service team.
Make sure you track which articles get the most traffic. This data will tell you a lot about the things your customers want to know.
What kind of reviews are you getting? How are you using that data?
Customer reviews will tell you a lot about how your products are being used, and the levels of customer satisfaction.
Look for trends, including products or store locations that have generated particularly good or poor reviews. Are there common elements that shine a light on processes that can be learned from? What processes can you improve?
When was the last time you bought or used your own product?
If you’re very familiar with your products and services, you may not notice when there are opportunities for improvement. If it’s been a while since you tried to buy something through your website, it might be worth trying it out. You may be surprised!
Understand and evaluate your data
Some information about the customer journey can only be obtained by asking your customers directly. But there are other metrics that you can use to understand where there are opportunities for improvement.
Is your website easy to use?
Consider using a service that allows you to test your website with representative users. This can be a great way to highlight strengths and opportunities with your web experience.
Is your marketing related to your customers’ interests?
Find out how your customers respond to your messaging. Making sure that your marketing is speaking to your target audience will lead to more sales. The analytics that powers Marketing Cloud will give you insights into which campaigns are performing, and which are falling flat.
If you sell products online, do you get many abandoned carts?
To put it another way, do your customers drop off at some parts of your website?
This kind of analysis will tell you if there are parts of the purchase process that cause friction for the customer. Solutions like Commerce Cloud can help you optimise the purchase process with proven best practices. This includes saved carts, optimised checkout flows, and payment accelerators.
If you are selling B2B, is there a particular part of the sales process that causes your customers and sales teams problems?
As above, any points of friction will cause you to lose business. Ironing out those wrinkles could make all the difference. Sales Cloud can solve many problems by making your sales pipeline more efficient. This leads to better outcomes for customers and salespeople alike.
Are there particular products or services that generate a disproportionate level of customer service tickets?
To put it another way, are there bottlenecks in your customer service workflow?
The customer journey map goes beyond the point of purchase. Loyal customers will keep coming back again and again, but not if your post-sales experience is lacking. A solution like Service Cloud will let you see what your customers are asking. It will also highlight any potential areas where service could be even better.
Don’t forget your employees!
Make sure to include your employees in any evaluation of the customer journey.
Your teams interact with customers every day, so they have valuable insights into customer behaviours, pain points, and satisfaction levels. Get your service agents, sales people, and marketing team in a room together. Listen to their feedback and experiences. You should also consider whether they have the right tools to do their jobs efficiently. They will be able to tell you.
Use data to improve customer relationships
At the core of this evaluation is data. Done right, you will get a comprehensive understanding of the journey your customers go on when they interact with your business.
Remember to share customer data with your teams. When teams can access the information they need to do their best work, collaboration and alignment improves. This leads to more connected and personalised experiences for your customers, which helps you build stronger relationships with them.
Find out how to maintain focus on the customer throughout their journey. Download The Connected Customer Experience e-book to learn more:
5 Ways Financial Services Can Drive Profitability Through a Unified Customer Experience
Increased competition, changing customer expectations, and the rise of omni-channel experiences are all driving change for financial services. This means financial services institutions need to evolve the way they engage customers to stay competitive.
“A lot of financial institutions have to reimagine their operating model, as many banks and insurers are disintermediated by fintechs and insuretechs,” said Cyril Cymbler, VP Financial Services Practice EMEA ASEAN, LIKE.TG. He was speaking during a discussion at the recent IDC Asian Financial Services Congress 2022.
“To overcome that challenge, banks and insurers are focusing on initiatives to simplify their processes and create efficiencies, while improving the customer experience.”
This shift highlights the link between customer relationships and profitability. However, LIKE.TG research revealed that in recent years, exceptional customer service and support became more important than ever due to changing customer expectations in the digital age. This presents a massive opportunity for financial services institutions to stand out among the competition by elevating the customer experience.
How are customer journeys being reimagined in response? What opportunities exist to drive profitability? Here are five strategies to help financial services institutions drive profitability through a unified customer experience.
For details on this infographic, please click here.
