The power of automation

It is not only possible, but very beneficial, to run an organisation with various businesses or business units - situated in disparate geographic locations - using an ERP system for back-end functions, and a single communications platform. This scenario is not an operational pipe dream - it is a reality that can be rolled out within months.

The right decisions are very hard to make when there are no facts at hand.

Karl Reed is chief marketing and solutions officer at Elingo.

Once migration to such a consolidated communications system has been achieved, the biggest challenge most brands will face is harnessing the power of automation, while avoiding treating customers like automatons. This maxim has the ring of advertising to it, but it speaks to a fundamental business truth in today's economy: as the number and complexity of brand-to-consumer communication channels compounds, the challenge of effective communication compounds along with it.

While an overarching, singular communications system is a practical reality, it is nonetheless important to clarify why the singular approach is so important. Ultimately, it all comes down to whether decision-makers are working within a positive or a negative feedback loop.

A communications system utilising different proprietary pieces of hardware makes it exceptionally difficult to gain a coherent view of communications as a whole. Separate media, analysis, recoding, reporting, MIS and other communication silos create a context where decision-makers are often unable to accurately readtheir own reports. The inability to simply access the data effectively creates a negative decision-making feedback loop that undermines the relationship between executives and their technologies. Simply put, the right decisions are very hard to make when there are no facts at hand.

It's equally important to clarify that communication reporting can no longer work as a once-off event - even if that event is occurring once a week. Such are the demands of the digital age that the communication interface must operate as an organic feed - a feed that exists day-to-day, hour-to-hour, and minute-to-minute - a feed that decision-makers can tap into at any time, and from any perspective. It is only from this platform that a positive feedback loop between decision-maker, technology and customer can be created and maintained.

One of the major problems with modern business communication (for organisations, managers and their customers) is that there is just so much of it. From the consumer's perspective, the blizzard of brand interaction can become annoying at best, and downright infuriating at worst. From bewildering navigation options on contact centre phone prompts through to after-sales surveys and those still amazingly frequent (given the theoretical restrictions imposed by the Consumer Protection Act) sales calls, harried consumers are, in my view, a direct consequence of decision-makers who spend millions on technology, but who are very lazy when it comes to aligning that technology with best practice in customer interaction.

Each customer is unique and has different motivations and behaviour patterns. This is the pivotal fact that must guide communications decision-making and the development of a best-practice communications structure. This sounds fine in theory, but what does it mean in reality? How should this understanding play out in the real business world?

Utilising available technologies to ensure the patterns unique to each individual are fully explored, understood and catered to, is central to effective communication. Some customers like to manage their interactions over e-mail, some prefer phone calls, and others are particular about dealing with service providers only during certain time periods (Monday mornings are frequently allocated this slot).

It is up to the brand to understand the pattern associated with each client and to cater to that client accordingly. This ability is a defining business imperative. Today's consumers demand to interact with the service provider on their terms, using channels of their choice. As the generations that have grown up on Facebook and Twitter come into full adulthood, the momentum behind this paradigm will accelerate to the point where it creates major barriers to client retention for all companies, big and small.

In this environment, the contact centre can't dictate the terms of interaction via a set of rigid options. Rather, brands have to understand each of their customers, and talk to them accordingly. This includes personalised menu options when someone calls the contact centre, or automatically escalated enquiries when the client's tone of voice gets too intense. It means phone calls from consultants during a time period when they are welcome.

To achieve this, the customer profile created by the communications system must be added to the raw data generated by the ERP system, creating a 3D customer view that lays the foundation for genuinely personalised service. Getting business communication right, in other words, means learning how to use a highly automated system to treat each customer as an individual, rather than a robot.

Some companies are making real headway in this area already. Others are very clearly trying to negotiate an organisational context where the technology generates information of sub-standard quality, which leads to equally sub-standard decision-making.

For most, harnessing the power of automation will require the classic mix of knowledge, strategy and strong partnerships. But this is no easy mix to get right. Which means the time to start is now.