Diversifying business CRM Solutions in the digital-first age

Summary:From manufacturing and logistics to IT, education and healthcare, organisations across the world have been challenged to redesign their operations as per the new realities of the coronavirus-impacted world. Cloud-based CRM tools have a critical role to play in this transformed environment.

At the beginning of 2020, the world was leading a ‘normal’ life – people were booking flights, businesses were meeting clients at different locations, corporate events were getting organised, and everything was running as expected. Then came COVID-19. And today, as we read these lines, the global pandemic has already impacted our personal and work lives in ways we never imagined.

At a time when enterprises must rethink their strategies to recover and thrive, they should also know how customer relationship management (CRM) solutions will help them with sustainable business performance.

Industries have seen other hurdles, including the economic crisis of 2008, in the era of CRM. However, coronavirus is a public health concern, and the challenges brought by it are unique. Fortunately, the digitally evolved cloud CRM tools can enable organisations to address most of these issues and stay connected with the community they serve, despite lockdowns and physical distancing norms.

With its Software as a service (SaaS) solutions, Tata Tele Business Services (TTBS) has collated bespoke response package against COVID-19.

Let us look into six of these tools that help organisations to maintain their business growth while ensuring the safety of their customers and employees.

1-Live Chat

Even after the dilution of lockdown rules, the fear of pandemic continues. People’s movement is restricted, and most have decided to stay at home for their own safety. From ordering groceries to receiving troubleshooting support for appliances, consumers prefer to use chat-based interaction with many companies. They can track the most recent status of their orders and get complaints resolved by interacting with actual agents.

Powered by TCS iON technology, the TTBS Live Chat application allows businesses to connect with their customers in real-time for query resolution and lead generation. As a plug-and-play cloud-hosted solution, it can be used securely by customer service executives in work-from-home scenarios.

Live Chat makes a business website more interactive and helps to address every lead online. It also facilitates auto-routing of chats to specific departments and agents. Not having a live chat on your website is like not having a receptionist at your showroom to greet prospects when they walk in.

The CapEx and OpEx for a cloud-hosted live chat service are less than those for a call centre. Also, chat service agents can interact simultaneously with 2-3 customers, leading to better CRM productivity. Lastly, a business can enhance its brand credibility with instant resolutions through Live Chat. Customers can get a written record of the interaction and relevant files shared by agents for future reference.

2-Hosted IVR

A cloud-based IVR system allows businesses to set up a distributed call centre and offer telephonic customer services with the employees working from home. The IVR software gets configured to route the incoming calls to employees’ mobiles as per their qualifications and the business departments they belong to.

The software enables call hunting to avoid wait times and help a customer reach an agent who is not busy on another call. It streamlines the communication process and helps in quicker resolution of customers’ concerns.

Thanks to a dynamic call routing functionality of this Hosted IVR , a company can effortlessly change the termination number whenever required. With real-time call analytics, it can also track team performance, call quality and missed calls.

3-Help Desk

Help Desk is another hosted solution powered by TCS iON for simplified technical support with employees working from diverse locations. A dedicated IT team helps workers on their software/hardware-related concerns when everyone works from a shared office. This has become a challenge in the new reality of corporate life.

The cloud-based Help Desk offers a central point to end-users seeking assistance on different technical issues concerning their jobs. IT teams can respond early on tickets raised by remote employees and send updates by SMS or emails.

With this service, businesses can eliminate the inefficiencies of issues raised through email and get sharper visibility into repeat concerns. Issues can be auto-escalated to senior management. They also get reports on operational efficiency at the agent and team level.

4-Online Fee Collector

The continual spread of COVID-19 made it difficult for people to pay fees, utility bills, AMC for appliances and charges for other services availed at home. There was a general reluctance to handle cash, and consumers sought digital modes of payment. However, not all institutions and businesses could offer such a service safely through their websites.

Our Online Fee Collector comes to the rescue of such organisations. It provides a secure environment to make and receive payments online in real-time. This cloud-hosted CRM tool builds a simplified interface to view fee/charge details and make timely payments using cards, net banking or mobile wallets.

The application tracks due dates for all customers and informs them on outstanding payments. An educational institution or business using the service benefits from better money management and enhanced transparency. It also saves payment gateway infrastructure costs and its staff’s time with seamless process automation.

5-Digital Survey

Coronavirus has not affected a business’ ability to understand its customer mindset and plan products or services as per their preferences. By deploying Digital Survey Solutions created by TTBS, any enterprise can gather customer insights for better decision-making.

Organisations can incorporate this online CRM tool with their websites, social media platforms, marketing emails, chat service and SMS applications. It brings readymade survey templates to solicit feedback or collect opinions and is available in multiple Indian languages.

Businesses can customise their surveys with logos and banners. They also get robust analytical capabilities with visual data presentation to review and interpret the cumulative information provided by survey participants.

Such cloud-hosted surveys not only help an organisation understand their customers’ pain points and preferences but also throw light on market trends, buyer demographics and their perception of competitors’ offerings. Such data has become even more valuable at a time when businesses must adapt themselves to the rapidly shifting realities of their industries.

6-Cloud CRM – Managing Customer Database

In addition to the bespoke tools designed for smoother customer relationship management in COVID-19 times, TTBS has built a comprehensive CRM platform offering 360◦ customer views.

Our Cloud CRM is a simplified application that helps enterprises to monitor a customer’s journey between a casual inquiry/web surfing to repeat purchases. Businesses can nurture long-term relationships with many of their customers if they understand buyer behaviour correctly. That’s where Cloud CRM helps.

It has pre-sales, sales and post-sales modules to analyse consumer interests and support business growth. By offering end-to-end information on customers, it helps in designing exclusive treatment packages such as discounts and cash backs for repeat buyers.

The field force activity planning feature of this app enables daily allocation and detailed capturing of actual daily activities of the field force. It also creates customer connect campaigns and helps to track different marketing initiatives of a business.

The Cloud CRM app can be used to configure alerts for customers’ birthdays and send them special offers on such occasions. It can also be used to send payment reminders for timely revenue collection.

As COVID-19 has dramatically altered people’s lifestyles, organisations that can accustom themselves to the new needs of customers will be the winners in their verticals. TTBS has planned its Cloud CRM Solutions to help them achieve their business goals in the new realm of business.

To know more about our TCS iON-powered services, call us on 1800-266-1800.