Though there’s been a lot of talk surrounding the benefits of cloud computing, it’s important that every business considering whether to adopt the technology knows specifically how best to use it. There’s no doubt that cloud computing has a lot going for it, so understanding its strengths plays a key role in how each company approaches its transition to the cloud. Most companies have no doubt heard that cloud computing leads to increased revenue, but the crucial point is how that goal is accomplished.
Cloud tech can help convert customers at more impressive rates than ever before. Indeed, this relatively new innovation is exciting many B2B firms but leaping into the cloud without a firm idea of how this is achieved could lead to a rough transition and possibly even failure.
Cloudy days
Companies are going digital in new and innovative ways. By moving into the digital realm, new opportunities and avenues for reaching companies open up. However, going the digital route in the age of constant internet access, mobile smartphones, and wearable gadgets used to be anything but easy in most cases. That has all changed with the rise of cloud computing. With cloud providers springing up seemingly on a daily basis, there are many channels to choose from that allow companies of nearly any size to go digital and be effective while doing it. By easing the process of going digital, the cloud helps businesses seize on its many benefits much more easily.
Participating in this digital shift is the key to improving interactions with the customer, which in turn translates into higher conversion rates. Really, it’s all about enhancing the customer experience from first contact to well after the product or service has been sold. In a recent survey from Forrester, 74 percent of those who responded said improving the cross-channel customer experience was not only a priority, it was the top priority. Doing so basically requires the adoption of cloud computing within the business.
Improving the customer experience in these cases essentially means making customer service more responsive to what the customer needs. The experience in these situations needs to be seamless, integrating smoothly with whatever technology the customer is using at the moment. The cloud makes this possible by integrating with a large variety of technologies. Customers can receive the same service from a desktop computer as they can from a mobile device. As every business knows, a satisfied customer is one that can easily be converted.
One crucial element that must always be taken into account is how outreach to customers is being handled. Again, the cloud plays a vital role in this process, particularly through customer relationship management (CRM) software. The use of CRM helps businesses develop a better understanding of how a customer behaves, informing the company on how to personalize the content delivered to them. An individual, customized approach helps to tailor a sales pitch or outreach effort, leading to better response rates. CRM software does this by sifting through mountains of big data to detect and identify patterns which the organization can then act upon. All of this is available through the cloud and helps companies interact with customers on an individual basis, not just as a large faceless group or demographic.
How the cloud can help your staff
Equally important is how cloud computing impacts an organization’s employees. The cloud can help workers become more productive by placing all the resources and information they need right at their fingertips. This increase in productivity has a definite upside over simply getting more work done.
By helping employees see to their tasks and duties more efficiently, the cloud lets them devote more of their time and attention to seeing to the customer’s needs. In other words, it helps employees engage with the customers, giving them more one-on-one interaction which aids in converting customers. And with the mobility offered at no sacrifice to performance, employees can use the cloud to meet customer demands from any location, any time.
These are just a handful of examples in which cloud computing can help in customer conversion. The results from cloud adoption speak for themselves. For example, in the same Forrester survey mentioned earlier, use of CRM showed an increase of 60 percent in customer satisfaction and an increase of 30 percent in sales. Any company looking to move into the future and increase conversions needs to have the cloud as part of their operations. Without it, they’ll be playing catch-up to the competition.
Photo via Flickr, Creative Commons
