The days a single software suite was all you needed are long gone. Even the traditional suites offer different kinds of subscriptions to suit your specific needs, and allow you to cherry-pick the tools you actually need to get the job done.
The good news; you will be able to use the best software for you. The bad news; your data is all over the place.
What is a 360-degree view?
More than ever, your brand relies on communication and services rather than the product itself. The reason companies like Uber and Netflix grew so big isn’t because they were the only ones to be able to transport you from a to b, or to allow you to watch a movie or a series. Both companies understood that customer experience is key in being distinctive to competitors, as it is the product itself - transport or media offering - isn’t that special anymore.
To provide a proper customer experience, you should consider all the touchpoints your customer meets your business and pick the best tools that allow you to be able to offer the best experience. All your departments, from marketing to sales and service, have other needs and will use their own specialized software. However, they will all both generate as well as consume customer data.
When those tools are not connected, your departments will not be properly working together. Your marketing team might end up trying to convert a lead, while they are already a customer. Your support team might have to ask all kinds of questions, while your product team already knows the answer. In short, the data being used may be outdated, inaccurate or corrupt.
1 - Collaboration and handover between departments
There is no need to explain the advantages of having your departments aligned; if marketing goes left while sales runs right, your potential customers will have the most confusing experience, resulting in little trust and most probably they’ll end up choosing for the competitor.
Aligning your decisions doesn’t just stop with agreeing on a communication strategy or making sure everyone in your business knows exactly what you have to offer to your clients.
2 - Deliver personalized experiences
You can communicate or act based upon aggregated data, because you know most of your customers are between 30 and 50 years of age, or love running, or watching movies. But a person is not a data set, it is an actual human with specific needs.
If you know who you are talking to, you can tailor the customer experience to actual needs instead of a metric. Being spoken to is some
3 - Making informed decisions
Your marketing department is generating tons of leads on a daily basis, which your sales department has to follow up. But what happens to those leads? Will they actually convert to customers or will they just keep your sales reps busy?
Getting insights in the quality of your efforts you will improve the efficiency of your teams and optimize performance. Syncing critical data to both systems will give everyone involved all the insights needed.
