Different organisations approach digitisation projects in different ways. Some seek a complete overhaul of the business as quickly as possible, while others adopt a more gradual process.

But the bottom line — and the desired outcomes — are the same. The benefits of going digital are:

• Improved customer experience.
• Increased employee productivity.
• Reduction in overheads and increased revenue.

This in turn, creates in the company the framework to scale and grow more quickly.

At the heart of the digital transformation process and the key to a profitable business, is how a company effectively communicates with its customers. Get this right, and the business benefits follow.

Communicating with customers today comprises much more than producing printed letters that reflect the brand. Living in a digital age, where technology has significantly changed our expectations, Customer Communication Management (CCM) solutions have to be omnichannel, create personalised messaging, tick all regulatory boxes, and produce value-adds well above and beyond a firm adherence to brand guidelines (although that’s important, too).

To help us flesh out what’s possible from today’s omnichannel CCM platforms, we spoke to Graeme King, Managing Director, Greater Asia Pacific, of Cincom. This is a company that has made a significant impression on the way that many companies in Europe and the US communicate.

Graeme started by stressing the fact that the last thing his company was interested in was having the Cincom Eloquence platform dictate to its users how they should be doing business. “There’s definitely a need for a mix of communications, whether that be face-to-face, or through digital tools […] through email, it could be through SMS text messages, through web portals, different digital media.”

By deploying a solution that has the capability of presenting the right, timely materials regardless of channel, the customer will always get a perfect experience. And as tastes change, or new markets explored, Eloquence can work according to what’s demanded by all stakeholders. That ability is down to a central control panel that both maintains standards and accuracy, but also yields insights into what messages are most successful, via what channel, and to which audience.

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The word “messages” in the paragraph above is an understatement. Imagine having every digital asset in the organisation available to create rich, attractive, on-brand communications that are automatically filled with up-to-the-second accurate figures and text. In the CCM workflow, that capability alone is approaching priceless. But in Cincom Eloquence, it’s also powerful and scalable. The platform effectively breaks down the silos of data that exist in every organisation: the cloud file share, the in-house database, the CRM platform, and so on. Via APIs that communicate seamlessly between the platform and legacy technology, every message creates compelling customer experiences, presented via any channel.

When I first mentioned the word “cloud” in this context to Graeme, he was quick to respond:

“We can be deployed in the cloud as well! So it really doesn’t matter […] as long as we are able to access the locations where the data is stored, we can pull that data from wherever the data source may reside into the one document, or if you like, template. It can be in the cloud, it can be on premise, at an organisation’s own data centre, it doesn’t really matter […] we can get access to it, obviously in a secure fashion.”

Integrating often-sensitive data into workflows that potentially expose information publicly is a tricky business, of course. But Cincom’s technology retains a firm hold on compliance with data governance. With central control of the entire platform, it’s virtually impossible to put a foot wrong. Cincom’s reputation on other continents is a testament to Eloquence’s accuracy and attention to detail with regards privileged information, but the company is also renowned for its long-term commitment to its clients.

Graeme King puts that longevity down to some simple practices: “It’s maintaining that customer over the years, providing good support when they need it. And continuing to enhance the product and enhancing its capability and keeping on top of technology so that they don’t need to go elsewhere and look for other vendors. It’s meeting their needs from a business perspective […] from the continual R&D that we put into the solutions to make sure that we stay at the forefront of technology in the capabilities that we deliver.”

Introducing a new solution into the Asia-Pacific region has its challenges. And Graeme states, “We’re not a huge company. And we really are only as good as our last implementation; so, we put a lot of emphasis on making sure that our implementations are successful and continue to run successfully for the customer.”

Communicating clearly and accurately at every stage of the business’s processes helps put companies ahead of their competition. Internally, working practices are streamlined and can be automated, so employees benefit too. Marketing departments love the on-brand materials and rich media output, and the business’s finance guys love the fact that quotes, invoices, POs — in fact, all (virtual or otherwise) paperwork — are pulled together with accurate, up-to-date information at their heart.

We’ve barely scratched the surface of the Cincom Eloquence platform, but it’s well worth investigating further. To change the way all your business functions communicate with customers, partners and prospects, get in touch with a local representative from the company today.