The benefits of cloud computing are well documented. From greater agility and reduced costs to improved security and uninterrupted access. But there is one benefit that is regularly overlooked – how cloud computing improves the customer experience. Why is this important? Well, the modern business landscape is more competitive than ever before. Gone are the days when customers only had one option and they were forced to stick with specific products and services because there was no alternative. Today, if customers aren’t getting the level of service they need or the product they’ve procured isn’t functioning as it should, they can simply go elsewhere.
When brands offer their customers a positive experience not only do they boost their brand profile, they also build trust, which, in turn, fosters greater loyalty among customers.
According to Forbes, customer experience is the new brand. “Companies are recognising the importance of delivering an experience that makes them stand out from their competition. Some are learning the hard way.” The Forbes article goes on to detail how United Airlines had a brand crisis in 2017, which caused the airline to lose $1.4 billion in value overnight after a passenger relayed a negative experience with United and the post went viral. In line with this, a recent study found that customer experience is set to trump price and product choices as the key differentiator among brands by 2020.
Want to find out how cloud is improving the customer experience? Keep reading.
Always available: Put simply, when working in the cloud, businesses can meet customer expectations in a more agile way. Gone are the days when customers could only shop or access certain services during business hours. Today, consumers expect to be able to access what they need at any time and from anywhere, on devices ranging from a traditional PC to a smartphone. Cloud based services make this level of availability possible.
Loyalty programmes: If you’re part of a fitness loyalty programme and you’ve just spent an hour working out at the gym, you want to be able to upload your activity and view your progress immediately. Cloud allows users of loyalty programmes to access these communities, view their loyalty points, rewards and track their progress at all times. Similarly, the cloud enables predictive analytics capabilities, the power of which can be used to improve the way you attract new customers and keep existing customers coming back.
ERP: If you put your enterprise resource planning (ERP) in the cloud, you’re allowing external partners to handle the nitty gritty around your communication and functionality. Achieving this level of visibility is only possible in the cloud. In doing so, you’ll get visibility across the entire supply chain – from suppliers all the way to customers.
With a technology expense management solution in place, businesses are better able to track their cloud consumption. Offering a broader view of cloud usage, enabling the business to better meet the needs of clients and predict future cloud needs. The right technology expense management platform provides detailed risk profiles for each cloud service provider and uncovers potential security and compliance risks. If this sounds like something you need to ensure your business out does the rest, we’re here to help you on your cloud journey. Simply complete the form below and we’ll be in touch.
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