How many companies can you name that have truly figured out multi-channel customer communication? (“Multi what??”) You know, the service providers who send you the information that you need, when you need it, on the medium that is most convenient for you. (“Ahh…”) Not too many, right?

Personally, I like to have my account statements available online – so as to reduce paper consumption – while receiving important account updates via secure email. Don’t expect me to interact with a company via Facebook or Twitter, unless it’s to “out” them for sub-standard customer service. And never invade my mobile phone with texts, especially when I’ve specifically asked not to be contacted this way…

Now, asking around my friends and colleagues, it is immediately apparent that their preferences differ from mine. Some like to be contacted via SMS or social media, while others feel that paper statements have more value. Try the exercise for yourself, you may be surprised to learn how many variations there are, even in your closest circle.

So this is a complicated equation for a large company to solve. The range of preferences introduces significant levels of complexity into the customer communications process. Data is often held in legacy systems that are not geared for output via multiple channels. And the ever-present concerns of privacy and data protection do little to simplify matters.

Yet the equation is one worth solving. Getting customer communications right is often the single most important component of customer satisfaction, and therefore retention. Using an effective customer communications strategy to reduce customer churn can be a smart move, and generally translates directly to return on investment.

Why then are more companies not addressing the challenge? Somewhat surprisingly, it seems that the biggest obstacle is not legacy systems or solution complexity, but rather a perception that the tools just do not exist. According to a recent survey featured in CIO Insight,

72% of respondents said that they would engage in a greater mix of digital and physical marketing if they had the right “customer communications management tools.”

One might infer from this that there is a lack of CCM products on the market. This is an unfortunate fallacy. In reality, the products are out there. They do integrate with legacy information systems. And they do interact with each other, meaning that a large enterprise can construct its own multi-channel customer communications platform, perfectly tailored to accommodate the organisation’s business requirements and operational constraints.

Of course the specific software products they need will vary depending on their unique business environment, the scope and type of communications they wish to engage, and the flexibility of their current information systems. But rest assured, the CCM market has absolutely reached a level of maturity such that a solution is out there for just about any set of requirements.

If you identify with the 72% mentioned in the survey above, we would be delighted to chat with you and explore the options that are available to you. Just click here to contact us. (Of course if you are one of the 28% we would love to hear from you too!)

Meta-Nexus - Making technology work for your business

Walking around town at the weekend, this retail store display caught my eye. They had a huge QR code prominently displayed, but it was not your usual boring black-and-white square-edged affair. No, this one used curved corners, wavy lines and even embedded pictures of three very recognisable national monuments.

Of course I could not resist trying out the QR reader on my phone. Within seconds I found myself viewing the shop’s mobile web site, which offered me a link to enter for a prize drawing that could send me to London, Paris or New York.

It is common knowledge that the ISO specifications for QR codes include sophisticated measures to handle distortion and error-correction. However, it is less well known that you can depart significantly from the “traditional” bar-code appearance, in terms of visual design, while still keeping the operational payload of the QR code intact.

As an illustration of this, compare the QR codes seen here. They will both take you to the same destination (the Meta-Nexus home page) but they are radically different in appearance. Which one would YOU scan?

For managers in charge of marketing and customer communication, a little creativity will make all the difference. For example, you may be wondering how to encourage your customers to switch from paper to electronic statements. Imagine how powerful a custom QR code could be, if you were to apply some targeted graphic design and an embedded “call to action”.

Dare to jazz it up a little — you may well see a massive impact on the effectiveness of your transpromo pieces!

If you are interested in learning more about how you can use QR codes to communicate effectively with your customers — and improve their experience with your company — click here to contact Meta-Nexus today.

Meta-Nexus - Making technology work for your business