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ACHIEVING LONG-TERM CUSTOMER LOYALTY WITH A HOLISTIC APPROACH TO COMMUNICATIONS TRANSFORMATIONIntegrated Cloud Solutions Deliver Improved Customer Relationships and Competitive Advantages to Mid-market Businesses

FROS T & SULLIVAN EBOOK

2Achieving Long-term Customer Loyalty with a Holistic Approach to Communications Transformation

CONTENTS

3 Increasing Customer Value is at the Heart of Business Transformation Strategies

4 CompellingBenefitsDriveCloudCommunicationsAdoption

5 CloudContactCentersBoostCustomerEngagement

6 IntegratedCloudPlatformsUnlockSuperiorValueforCustomer-centric Organizations

7 CloudMigrationisNecessaryforBusinessTransformation;Yet,itCanPresentChallenges

8 TheRightFitforDistributedMid-marketBusinessesPursuingImprovedCustomerRelationships

9 AStructuredApproachtoCloudMigrationisRequiredfor Long-term Success

10 CalltoAction:TransformtoThrive

3Achieving Long-term Customer Loyalty with a Holistic Approach to Communications Transformation

THE NEED FOR CUSTOMER VALUE ENHANCEMENTCompetitivepressures,globalizationandtechnology-enablednewproducts,servicesandbusinessmodelsarecompellingbusinessestocontinuallyenhancethevaluetheydelivertocustomers.Withgreateraccesstoinformationandabroadeningarrayofoptionsinallindustries,customersincreasinglydemanddeeperexpertise,fasterandbetterservice,andunwaveringcommitmenttotheirneedsfromproductandservicesproviders.

END-TO-END CUSTOMER JOURNEYElevatedcustomerexpectationsrequiretechnicalsupportstaff,customerserviceagentsandsubject-matterexpertstohavethefullcontextofthecustomer’shistoryattheirfingertips.Therefore,customerexperiencemanagementmustbeatopinvestmentpriorityforbusinesseslookingtocompetemoreeffectivelyinaprogressivelydynamicmarketplace.

TRANSFORMATION IMPERATIVETrulycustomer-centricorganizationsacknowledgethatpervasivebusinesstransformation—encompassingtechnology,processes,peopleandculture—isnecessarytoenableadifferentiatedvaluepropositionandsuperiorcustomerexperiences.Effectivecustomercareandrelationshipmanagementrequirecollaborationandalignmentamongvariousstakeholderswithintheorganization,includingsales,contactcenterpersonnel,subject-matterexperts,ITstaffandC-levelexecutives.

TECHNOLOGIES FOR A COMPETITIVE EDGEToefficientlyaddressshiftingcustomerrequirementsbusinessesaredeployingcontemporarycommunications,collaboration,contactcenterandcustomerrelationshipmanagement(CRM)solutionspoweredbycloudtechnologies,advancedanalytics,ArtificialIntelligence(AI)andmachinelearning.

INCREASING CUSTOMER VALUE IS AT THE HEART OF BUSINESS TR ANSFORMATION STR ATEGIES

Source: Frost & Sullivan

CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE MANAGEMENT

31%

27%

North American decision makers say

is important and a top investment priority

74%

54%

Improving the customer experience is one of the top 3 IT/telecom investment drivers

Customer experience management is one of top 3 technologies that have the most impact on revenue growth

Have already deployed customer experience management solutions

plan to increase investments in customer experience management in 2019

4Achieving Long-term Customer Loyalty with a Holistic Approach to Communications Transformation

Source: Frost & Sullivan

UCaaS market—TOP REASONS FOR UCaaS USAGE,

United States, 2018

It’s easier for IT to manage

UCaaS is more secure

It’s a benefit for remote andmobile employees

It enables more effective customization

It allows us to better focus on ourcore business

It allows us to scale up and down moreeasily and cost effectively

It offers a better selection of endpoints(from a variety of vendors rather than just one)

It enables us to reduce costs

It allows more flexible integrationswith third-party software

It allows us to gain access to newerfeatures faster

39%

38%

31%

31%

31%

28%

28%

27%

24%

21%

N = 127

COMPELLING BENEFITS DRIVE CLOUD COMMUNICATIONS ADOPTIONCommunicationsarethelifebloodofanorganizationand,whendeployedstrategically,candeliverpowerfulcompetitiveadvantages.Manybusinessesaremovingtheircommunicationsandcollaborationsolutionstothecloudtoattaingreaterbusinessagilityandresponsiveness.

BUSINESSES INCREASINGLY ADOPT UCAAS FOR THE STRONG BENEFITS.

The North American hosted IP telephony and unified communications

as a service (UCaaS) user base

of North American decision makers report having moved or planning to move part or all of their enterprise telephony solutions to the cloud by 2019.

82%

23%Will grow at

CAGRfrom 2017 to 2024

5Achieving Long-term Customer Loyalty with a Holistic Approach to Communications Transformation

Source: Frost & Sullivan

REASONS FOR MOVING CONTACT CENTER SOLUTIONS TO THE CLOUD,

United States, 2017

93%

90%

90%

89%

88%

87%

86%

84%

83%

77%N = 132

Note: Respondents chose “very important” and “crucial.”

Access to advancedfeatures/capabilities

Ease of use

Hosted/cloud providercapabilities and expertise

Improved business continuity/disaster recovery capabilities

Reduced total cost of ownership

Fast deployment

Flexible scalability

Better support for ourdispersed workforce

Storage of large amounts of data

CAPEX avoidance

CLOUD CONTACT CENTERS BOOST CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT

Contact centers are critical in ensuring strong customer relationships,satisfactionandloyalty.Asmorecustomerinteractionstakeplacevirtually,ratherthaninperson,thequalityofcustomercontactandthetechnologiesthatenablebettercustomercarearebecomingmoreimportant.

However,manybusinesses,particularlysmallandmid-marketcompanies,oftenlacktheITfundingandstaffingresourcestoacquireandmanagesophisticatedcontactcentersolutionsdeployedontheirpremises.Toenablefasteraccesstonewfunctionality,easeofuseandmanagement,andenhancecustomercarebusinessesareadoptingmoreflexibleandcost-effectivecloud-basedcontactcentersolutions.

MYRIAD REASONS COMPEL BUSINESSES TO MOVE CONTACT CENTERS TO THE CLOUD.

The North American cloud contact center market

of North American decision makers report having moved or planning to move part or all of their customer experience management solutions to the cloud by 2019.

80%

11.4%Will grow at

CAGRfrom 2017 to 2022

6Achieving Long-term Customer Loyalty with a Holistic Approach to Communications Transformation

Source: Frost & Sullivan

DEPLOYMENT PREFERENCESIT/telecom

decision makersContact center

decision makers

71%Will deploy single-vendor or tightly integrated multi-vendor Unified Communications and Collaboration solutions in 2019

74%Consider AI crucial or very important for effective customer engagement

CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE MANAGEMENT CHALLENGESreported by contact center decision makers

26%Systems/applications integration difficulties is a top challenge

55%Can’t effectively use customer analytics to improve contact center operations because they lack tools to capture the customer experience across all channels

INTEGR ATED CLOUD PLATFORMS UNLOCK SUPERIOR VALUE FOR CUSTOMER-CENTRIC ORGANIZATIONSForward-lookingorganizationsacknowledgethatcloudplatformscandeliveradditionalbusinessbenefitsbeyondcostreduction,deploymentspeedandoperationalefficiencies.

INTEGRATED EXPERIENCESeamlesslyintegratedcloud-basedcommunications,contactcenterandCRMsolutionsenhancecollaborationacrossjobfunctionsandfosteracultureofjointcustomervaluecreation,thusenablinganintegratedcustomerexperience,whichisthemainobjectiveofbusinesstransformation.

CONTEXTUAL INSIGHTSMulti-purposecloudplatformsfacilitatemoreeffectiveuseofadvancedanalyticsandAItodelivercontextualinsights,automaterepetitivejobtasksandpredictbusinessoutcomes.

Valuablecustomerinformation,suchascustomers’fullhistoryandrelevantsentimentanalysis,poweredbyintegratedanalyticsandAIanddeliveredtofront-lineservicesworkersinrealtime,greatlyenhancescustomerinteractions.

PROGRAMMING FLEXIBILIT YCloudplatformswithopenandflexibleapplicationprogramminginterfaces(APIs)empowerintegrationofcommunicationsandcustomer-caresolutionswithmission-criticalbusinesssoftware,aswellasdevelopmentofnewfeaturesandcapabilitiestoaddressevolvingusecases.

7Achieving Long-term Customer Loyalty with a Holistic Approach to Communications Transformation

CLOUD MIGR ATION IS NECESSARY FOR BUSINESS TR ANSFORMATION; Y ET, IT CAN PRESENT CHALLENGESThesheervolumeofcloudcommunicationsandcontactcenterchoicesavailabletodaycreatesconfusionforbusinessesseekingtheirbestfit.Businessstakeholdersmustconductthoroughduediligencetoavoidimmatureorpoorly-designedsolutionsthatcannotdeliverthedesiredbusinessoutcomes.Additionally,theymustavertcertaincommonerrorsthatcannegativelyaffecttheirtransformationsuccess:

Siloedcloudimplementations,whereinthefocusispointsolutions rather than a completeecosystemview,aswellaslackofcoordinationbetweencontactcenterandenterprisebuyersoftenresultinpooreremployeeandcustomerexperiencesandmorelimitedreturnoninvestment(ROI).

“ShadowIT”anddisconnectedtechnologypurchasesbyline-of-businessbuyersandITstaffalsocreatetechnologysiloswhichinhibitdevelopmentofarobust,cohesivecommunicationsandcontactcenterevolutionroadmapthatistightlyalignedwithbroaderbusinessgoals.

Businessesdeployingmultiple customer experiencecapabilities(e.g.,communications, contact center,CRM,marketingautomation)oftenfailtobridgetheinternalgapswithintheirorganizations,in terms of architecture or businessprocesses,toenabledifferentsolutionstoworkwelltogether—e.g.,shareuserpresence, customer interaction logsanddata—whichreducestheeffectivenessoftheirinvestments.

Lackoforganizationalpreparednessforpervasivetransformationadditionallypreventsbusinessesfromrealizingthemaximumpotentialoftheirtechnologyinvestments.

Siloed Implementation Shadow IT Disparate Capabilities Lack of Transformation Vision

8Achieving Long-term Customer Loyalty with a Holistic Approach to Communications Transformation

THE RIGHT FIT FOR DISTRIBUTED MID-MARKET BUSINESSES PURSUING IMPROVED CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIPSMID-MARKET BUSINESS NEEDS AND TECHNOLOGY REQUIREMENTSIntensifyingcompetitionandraisedcustomerexpectationspressuremid-marketbusinessestoseekprofoundbusinesstransformationthatenhancescustomervalueandkeepscustomersloyal.Similartotheirlargercounterparts,mid-marketbusinessesmustdeployadvanceddigitaltechnologiestogainagility,operationalefficienciesandcompetitiveadvantages.

UNIQUE MID-MARKET CHALLENGESHowever,smallerITbudgetsandstaffinhibitmid-marketbusinesses’abilitytoinvestinandeffectivelymanagemultiplebest-of-breedsolutionsontheirpremises.Duetotheirinadequatecapacitytohandlelarge,compleximplementationsandintegrations,mid-marketbusinessesarebestsuitedforsolutionsrequiringminimalcustomizationanddeliveringmultiplecustomerexperiencemanagementcapabilitiesinasingleplatform.

THE VALUE OF INTEGRATED CLOUD SERVICES PLATFORMSIntegratedcloudservicescomprisedofcommunications,collaboration,contactcenter,CRMandanalyticspresentthebestfitforcompaniesinthissegmentbecauseofthecost,productivityandotherbenefits.Openandflexiblecloud-basedsolutionscanbetailoredtoeachuniquebusinessandusecase,andintegratedintoworkflowsforgreaterefficienciesandvaluetothebusiness,employeesandcustomersalike—withoutstrainingmid-marketbusinesses’ budgets.

THE RIGHT PARTNERAproviderofferingreliableandsecureintegratedcloudservicesandwithastrongfocusoncustomerexcellenceisbestpositionedtoaddresstheneedsofmid-marketbusinessespursuingdigitaltransformation.

Despite challenges MID-MARKET BUSINESSES CAN BE MORE AGILE compared to their

enterprise counterparts

SuccessfulTransformationImplementation

Relativelysmall size

Fewerculturalbarriers

Less complex infrastructures to

account for, integrate and

manage

Less rigid functional structures

9Achieving Long-term Customer Loyalty with a Holistic Approach to Communications Transformation

A STRUCTURED APPROACH TO CLOUD MIGR ATION IS REQUIRED FOR LONG-TERM SUCCESSCustomervalueenhancementmustserveastheprimaryguidingprinciplewhenmakingcloudcommunicationsandcontactcenteradoptiondecisions.Tooptimizethereturnoncloudsolutioninvestments,mid-marketbusinessesmustdevelopholisticcloudmigrationvisionsandstrategiesthatspantheentireITandtelecomdomains.

• Suchbusinessesmustalsointegrate cloud communications and contact center solutions with important workflowstoensuregreateremployeeproductivity,organizationalresponsiveness,animprovedcustomerjourney,andmoretangiblebusiness outcomes.

• Integrated CRMcapabilitiescanhelpsignificantlyreduceoverallsolutioncostsandoptimizeinvestmentvalue.

• Analytics toolsmustbekeyelementsofcloudtechnologyinvestmentandadoptionstrategiesasmeanstomoreeffectivelymanagedeploymentsandmonitorbusinessimpact.

• Outbound marketing and survey features offer much-neededcompetitiveadvantagestobusinesseslookingtorevamptheircustomeroutreachandsupportcapabilities.

• Effective change management and a profound cultural shift arecriticaltomaximizecloudservicesadoptionbenefitsandtransformfromafunction-orientedtoacustomer-orientedorganization. Source: Frost & Sullivan

Deployment success requires businesses toFOLLOW SEVERAL KEY STEPS when moving their

communications and customer contact solutions to the cloud

User and organizational

needs assessment IT and communications roadmap vision

Broad stakeholder

buy-in

Solution and provider due

diligence

Usage policy creation

User adoption

incentives

Usage monitoring

and analysis

Ongoing support

Investment/technology roadmap

adjustment

10Achieving Long-term Customer Loyalty with a Holistic Approach to Communications Transformation

CALL TO ACTION: TR ANSFORM TO THRIVEIntegrated Cloud Platforms Enable Distributed Mid-market Businesses to Overcome Unique Challenges

Asustainableapproachtotechnologydeploymentandevolutioniscriticaltoensurethattechnologyinvestmentsdelivertangibleoutcomes,suchasgreatercustomersatisfactionandimprovedrevenuesandprofitmargins.Keymandatesformid-marketbusinessesonadigitaltransformationpathinclude:

• Acknowledgetheneedtoadoptrich communications, contact center, CRM, sophisticated analytics and solution management toolstobuildastrongbrandandimprovecustomersatisfactionandloyalty.

• Plantospendwiselyonsolutions that fit multiple purposes.

• Centertechnologyevolutionstrategiesonenablingaholistic view of the customerandcustomer-relatedprocessesacrossallfunctionswithintheorganization.

• Align communications and customer-care solution upgrades withkeybusinessobjectivesandthefundamentalgoalofenhancingcustomervalue.

• Foster a cultural evolutiontobecomecustomer-centricorganizations,wherebyemployeesinallrolesandfunctionsparticipateincustomervaluecreation.

• Deployintegratedcloudplatformsthatdelivertherequiredcapabilitiesmore flexibly and economicallytodaywhilecreatingthefoundationforadditionalfeaturesandservices,asneeded,inthefuture.

• Choose the right cloud services partner—intermsofservicesportfolio,customerfocusandoverallviability—toensureasuccessfuldigitaltransformationjourney.

Source: Frost & Sullivan

Top UCaaS PROVIDER SELECTION CRITERIAUnited States, 2018

Reliable service

Security

Good user interface

Cost per seat

Collaboration tools

Contact center functionalities

Open standards and interoperabilitywith third-party solutions

Technology evolution roadmap

Broad technology portfolio thatallows for one-stop shopping

Other

Expertise in systemintegration and deployment

Scalability

53%

52%

47%

41%

28%

17%

15%

13%

11%

10%

7%

5%

N = 127

11

Frost&Sullivan,theGrowthPartnershipCompany,worksincollaborationwithclientstoleveragevisionaryinnovationthataddressestheglobalchallengesandrelatedgrowthopportunities thatwillmakeorbreaktoday’smarketparticipants.Formore than50years,wehavebeendevelopinggrowthstrategies for theGlobal1000,emergingbusinesses, thepublicsectorandthe investmentcommunity. Isyourorganizationpreparedforthenextprofoundwaveofindustryconvergence,disruptivetechnologies,increasingcompetitiveintensity,MegaTrends,breakthroughbestpractices,changingcustomerdynamicsandemergingeconomies?

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