Business has always been about the customer, but it wasn’t until the 1990s when the internet enabled increased customer data tracking that the idea of the customer experience journey emerged. With this new shopping option, it was possible to access all manner of data that tracked customer actions, interactions, purchases, and more.
The customer experience journey is a prime focus for companies today, resulting in additional investment in customer service with higher returns. Investing in the right ERP software solution is a prime opportunity to increase operational efficiency and enhance customer loyalty. Take a look at how it works.
AI-Enabled ERPs Support Always-On Communication
According to a study by Deloitte, 92 percent of organizations that view customer experience as a differentiator offer multiple contact channels. With artificial intelligence (AI) comes new ways of retrieving information through voice and text-enabled chatbots. These chatbots can answer and even predict customer queries, automating customer service to free up resources in the business. For example, sales managers can make inquiries such as stock availability around the clock and from across the world, during standard work hours, or not. As a result, customers can expect always-on service delivery.
Human Interaction Is Still Key
AI and machine learning enable quicker analysis and decision making by learning from the past through applying algorithms and statistics to historical data. These patterns reveal trends and predict future outcomes, resulting in actionable insights for real people to proactively manage customer relationships. While chatbots allow for a level of flexibility and always-on customer access, they can’t replace the human element. Human interaction should still be at the core of your customer relations strategy.
Customers Want It All, and They Want It Faster
Whether you’re a small-scale factory or a large-scale multinational network, a vital part of improved customer experience is having visibility across your entire supply chain. With this visibility, you can offer customers quicker response time and access to products where and when required.
The right ERP software solution can allow you to connect and monitor every facet of your business. It can assist with the reduction of planning cycles, timely delivery of products, maintaining minimal on-hand stock, enhancing production scheduling, and automatically generating and managing purchase orders. This means the ability to deliver a better product to market faster and gain the competitive advantage. Businesses that can anticipate demand as well as build and participate in strong supply chains have a substantial edge over those that do not.
Customers Demand Real Change
According to Nielsen’s recent global sustainability report, 81 percent of respondents feel strongly that companies should help improve the environment. Customers will show preference toward manufacturers who are part of the circular economy, supporting the reuse of resources and decrease in waste. In the circular economy, each end-of-life product becomes a new resource rather than being discarded. It recognizes the value of waste items, repurposing them as alternative resources that can be used again and again in a circular goods cycle.
With customers demanding that companies now operate according to a bigger purpose, the practice of sustainability also impacts the customer experience journey. Sophisticated technology such as ERP software solutions should be used to store and converge all types of operational data to optimize the green outcome.
Take Customer Experience to the Next Level With an ERP Solution From ASI
While customer expectations and business strategies have certainly changed over the past ten years, the good news is that the right technology is available to address their unique needs and deliver on the end-goal. With a customer experience strategy that integrates an ERP software solution, your business will be poised to offer customers not just a product, but an entire seamless experience.
Not sure where to start with an ERP solution? At Accounting Solutions, Inc., we empower you to focus on what you do best—your business—by getting you the software solutions you need to support your organization. For more than 30 years, we’ve been helping businesses get the products, services, and support they need to run the most successful ERP integrations and build a strong foundation for growth and profitability.
See how we can leverage our expertise for your business success. Contact one of our software specialists now.