Changing the customer engagement game with ERP

Out of one economic challenge and into another – or so it feels like for many businesses and consumers right now. 

While we know that despite recent turbulent times, mid-market businesses across Australia and New Zealand are feeling more confident about the months ahead than their SME counterparts, it's certainly not a time for any business to fall into complacency. 

This is particularly the case when it comes to how businesses approach both their existing and their new customer relationships and interactions. In this climate especially, deliberate and actionable strategies to enhance the customer experience should be at the top of the to do list. 

That said, customer engagement isn't just about great in-person service and communication – it's about a streamlined customer experience across a range of touch points. Fortunately, with increased digitisation and increased uplift in the use of intelligent and connected ERP systems, improving customer experiences and engagement doesn't have to be difficult. 

So why should investing in ERP be at the forefront of improving your customer engagement? We've rounded up a few reasons for you. 

Improving accuracy and access 

A personalised experience is a crucial part of any sound customer experience strategy, and you can't provide this if personal details are wrong. A cloud ERP platform with integrated CRM means that all customer information is not only accurate and up-to-date, but is consistent across the entire business. 

Not only does this eliminate the risk of errors that lead to a negative experience with your business, but also makes it easier for multiple employees to work with the same customers – the knowledge no longer sits precariously with just one person! Plus, accurate information that can give teams a true picture of a customer offers more opportunity to upsell or increase sales through quick identification of new or changing needs.  

Faster identification of risks 

Staying across exactly what's happening in the business is critical in order to be able to adapt your customer communications and engagement at any given moment. The more your business leaders know the day-to-day details and overarching trends, the more capable they will be in identifying risks and opportunities early. 

A modern, connected ERP solution, like the MYOB Advanced platform, can deliver real-time reporting and visibility that empowers quick thinking and data-driven decision making. Aside from tracking customer complaints or even anomalies in their activity, business owners are able to see churn risks and identify areas for improvement in your customer experience to improve retention, trust and overall engagement. 

Personalisation of communications channels

Accuracy is one key component in personalisation, and another component here is how communications are delivered through engagement channels. Customers now expect businesses to be able to deliver an experience that matches their preferences and reaches them through different touchpoints.  

Integrated information flowing through your systems provide an opportunity to really target messaging based on customer activity and connect with these customers across various channels. The experience in turn drives more valuable conversations in relation to the purchase stage of the customer and ensures a consistent cross-channel experience. 

Leveraging the cloud 

Last but certainly not least, customer engagement can be significantly improved by the benefits of cloud technology. 

For business management and ERP platforms that are cloud-based, not only is the need for intensive manual work or analysis removed, but teams can check information relating to a customer anywhere at any time – whether it's in an office, on a work site or even in a meeting with that customer. 

Similarly, there's also a lot to be said for simplifying the flow of information by empowering and enabling customers themselves to update information and check the status of projects using self-service tools available in ERP. This cuts down on lags or errors in information and gives people more time to spend on more valuable, in-depth engagement with customers. 

The capabilities ERP offers by way of real-time visibility, depth of customer insight and the ability to access, update and share business information whenever and wherever it's needed, is a gamechanger for growing positive customer relationships. 

In a business environment battling supply chain issues, employment challenges, rising costs and increasing competition, it's easy for some to put investment into improving customer engagement in the 'too hard basket'. But, it's because of these challenges that customer relationships and the outcomes generated by strengthening these are more important than ever to top and bottom lines. 

With MYOB's Bold Ambition report earlier this year showing ERP and CRM solutions both rank in the top five for mid-market enterprises looking to invest in improving their business management technology, those putting customer relationship technology in the 'too hard basket' risk not only missing significant growth opportunities, but losing customers to the competition.