By José Acuña, President of Infomedia Service
Digital technologies have driven a paradigm shift in the way services are provided and consumed. We know it, we experience it.
Today, data networks, digital tools and platforms allow service providers to transform the ways in which they interact and sell to their customers, as well as expand their markets, more and more easily and quickly.
We are living more and more in a two-way reality for companies, where digital tools and platforms help them access online resources, such as training, government services and talent, and similarly deliver more sophisticated and fast services with high personalization.
Likewise, consumers can currently benefit from obtaining services faster due to more accessible and varied channels, finding that the digitization of services can reduce transaction costs compared to analog.
It's a win-win for everyone. A study by the expert Raúl Katz, PhD and Director of Business Strategy Research at the Columbia Institute for Tele-Information of the Columbia Business School, estimated that an increase of 10 points in the digitization index of countries results in an increase of 0,59 .13% of GDP per capita. And the presence of the Internet in homes is related to an increase in their per capita income between 20% and XNUMX%.
That is why it is so important to continue advancing in the levels of digital transformation, and move from the digitization of processes, highly concentrated in the core of companies or in unconnected operations between end customers and internal processes, to a broader vision that allows through new technologies integrate and automate tasks that respond to interaction with customers, providing a fast and more competitive service.
With the speed of networks and online access by applications in hand through a cell phone, expectations have also increased both in terms of products and services, as well as customer experience: Has the company effectively addressed my needs and requests? We are talking about the need for technological transformations of the business centered on people, on the user experience, on the customer's journey, for which the evaluation of the customer's characteristics through the analysis of their digital data and online profile makes all the difference.
Or to be more exact at this point: how well do I know my client now?
Until recently, it was thought that the best formula to know a user was passwords and a profile based on basic data, but this system is increasingly vulnerable to the increase in cyberattacks, today we understand that it is also a waste to detonate a service and attention experience that can be more complete and meaningful. Many companies are already implementing digital identity systems as the entry point for endless functions, generating greater trust for the parties and minimizing friction in the use of services.
This entry point in the course of the digitalization of services capitalizes on the fact that today more and more customer and user data are measured and known, and that the knowledge acquired from this data optimizes processes and operating procedures, satisfies the wishes consumers, discover trends, new market and business opportunities, or create targeted marketing and deepen customer relationships, which in turn, thanks to artificial intelligence and machine learning, supports the creation of new products, as well as new business models.
When we talk about the digitization of services, the intelligent orientation of the offer is key to increasing customer satisfaction, impacting their experience without increasing friction but improving security in the interaction, and achieving this balance is what increases purchase intent and customer loyalty.
The German consultancy expert in digitization Bitkom Research, identifies customer satisfaction as the most important factor that the reduction of costs in general when assuming this new paradigm of services. And for this, the customer journey and path in the purchase decision process is a gold mine for data analysis. Every action, every interaction and every reaction can be captured and evaluated, thus personalizing the service client by client.
Now, it is important to bear in mind that the digitization of services includes, among other issues, investment in technology to improve and speed up internal and external processes. An Accenture study found that investments in digitalization generate ROI in approximately one year and the return on capital increases by 15%, if they are executed correctly, which implies having a strategic and expert partner on this path.
In an analysis last December, Mike Ellis, an expert in Big Data and Workflow, said that “The effects of the transformation of services can be far-reaching, going beyond the objective of digitizing operations”, With which I agree 100%, and the key is data, digital identity, process automation and omnichannel, a mix that allows technology to be monetized by making it part of the business or the business itself, one more added value in this step that companies must take in any market.
Main Image: John schnobrich (Unsplash)
