BUZZZZ : MULTI-CHANNEL & OMNI-CHANNEL

BUZZZZ : MULTI-CHANNEL & OMNI-CHANNEL

BUZZ WORD BINGO!!! Yes, I have been in multiple meetings where I hear the big buzz words mentioned above. In fact, a colleague of mine reckons we should be given score cards and check off the amount of times that the above are mentioned.  As much as I'm not a "buzz word" person...I always take into account the words and phrases that actually mean something. To anyone in the IT game, I'll be surprised if you haven't run into the above buzz words.

As a CRM person, I kinda think that things like "Multi Channel" and "Omni Channel" should be important. why? well its simple...

Loads of us use mobile devices... we constantly communicate through email, Whatsapp, Facebook, Phone calls and direct web page interaction. We are ALWAYS communicating with one another and loads of businesses. We are living a multichannel life every day. Without knowing it... we are communicating with people and businesses across various channels from a single device!

WHAAAT? YOU MEAN.... that businesses out there are open to chatting to me on channels such as Twitter? Well, Yes! yes they are! A number of businesses now a days are able to view and action a complaint (apparently now called a 'moan') or manage a piece of feedback through any feed or channel you are most comfortable. 

This means that you, as a consumer, are able to call, email, text, web chat, web interact, socially interact, smoke signal and potentially even carrier pigeon a number of businesses AND you can expect a response!

I don't know about you, but that sounds awesome....I actually recently experienced it with an insurance company here in the UK. Truly epic customer service across several channels. I went onto the web and read up about their offering, I filled out the form, web chatted the agent, called in to change some info and then left them an epic comment on Facebook just because they were great. I have since received notification emails and SMS's from them (I chose these as my preferred channel on registration) regarding cross sell offerings and general information.

Now, when I say "a number" of businesses, I use that term very loosely. Only a handful of companies have the ability to deal with you, as a consumer, over your desired channel. Hence the idea and identification of multi channel!

This is where it gets cool!.... prepare for levels of awesome that are unfathomable! OMNI CHANNEL! Omni channel is the ability to consolidate the multichannel communication into one singular customer journey which customers and users become both attuned and accustomed to. Moving from phone to email, to web interaction.... and all of this being tracked, monitored and stored against a single customer record or view.

Imagine calling into a customer service department as an existing customer... where they recognise you number, are able to tell you everything about the contract / service you have with them, and then hand you off to another department.... THAT DOESNT HAVE TO ASK YOU FOR YOUR DETAILS AGAIN! PLUS... they understand all of your interaction history. You are then able to end the call and interact with an agent over web chat, social, etc... who understands exactly what you have just requested and how to best help you.

THAT... Makes customer service better... THAT... makes MY consumer experience better!
When I call your company, I want to expect you to recognise who I am and where I have been (providing I am an existing customer). I want the agent on the other end of the phone or "channel" to understand my history and help me in a manner that best suites me.

MS Dynamics CRM helps businesses by offering various elements of the "Multi channel & Omni Channel" components. Dynamics just allows you, as an organisation, to bring it all together and manage your customer journeys effectively... IN A SINGLE CUSTOMER VIEW! Track interactions, activities and core information, which will allow your agents to have the "next best conversation" with the customer.

BOOM!

I dont care what people say on Social Media!

I don't care what people say on Social Media!!!!

Yes I understand the concept that some people don't have twitter and Facebook accounts and I get the fact that some people are just too busy to maintain some sort of social presence. That's totally awesome. This post isn't to market the idea of having one.... This post is to try and get people that don't need or want social media to understand that us plebs do have such accounts, and we communicate and express ourselves via these accounts all the time! Hashtag smileyface awesooommmmeeee! 

What is social media? Do you know what it actually is? Ladies and gents.... why do you communicate with one another via social media? Why do you tell everyone that the coffee shop down the road is really terrible? or why do you compliment that really awesome hotel on their amazing service? What is this need to reach out? Why do we do it?

Well the answer is because our opinions matter! People actually care what we say. Well the ones that are engaged do...

So here's my theory... Jim, Thabo, Suzi, Mpho, Frikkie, who ever you are and who ever you think you are... you have an opinion. We are a generation of opinionated people! We think, feel and express what our emotions are. If we don't like something, by Moses and the great and almighty badger, we say it. "NO DUDE, I think that drink is really bad, Make it again"!!

When we feel and absorb things, we post... Why, because we want to be modern day Vasco Da Gamas'. We want to explore, discover and note what we do! We want to leave a mark somewhere, regardless of where it is, we need it.

Have you ever seen those old school tags under a bridge? "PIMP WAS HERE"... yes he was! how do you know? because he put that tag there!! Ever wonder why he did that? Rebellion? defacing of public property? maybe? I don't know.... but it has a dam story!

Now days, we post all over the internet because we think our opinion matters! AND... IT DAM WELL DOES!

My snoogs and droogs (try figure out the reference) we just want to leave our mark. And interestingly enough, Microsoft have said... YES!!! Do it, leave your mark... your opinion

matters.

All our complaints and well used cuss words can be watched and aggregated in a single system, where people...wait for it.... CAN RESPOND TO YOU!!! wow... hit me with a dead ferret and call me Susan, you mean to tell me that all the stuff I say on the net, people can see and they care. <P> Yes </P> (Figure that one out)

The aggregation and management of what we say and how we say it is important to business. Even the smallest, and most insignificant post can change the perception of a business!

Imagine Gordon Ramsey tweeted that "Restaurant A is really terrible".... would you go there? Circles of influence my friends. Its all important... My Facebook buddies that think because you have 10 contacts you are insignificant.. YOU ARE NOT!!! You are so important!

Check this out:

EVERYONE makes a difference!!

If you don't care what people say about your business on social media then maybe you should hop on your TRex and gallop off into the sun set... Because there are people out there that care and want to be cared about. If you don't want to do it then someone else will!

Business, what are you going to do about this? As they say in the movie Hackers (greatest movie of all time) "snoop onto them... as they snoop onto us"!! Be PROACTIVE RATHER THAN REACTIVE! understand your customers needs through Dynamics social engagement!

The end!

BOOM! and an ice cream cone!

PS heres a pic of a funny cat because social media is awesome!

Dynamics CRM Deployment Models Vs. Drinking a Beer

Recently I have been involved in various RFPs that have involved multiple elements of complexity and have required extensive research and thought regarding answers that we provided.

In every single RFP questions regarding deployment models and architecture are always asked. Which is better? CRM on Prem. or cloud? What will work best for us? Please explain the differences between all the deployment models...


Now before I start explaining Dynamics CRM

deployment models and diving into
architectures, I would like to state that after these types of very strenuous RFP processes, I generally like to unwind in a pub and give my poor brain a rest. After several beers I'm generally churning information and coming up with bright ideas for blog articles, along with texting the wife to let her know that I'm most likely going to be late.

This exact idea stemmed from one of these pub visits. I was reminded of a conversation I had had with a work colleague years ago in South Africa. I ran it past my current kung-foo master of sales, Mr. Stuart "No Code" Cassie, who has since collaborated with me on such concepts as comparing drinking beer to Dynamics CRM deployment models. So for those of you with a sense of humour, I encourage you to read on.

When asked deployment model related questions by people with a lesser understanding of Dynamics CRM, it’s always a bit tough to get them excited about how it all works. In order to relay this message in a creative and understandable manner, the 4 brilliant booze based comparative scenarios have been generated:


On Premise:

Like drinking beer at your own pub, which is a free house. You are responsible for choosing the beer, keeping it cold and for serving the beer. If you run out of beer, it’s your fault. Sometimes you will want to repair a fridge or stock up beer late at night, but your supplier will not be available. You may also require a beer at a random hour.... Choose your landlord carefully!!

Dynamics CRM On Premises deployments require an internal infrastructure that will support the solution that you have selected. Your internal IT department will be responsible for maintaining this infrastructure and making sure all works correctly all the time. If anything breaks that is out of their control, your supplier will need to help you resolve the issues.

 

 

Partner Hosted:

Like drinking beer at someone else’s’ pub, on a tab. They are responsible for keeping the beer cold and for the beer stock. But you choose the type of beer you want to drink from their long list, and if you decide that if you want some pork scratching's and ready salted crisps, they will get some for you and add it to the tab. If you don’t want to drink beer any more, you can leave… but you still have to pay your tab. If a fridge breaks or beer runs out, they are responsible for making sure all is in order.

Dynamics CRM partner hosted deployments are hosted within the partners internal hosting infrastructure. The partner will be responsible for maintaining the infrastructure and service as well as supplying any extra components that may be needed.

 


Cloud (Online):

Like drinking beer directly from a pub located in the brewery grounds of your choice, but you pay per beer OR you can have a tab! You can leave when you feel like it. The beer is ALWAYS cold and it never runs out. You can have as much beer as you want! Service is normally really great... If the beer stops for any reason, they will apologise and provide some free beer to make it up to you :)

Hosting Dynamics CRM in the Microsoft Cloud guarantees great service, no internal infrastructure requirements and the ability to add or remove components based on requirements. This is a monthly investment and more simple to implement than any other deployment model.

 

Private Cloud:

Like drinking beer in a private box owned by the brewery at the Rugby or football – service is top notch, beer is always available in any quantity you choose but don’t expect much change left in your pocket at the end of the day

Private cloud deployments rely on Azure virtual servers hosted in the cloud. These are dedicated servers that contain only software and functionality relevant to your deployment. These types of deployments guarantee great service because they are hosted in the Microsoft cloud. They offer excellent flexibility and the ability to manage, to an extent, your own environments.

Whether you are installing Dynamics CRM or deciding on a pub, all options have their pros and their cons regardless of what you choose. Some customers are more focused on saving money whereas other customers are more focused on private, internally manageable solutions.

As you can see from the above descriptions, drinking beer can be equated to Dynamics CRM deployment models. I hope that this has both enlightened you and given you a bit of a laugh... it certainly was interesting to write. Thanks to Stuart for your vital input :)