Launching a cloud application proposition Five steps to success
More and more large corporate brands are promoting cloud applications to their small business customers. But many are finding that their customers aren t getting the most out of these services and this means the opportunity is limited. Here, we set out five steps essential for getting your customers to try out your cloud application proposition, and to ultimately regard it as indispensable.
step one Understand your objectives There are many reasons why small businesses should find cloud applications useful and why you would want to offer them to your customers. Being absolutely clear about your objectives allows you to pick the right partners and choose the right launch strategy Your main objective might be one or a combination of these: to improve your customers overall satisfaction with your service; to increase the income you get from each customer; to deepen the relationship you have with your customers; or to improve your own reputation. This means you need to think very carefully about the design of your proposition right from the start what kinds of partners to work with, how many applications to offer, how to price the proposition and position it alongside your existing services, and how to promote and support it. Being absolutely clear about your objectives allows you to pick the right partners and choose the right launch strategy.
step two Make things as painless as possible for your customers More than a third of small business owners work more than 50 hours a week. They ve got little time to work out what types of applications they need and to go out and find the best ones suited to their business. So you need to do the heavy lifting for them. This means you must first know your small business customers inside out what makes them tick and what their specific needs are. When it comes to the cloud applications, you need to understand different factors, such as how and when in the business lifecycle your customers buy them, how often they use them, and at what times of the day. Only then can you set about designing your cloud services platform and bringing together the right applications. Remember, you need to remove as many barriers to take-up as possible by supporting your customers at every stage of the process. You must first know your small business customers inside out what makes them tick and what their specific needs are
step three Integrate your cloud platform with existing services Take-up of cloud services can be up to 40% if those services are integrated with existing ones Don t give your customers an excuse to ignore your new services the more you integrate them with your core services, the more your customers are likely to try them out. What they think of as core today could look very different tomorrow. For example, we ve found that the take-up of cloud services can be up to 40% if those services are integrated with existing ones. Presentation is very important, especially as there are different ways to package applications together. And offering discounts if more services are taken works particularly well. Extending your core proposition by adding new applications can also make your customers feel better about the overall service they re getting. For example, having taken one particular package of online applications, customers were 14% more likely to say their account manager showed active interest in their business, and 18% more likely to recommend their account manager.
step four Make the most of every interaction with your customers work out exactly what your customer interactions are and tailor the way you raise awareness of your cloud application proposition at each opportunity Large corporate brands have many points of contact with their customers. Once you understand exactly what these interactions are, and tailor the way you raise awareness of your cloud application proposition at each opportunity. By engaging your customers in this way, you ll be able to deepen the relationship you have with them. When customers open a new account, phone the call centre, view a transaction online, or just launch their web browser, you ve got a chance to tell them about the services you offer. Make sure you do as effectively as possible. This means, among other things, you must train your staff properly. They need to understand what the cloud applications you offer are, why these applications will benefit small businesses, and why it s in their own interests to promote them. Make sure you adopt industry best practises and support to ensure the most effective implementation.
step five Get your customers hooked within 90 days Making a welcome phone call can increase take-up by 60%, and sending helpful, tailored emails by more than 40% From the first time a customer takes a look at your cloud application proposition, the clock starts ticking. You need them to achieve something genuinely useful, perhaps something as simple as drawing up their first invoice, as quickly as possible. If they don t, there s a greater chance they ll cancel. Not only will you then lose the ongoing revenue from the sale, but your customer might also start to question your commitment to supporting them. So think about how you welcome them to the proposition in the first place. For example, we ve found that making a welcome phone call can increase take-up by 60%, and sending helpful, tailored emails by more than 40%. And then there s training, either in the classroom or online. We found that this relatively small investment led to a marked increase in customer lifetime value.
The important thing to remember is that taking a comprehensive approach will lead to the most successful outcome. You can t just set up a platform and expect your customers to flock to it. Thought and insight beforehand will definitely pay off and consideration of these five steps should help. facebook.com/businesscentricservicesgroup twitter.com/bcsgcloud linkedin.com/company/bcsg www.bcsg.com enquiries@bcsg.com 0845 880 8820 2014 BCSG