Five Steps for Meeting Your CCM Challenges in 2022
The start of the New Year provides an opportunity to set goals for the year ahead that will keep your business current and competitive. When it comes to customer communications management (CCM), one thing that has been made clear in the past 24 months is the need to continue to find ways to streamline processes and consolidate steps to meet the evolving demands of today’s business environment. COVID-19 has impacted almost everything we do, including how we communicate with our customers. For example, 2020 and 2021 challenged organizations to find ways to implement a swift and necessary adoption of mobile and digital interactions to ensure consistent communications with customers. Suddenly, digital transformation was no longer something “to think about.” It was a mandate.
Unfortunately, the challenges brought on by the pandemic for companies continue. With a record number of people leaving their jobs in 2021, document professionals are now having to navigate the ripple effects of this in 2022 and re-evaluate ways to develop and implement systems that are not people-dependent. While larger companies with legacy CCM platforms have been investing in automating systems for years, many of these systems have been cost-prohibitive for smaller to mid-size companies. The good news is there is affordable, modular software on the market today that automates the tracking of jobs, notifications, composition, reporting, online payments and email capability within reach of almost every budget.
That means businesses with production not fully automated can still improve efficiencies without huge investments in new equipment or software solutions. The key is to view the production cycle as a whole, focusing on where to establish your own best practices for a smoother workflow between the various functions; seeking quicker ways to get the job done and eliminating manual steps while maintaining and even improving accuracy.
- Engage team members from different business areas to identify pain points and areas that need triage. Look for opportunities to provide more training and leverage current software.
- If the current software cannot meet the current demands, prioritize your needs and begin mapping out the new processes.
- After identifying the bottlenecks and process issues, put together a list of must-haves, like-to-haves and maybe-in-the-future features.
- Evaluate the ROI, cost savings and market benefit of the list you identified in number three. For example, electronic payment and presentment have become a must-have since the pandemic left many businesses without a way to receive online payment. Implementing a robust EBPP solution allows your clients the option to accept payments and send bills via mail, online, SMS or email.
- Discuss with potential providers what plans there are for future development. Look for a partner that does not only sell the solutions you need but also assists in implementation and planning.
