Communicating with customers and prospects is essential for business success. CPaaS, or Communication Platform as a Service, offers a way to leverage a business’s existing customer applications into a unified strategy of communication. Being cloud based, it is designed to operate the same way as your customers and to support multiple communication channels with seamless continuity across them all.
This mimics how people communicate today. From SMS messaging to messenger apps, social media and more, we hold conversations across multiple platforms every day. CPaaS aims to provide that same continuity across all platforms for customers.
Why is that important?
Maintaining contact with customers is becoming increasingly important while the need to maintain brand connections is also on the rise. With people seeing more and more targeted ads and other marketing materials every day, having regular connection with previous, current, and prospective customers is crucial in maintaining buisness growth.
There are many advantages to the CPaaS approach, especially that it offers a cost efficiency that more traditional communication solutions cannot match. Moreover, by having so many communication channels, brand awareness is achieved without a sense of overload, providing messaging exactly where the customer is looking for it.
Reliable and effective communication as often as the customer wants, on the communication channels they prefer, can showcase how CPaaS can benefit businesses. But the advantage in the communication process is only part of it. By adopting CPaaS, businesses enjoys significant benefits too.
With systems such as chatbots and other automated responses, communications can run 24/7 and always be there when the consumer needs, without the costs of deploying a full service and support solution. CPaaS automation and cloud-based technology means it is always there when a customer needs it, all for a simple monthly payment. The days of hiring large teams or the expense of using third party solutions are gone, as all can be handled quickly, easily, and in a more affordable in-house manner with a single CPaaS system.
In addition to all the above, as a subscription service, a CPaaS system is provided with full support. No additional service plans, and businesses only need to pay for the solutions they use. This means that the system is completely scalable, and can grow with a business, always having the additional resources and tools available when needed. With CPaaS, each business enjoys a fully tailored solution designed to meet their specific needs today and in the future.
Seamless Integration
No matter how effective communication strategies are, they will not have the desired effect if they are difficult to implement. The beauty of CPaaS is that it can be integrated with existing CSM systems and other customer service tools already in use, ensuring that your business makes the most of the data and insights provided by it.
The result? Fast adoption, seamless function in conjunction with existing work processes, and of course the automation that always delivers exceptional customer experiences. The ability to maintain communication using a variety of platforms and formats, everything from chatbots to video for instance, also means that a CPaaS system is flexible enough to meet future needs too, whatever they may be. As communication trends evolve, the CPaaS system can evolve with them, always adapting to the most appropriate communications platforms.
Multiple Platform Communications
Any discussion of CPaaS involves the concept of multiple communication channels, but what does that mean in practice?
CPaaS can be used to power SMS communications, voice messages for incoming, or outgoing calls and video responses. It can also be used for conversational channels, including AI driven chatbots, Facebook Messenger, Apple messages and WhatsApp. It can also respond to direct messaging on social media and automate responses across accounts.
In short, if there is a way for a customer to connect with your business, CPaaS can enable it.
CPaaS Applications
With such a flexible system that offers exceptional communication flexibility across so many different channels, the way it can be used is almost endless.
Marketing
You can broaden marketing opportunities almost overnight by implementing a CPaaS strategy. From subscriber only offers for an opt in email list, to loyalty programs, there are endless ways you can promote your latest products or simply provide a constant reminder for the brand.
It doesn’t stop here, CPaaS is perfect for value added services. Studies have shown that almost 70% of online shopping carts are abandoned before checkout, but with CPaaS you can overcome that problem. Automated communications to remind someone of items added to cart but not bought are a great way to increase sales, and this could be done in several ways. Whether email or an app notification or SMS, you can reconnect with a customer with ease.
Customer service
Probably the most common application for CPaaS solutions is customer service. From an AI driven chatbot to automated phone, email, or text responses, you can provide the instant feedback that customers are looking for without extensive investment in a large CS team.
Today, consumers always expect fast responses to questions or issues, and a system that gets back to them within a day is simply going to lose customer and build poor brand reputation. CPaaS can provide that immediate solution across multiple channels that engages with the customer and more.
It is not just dealing with problems, from reminding a car owner of their next service to automated appointment reminders in the healthcare industry, there are several ways you can add value to your service with CPaaS.
Business Support
The CPaaS system can be used internally too, adding communications to your CRM that automatically generates sales lead information, product information requests or any other scenarios. CPaaS is an invaluable tool that can refine business processes and boost productivity.
Conclusion
CPaaS systems bring your communications into the 21st century. They power the modern, connected communication strategies that today’s consumers expect. Allowing efficient and automated messaging across the multiple channels customers may use, a CPaaS solution offers a seamlessly integrated and highly effective approach to maintaining consumer connections in every aspect of the business.