CMOs Should Choose the Communication Platforms

Traditionally, it’s the chief information officer (CIO) that decides what technology to buy. However, for cloud communication and collaboration platforms, the chief marketing officer (CMO) should have a seat at the decision-making table as well.

Without input from marketing, your business could overlook critical data that could impact purchasing decisions. You also won’t have on-the-ground insights on how your new tech should help with everything from better channel management to customer experience.

CMO involvement can make the difference between finding a perfect fit for your company’s growth and falling flat with your cloud communications purchase. Let’s look at what happens when CMOs have a voice in choosing communications and collaboration technology.

In a Customer-Centric World, Marketing Is the Heart of Business Growth

We’ve long known the potential value marketing brings – in 2017, the Forbes CMO Practice report revealed that marketing can contribute over 50 percent of a firm’s value. But this can only happen when C-suite empowers marketing teams with the right tools. And this can only happen when the CIO and CMO recognize their shared goal: better customer experience.

In the past, CMOs and CIOs weren’t always on the same page in terms of business priorities. CIOs focus on optimizing technology costs and ensuring a secure implementation. For CMOs, the goal is to work toward the best customer experience possible across all channels.

According to the Forrester report, CMO-CIO Collaboration: Resolving the Paradox, only 12 percent of marketing decision-makers at B2B brands and 16 percent at B2C brands view CIOs and CMOs as strategic partners in making technology decisions to support business goals.

To Boost Revenue, CIOs and CMOs Must Align

The problem with this is, things have changed. Thanks to society’s shift to digital, customers have more tools for engagement and buying decision research. Armed with more information and access to myriad channels – social media, email, internet search, SMS, and more – consumers today are savvier and have higher expectations.

According to the PwC study, Experience Is Everything, over half of consumers say they will pay more for a product if it comes with a speedy and efficient customer experience. And 73 percent said CX impacts their feelings of brand loyalty.

Today, successful companies are prioritizing customer experience to boost sales, brand loyalty, and customer satisfaction. Essentially, it’s through good CX that your company can bring in more revenue. As such, both IT leaders and marketing leaders should be motivated to adopt communication and collaboration platforms that empower marketing and sales to make better CX a reality.

How Cloud Communications and Collaboration Tools Boost CX

With the right cloud communication and collaboration tools, employees can deliver a more seamless experience to customers. And, they can do it while working from wherever. With input from the CMO, IT decision-makers can have a clearer view of the features, integrations, and functionality that both marketing and customer-facing teams need to make sure your business provides a consistently high-level experience.

Here are all the ways your technology can enhance customer experience:

• With a cloud communications solution that integrates voice, video, messaging, and contact center functionality, staff can work more efficiently. This means less time switching between communication tools and looking for customer history, and more time to focus on providing a high-quality interaction.
• Through integration with other business tools such as your CRM (customer relationship management) and sales software, everyone can access the same data. As a result, all employees are on the same page in terms of what each individual customer needs and wants and where they are on the customer journey.
• Analytics from your communications and collaboration platform can reveal customer trends and real-time changes. Armed with this information, marketing and sales can pivot quickly to meet opportunities and avoid disasters. In-depth analytics reporting can also help you identify how your employees can improve the way they interact with customers. For example, your software may show a preference for a certain channel.
• With the right contact center features, you can speed up call routing and minimize wait times for customers. By putting customers in touch with the most appropriate call agent and addressing their concerns quickly, you can foster better customer loyalty.
• A dynamic video conferencing tool with HD audio/video, screen sharing, and interactive presentation features empowers sales teams to deliver stellar experiences during video conference calls with customers.

Overcome Strategic Challenges When IT and Marketing Are in Sync

While cost, security and compliance, and ease of management will always be pressing IT challenges that CIOs must resolve, for the technology employees use to engage customers, it’s worth it to make the CMO a part of the decision-making process.

With input from marketing, you’ll know you’re providing your teams with the tools they need to take CX to the next level. To learn more about the impact well-chosen cloud-based communications and collaboration platforms can have on your business’s bottom line, explore the Intermedia blog.

The Intermedia Team

Intermedia helps businesses of all sizes connect better – through voice, video conferencing, chat, contact center, business email and productivity, file sharing and backup, security, archiving, and more – from wherever, whenever. And, as a partner-first company, Intermedia goes to work for our channel partners to help them grow their revenue and maximize their success.