Social computing functionality provide organisations with the capabilities to improve business relationships, improve customer service and promote flexible working among employees and other mobile workers.
Employing the latest social computing productivity and content creation tools (discussions, blogs, collaborative documents, chats), with intelligence (tagging, workflow, RSS) integrated with internal systems (email, wikis, CRM Systems, Customer Support Systems, Sales Systems, etc.) succeed in connecting people, knowledge and conversations.
Enabling Sales Teams, Marketing, Customer Support, Technical Support Services and other business functions to securely engage key customers, partners, mobile workers and suppliers, in real-time. The business benefits include:
Increase Sales
- Community members average 500 percent higher sales volume compared to non-community customers
- Community members spend 54 percent more than non-community customers
Improve Efficiency and Cut Costs
- 43% of support community visits are in place of the customer directly contacting Customer Support
- Cost per interaction with Customer Support Services averages $12 when the customer contacts the Support Centre directly. These costs are reduced to an average of $0.25 when Internet self-service options are used
- Dramatically improve, streamline and automate interactions between customers and suppliers
Increase Brand Loyalty
- Brand loyalty is two times higher for companies that offer online community experiences
- Community members remain customers 50% longer than non-community customers
Promote Mobile and Flexible Staff Working
- An extranet allows remote and mobile staff to access core business information 24 hours a day, irrespective of location and to keep central office informed on progress
- Mobile/Flexible working ensures the company remains competitive without being tied to the office desk and reduces building and infrastructure costs
More Effective Communication and Collaboration
- The close collaborative working that social computing tools support, results in more effective communication, collaboration and discussion between business partners
- Improve customer service and relations through corporate knowledge sharing and transparency
- Share news of product development or innovations exclusively with partner companies or key customers
Increase Market Awareness & Shorten Development Time
- Communities help with product and new product feedback shortening new product development time
- Communities increase market awareness and enable the taking advantage of customer knowledge to increase market awareness, highlighting the need for new products, services and enhancements to current offerings
Increase Effectiveness of Core Enterprise Functions
- Incorporation and integration of social computing technologies significantly enhance the effectiveness of core applications, for example, Marketing, Sales, Purchasing, Human Resources, Customer Services, IT and PR
(All statistics above are drawn from independent research studies by Forrester, McKinsey, Gartner and the Association of Support Professionals.)