Tuesday, August 11, 2015

The Difference – Feedback and Feed-forward

Before we compare and contrast these too concepts let’s look at the definitions.

Feedback:
Information about reactions to a product, a person's performance of a task, etc., used as a basis for improvement.

Feed-forward:
The modification or control of a process using its anticipated results or effects.
The easy way to understand the difference between conventional feedback and feed-forward is to think in terms of the past and the future. Conventional feedback is past focused. It provides information about past activity and performance. Feed-forward on the other hand is future focused. It works around information about what a person could do differently in future interactions with your products or services. These suggestions for improvement enable people to make on-going adjustments in how they are executing their job performance.

To properly benefit from feed-forward you must first have and understand accurate feedback from your customers or staff.

The fundamental problem with all types of feedback: it focuses on the past, on what has already occurred, not on the infinite variety of opportunities that can happen in the future. As such, feedback can be limited and static, as opposed to expansive and dynamic.

Feed-forward is often thought of as guessing what people will do in a future interaction. Feed-forward means using suggestions for the future that might help them achieve a positive change in their selected behavior. If participants have worked together in the past, they are not allowed to give any feedback or actions from the past.

The baseline for feed-forward success is getting your desired results. So you may want to test in small groups before applying the tested technique in wide scale applications.

The solutions you create may become an integral part of how your customers feed, clothe and purchase in the near and long term. At one end of the continuum is a clear distinction between providing instruction and providing feedback. However, when feedback is combined with more a correctional review, the feedback and instruction become intertwined until the process itself takes on the forms of new instruction, rather than informing the user solely about correctness.

SMART Service Desk IT Service Management Software is a great start to creating your very own customer service legends. We know that your satisfied customers will return again and again. Let us help you increase productivity, reduce operations cost and improve customer experience with our ITIL compliant solutions. No matter the size of your business we have your customer retention solutions.

SMART Service Desk
600 West Ray Road
Suite D-3
Chandler Arizona 85225
602-235-0975
info@smartservicedesk.com
http://smartservicedesk.com

Monday, August 10, 2015

How Important Is Your Customer Feedback?

How important is your customer feedback? Do you listen to their voice inside your business? Different types of businesses get different types of feedback. In some cases it can be in your face feedback.  In the very worst case it is just the loss of business that shows the dissatisfaction your customers are feeling.  That is the worst and most destructive type of feedback.

Customer feedback is so important because it provides marketers and business owners with insight that they can use to improve their business, products and/or overall customer experience.

Responding to your customer's feedback is the only way to guarantee you market a product or service that they actually want to buy. Customer feedback is commonly used throughout the product development process to ensure that the end product is something that solves a customer’s problem or fulfils a need.

The most innovative companies in the world are the best at creating products that meet their customers’ needs and exceed their expectations. Think of Apple, Virgin and Dell.

In today’s competitive business world, these companies who can intertwine product development and customer feedback will be the ones that reap strong competitive advantages, have sticky customer loyalty and earn raving customer advocates.

Customer feedback is paramount when determining a customer's needs and wants, particularly when a business introduces new products or services. Companies conduct focus groups, in-person research or customer phone surveys to determine the product features, flavors or styles that consumers want. Customer feedback helps companies determine what's important to their customers.

Customer feedback also is important in detecting certain technological trends among consumers. For example, a new competitor in the market may introduce new and improved technology that potentially threatens the older technology a company sells. If customers indicate they would prefer and buy this technology, the company will need to consider switching to the new technology.

Ultimately, this will lead to better business, better sales, and a better customer experience.” With customer feedback, businesses can make appropriate changes to their offerings to ensure that the product meets the needs and expectations of their customers. Such changes are likely to increase customer satisfaction that, in turn, is sure to improve the profitability levels of any business.

Customers are the most important stakeholders of every business. That’s why it is important to hear their feedback. But collecting customer feedback is just the first step to ensuring a successful customer experience. It’s what you do with the feedback that truly matters.

SMART Service Desk IT Service Management Software is a great start to creating your very own customer service legends. We know that your satisfied customers will return again and again. Let us help you increase productivity, reduce operations cost and improve customer experience with our ITIL compliant solutions. No matter the size of your business we have your customer retention solutions.

SMART Service Desk
600 West Ray Road
Suite D-3
Chandler Arizona 85225
602-235-0975
info@smartservicedesk.com
http://smartservicedesk.com

Friday, August 7, 2015

Which CRM Software Meets Your Needs?

As the Internet of Things grows in its power and complexity which software will help your business stay connected?

There is no question that there are many choices of customer service software for you to choose from. But, like all categories of products they all aren’t created equally. One thing is for sure they have many different price points.

Another area that you have to consider is how much it costs to implement the solution. There are two other related factors.  How long it takes to implement the different products and how long it takes to train your staff (or new staff) to be able to successfully use the product.

There is a solution that is both robust and easy to implement and use. SMART Service Desk is that solution. It is scalable in cost so that no company is too small to benefit from our solutions.

Increase productivity, reduce operations cost and improve customer experience with our ITIL compliant solutions. Our SMART Service Desk solutions can be adapted very quickly, easily and economically to meet your exact business needs. Achieve faster implementation, successful change management, and lower total cost of ownership with our 100% configurable, intuitive and affordable solutions.

Here is what one of our customers said about SMART Service Desk; "We needed a tool with automated workflow and easy to use interface. SMART Service Desk’s built-in workflow has made big improvements in our Service Operations - especially having online approval."

Your company can benefit from improved customer satisfaction and life time value from initial contact to post-sales support. SMART Service Desk provides a detailed 360 degree view of your customer interactions. You can improve customer service and delivery operations, maximize revenue opportunities and delight your customers with our affordable and mobile solution.

SMART Customer relationship management (CRM) software, offered both on-premise and cloud-based CRM, help businesses reduce costs and increase profitability by organizing and automating business processes to ensure customer satisfaction and loyalty in the sales, marketing, and customer service fields.

Through SMART CRM solutions we deliver outstanding ROI through automation in customer service, and sales force automation. We also offer mobile apps that allow you to manage your customer relationships on your mobile devices, and software integration adaptors that integrate data and reporting from social media directly into your CRM application.

With our solutions your business can foster employee engagement, retention and productivity. Your satisfied employees can help create more satisfied customers and Improve processes, products, and services, and ultimately your organizational profitability.

SMART Service Desk IT Service Management Software is a great start to creating your very own customer service legends. We know that your satisfied customers will return again and again. Let us help you increase productivity, reduce operations cost and improve customer experience with our ITIL compliant solutions. No matter the size of your business we have your customer retention solutions.

SMART Service Desk
600 West Ray Road
Suite D-3
Chandler Arizona 85225
602-235-0975
info@smartservicedesk.com
http://smartservicedesk.com

Thursday, August 6, 2015

Wi-Fi Basis Of The Internet Of Things In Your Business?

If your business is some sort of food establishment and you want to make sure you have a happy clientele you really must have Wi-Fi. Yes, I know some say that you lose turnover as people tend to eat slower and stay longer when you have Wi-Fi. How often are you at 100% capacity and need to turn away customers?

When we think of all the services the Internet of Things offers your customers giving them access to their home via Wi-Fi is an appropriate thank you for their choice of eating with you.

Having Wi-Fi in other types of businesses isn’t quite as common, but it should be, and for much the same reason(s). My local grocery store provides me Internet access and uses their portal to push specials to me. My frequent shoppers card gives them a vast data file about me and my shopping habits and it will only be a short time for them to put two and two together and know when I am in the store so they can offer me even more reasons to spend even more money before I leave.

My local electronics store has a program where as a member I get access to specials that aren’t part of their regular advertising flyers. How soon will they find a way to track my entry into their brick and mortar store just like they do when I use their website?

Most loyalty programs are now tied to the use of credit cards at the time of check-out.  The Internet of Things (IoT) will allow these programs to become more interactive based on many new ways of looking at and interacting with specific individual consumers.

We expect Wi-Fi as we travel (and power too). Will your travel be tied to the IoT? You bet it will. As you pass through airports, use rental cars or even where you stay and the entertainment you visit. Movie rentals are way down in hotels and motels as the travelers use all sorts of streaming services they already subscribe to. Some hotels have even gone so far as to actively block the wireless access to the national cell service carriers. Something the hotels got their hands slapped for.

Finish your conference handouts on the plane? Need to send them to the printer or even the hotel’s business center so they will be ready when you land? With the right connections this is easy to do. 

Would you like to know the location and needs of your customers perhaps even before they are considering their next move? It’s all about the data, the knowledge that the IoT opens up for your business.

SMART Service Desk IT Service Management Software is a great start to creating your very own customer service legends. We know that your satisfied customers will return again and again. Let us help you increase productivity, reduce operations cost and improve customer experience with our ITIL compliant solutions. No matter the size of your business we have your customer retention solutions.

SMART Service Desk
600 West Ray Road
Suite D-3
Chandler Arizona 85225
602-235-0975
info@smartservicedesk.com
http://smartservicedesk.com

Wednesday, August 5, 2015

Are You Ready For The Internet Of Things?

The Internet of Things (IoT) has enormous potential to drive economic value and social change. But with 85% of things still unconnected and security threats pervasive, the industry has yet to tap IoT’s enormous potential.

How will businesses be able to use data from sensors and devices to provide intelligence from the edge to the cloud, and that becomes actionable insight as it progresses through the advertising and purchase side of your business?

When will your business join the IoT revolution? Sooner than your competition? After your competition steals your best customers? Do these things keep you up at night?

Your business needs to understand the spanning from edge devices out to the cloud, the roadmap includes API management and service creation software, edge-to-cloud connectivity and analytics, intelligent gateways, and the usage of scalable IA processors. 

Security is fundamental to the roadmap with both dedicated security products, as well as security features that are embedded into hardware and software products will make the consumer comfortable with the whole process.

The IoT is not just about using alarm clocks that start your coffee maker, or about making more regular “things” accessible over the internet. The IoT will fundamentally alter how humans interact with the physical world, and will ultimately register as more significant than the internet itself.

Think about how connected drivers can use their cars in a better way to provide a taxi like provision in an improved “service” to customers wanting a more interactive local travel solution.

Using digital reputations will completely change how work is done. Instead of antiquated (and ineffective) interviews, a technical layer powered by matching algorithms will take information about jobs that need to be done and match them to people who are available (and qualified) to do them. Transportation, household jobs, creative work, mainstream corporate requisitions, these will all be staffed based on the best possible fit, and it’ll happen in seconds rather than weeks or months. Being connected will be as important as who and what you know in future educational processes.

Being connected will be as important when it comes to reaching customers and knowing what they will likely buy and or consume. Even now consumers use their phones to find a local business that meets their needs. Know, like and trust will need to add “Found” to the mix.

The Internet of Things adds a whole new dimension to your Service Management Software.

SMART Service Desk IT Service Management Software is a great start to creating your very own customer service legends. We know that your satisfied customers will return again and again. Let us help you increase productivity, reduce operations cost and improve customer experience with our ITIL compliant solutions. No matter the size of your business we have your customer retention solutions.

SMART Service Desk
600 West Ray Road
Suite D-3
Chandler Arizona 85225
602-235-0975
info@smartservicedesk.com
http://smartservicedesk.com

Tuesday, August 4, 2015

The Internet Of Things In The Coming Months

The Internet of Things isn't just coming soon, it is already here and your customers already using it.

In the past computer users would buy a router with four ports and no WiFi.  Today having a WiFi router is a basic need.  In fact having one that is multi-channel is a very good idea. WiFi is how we using our phones, tablets, laptops and perhaps several dozen (yes, dozens) other connections.

What are these other uses for WiFi in our homes?
Security system, fire alarms, carbon monoxide monitors
Entry monitor cameras
Health and safety monitors 
Baby monitor
Pet collars
Pet Doors
Pool safety and maintenance monitor
Thermostat
Window blinds
Each and every light
Refrigerator
All of your TVs, DVD/BluRay players, 
Your Amazon Firesticks, Apple TV, Cable, Satellite Boxes, Chromecast 
Your TV remote control and DVR
Sound systems, speakers and headphones
Color printers and scanners
eBook reader
Your watch ‘
Your drone(s)
Your SLR camera, your video camera
Children’s toys
Connected game consoles (1, 2 or 3 how many do you have?)
Your cars (not just electrics)

Weather monitors and warning units
On property weather stations
Mailbox monitor
Basement flooding monitors
Water heater
Coffee maker
Alarm Clock
Vacuum cleaners

Is this partial list long enough for you? What are your business or brands plans to work with, utilize the information and data from these devices.  What services can your business offer to these connected people, devices and homes? How will you track that interaction?

SMART Service Desk IT Service Management Software is a great start to creating your very own customer service legends. We know that your satisfied customers will return again and again. Let us help you increase productivity, reduce operations cost and improve customer experience with our ITIL compliant solutions. No matter the size of your business we have your customer retention solutions.

SMART Service Desk
600 West Ray Road
Suite D-3
Chandler Arizona 85225
602-235-0975
info@smartservicedesk.com
http://smartservicedesk.com

Monday, August 3, 2015

How Will The Internet Of Things Affect Your Bottom Line?

You have seen and heard another new buzz word (or phrase) The Internet of Things. If you are wondering just what are they talking about? 


The Internet of Things (IoT) refers to the ever-growing network of physical objects that feature an IP address for internet connectivity, and the communication that occurs between these objects and other Internet-enabled devices and systems.

It is no longer just your computer, laptop, tablet or your phone. It could be your security system, your refrigerator, your sprinkler system or your babies’ crib monitor. It could even be your neighbor’s drone hovering over your backyard.

Is the Internet of Things just part of our connected world or the next game changer in your marketing efforts? Will your bus stop, store mannequin, subway train sign or point of sale machine be part of push marketing that will need to respond and deal with your customer database?

If you don’t join the connected world of “Things” will your competition beat you to the punch? What if your sales terminal could suggest add on sales at the moment of check-out that you can only hope the sales staff will?

As the ubiquitous barcode changed inventory and just in time marketing connected RFID will affect how future marketing and facial recognition will become part of the IoT. Your business entryway can recognize and welcome repeat customers and alert your staff to their likes, wants and more importantly their needs.  After all their connected refrigerator could help you suggest items they may have forgotten. At the very least the fridge could have forwarded the shopping list direct to their phone. Will your point of sale terminal be able to query that same phone?

Is your CRM software ready to grow with your future marketing plans?

IoT may sound like just another alphabet contraction, but in reality, it’s a real technological revolution that will impact everything we do. It's a gigantic wave of new possibility that is destined to change the face of marketing as you know it.

When used in conjunction with a dependable customer relationship management (CRM) tool, the IoT will be able to do more than simply gather and organize client data; it will be able to efficiently and accurately analyze that data as well, providing you with actionable results regarding your consumer base.

How the Internet Of Things will affect your business depends on you.

SMART Service Desk IT Service Management Software is a great start to creating your very own customer service legends. We know that your satisfied customers will return again and again. Let us help you increase productivity, reduce operations cost and improve customer experience with our ITIL compliant solutions. No matter the size of your business we have your customer retention solutions.

SMART Service Desk
600 West Ray Road
Suite D-3
Chandler Arizona 85225
602-235-0975
info@smartservicedesk.com
http://smartservicedesk.com