Temperatures may be plummeting outside, but the cloud contact center solutions market is sizzling. According to Gartner, the global market will reach $204 billion by the end of 2016, and will continue growing throughout the foreseeable future.
“The market for public cloud services is continuing to demonstrate high rates of growth across all markets and Gartner expects this to continue through 2017,” explained Sid Nag, research director at Gartner. “This strong growth continues to reflect a shift away from legacy IT services to cloud-based services, due to increased trend of organizations pursuing a digital business strategy.”
This is a golden opportunity for trusted advisors. Countless organizations today are searching for contact center infrastructure that is cost-effective, efficient and secure. At the same time, businesses are seeking cutting-edge software for workforce optimization and customer experience management.
There is a great deal of money on the table for the trusted advisors who can successfully pair businesses with these needs with cloud contact solutions providers from AVANT’S extensive portfolio.
Here’s how you can get started:
Look for Opportunities
First, browse the leading verticals in the cloud contact center solutions market, and identify segments where you already have a strong foothold and can leverage your expertise.
The following industries are experiencing the strongest demand for cloud contact center services today:
- Healthcare: Hospitals, insurance agencies, visiting nurse providers and laboratories
- Finance: Banks, credit card providers and investment companies
- Government: Federal, state and local offices, emergency departments, motor vehicle departments, benefits offices and job centers
- Retail: Customer service, billing and sales departments
Spend some time identifying the industries and customers you want to target, and then move onto the next step: Planning your engagement strategy.
Plan Ahead
Before you approach a customer about a cloud contact center opportunity, make sure you have an accurate sense of the business’s position and needs.
For example, HIPAA compliance is almost always a deal breaker for healthcare organizations, as they are required to comply with a strict set of privacy regulations. Retail companies need PCI compliant solutions in order to ensure integrity while storing and transmitting customer payment data. Know the issues that matter the most your customers, and pair them with contact center providers that can meet their specific demands.
It’s also important to leverage your own knowledge about your customers, too. For instance, you probably already know how your customers’ networks are assembled. You have a sense of their pain points, and their budgets. Use this information to press the right buttons during your conversations, and drive sales.
Chances are likely that some of your customers are struggling with costly, aging legacy infrastructure, outdated customer service programs and a lack of data storage. Such enterprises could strongly benefit from premium, managed and scalable cloud contact center solutions.
At the same time, many of your customers are already in the cloud, and are looking to switch providers. In fact, 95 percent of businesses are unhappy with their cloud services. For these types of services, you will want to identify why they are unhappy early on in the process.
Engage the Customer
Once your strategy is in place, arrange a meeting and try to ask probing questions that can open the door to a conversation about cloud contact center services.
For example, you may want to focus on the heavy amount of CAPEX and OPEX that comes with owning legacy contact center infrastructure. You can also ask questions about performance and uptime, agent productivity and available capacity.
As with any sale, you may not close on the first go-around. It may take several weeks to close an agreement with a company. It’s what you do in the meantime to influence the sale that counts.
This is where AVANT’s new sales enablement as a service (SEaaS) platform comes in handy. AVANT now offers a sales enablement application for resellers and agents that provides resources like qualification data, and tools to guide the sales process. This unique platform is built on Salesforce Communities, but leverages AVANT’s intellectual property —resulting in a customized, dynamic platform for partners that can help you quickly and successfully enter new markets like Cloud Contact Center, or to further penetrate the market if you’re already selling there.
So don’t wait to jump on this amazing opportunity. The cloud contact centers solutions market is yours for the taking. If you have any questions before you get started, reach out to AVANT for assistance.