Landlines. Websites. Email. Mobile. SMS. Social media. MMS. Chatbots. Alexa. Outbound. Inbound. Cloud. SaaS. Real-Time. Big data. Insights. AI. NLP. Automation. Real people. Customer journeys. Experience. The list of things to consider in terms of your technology these days seems to be endless. And it just keeps growing.
When it comes to your technology projects, there are a few different directions you can go:
- Create an internal team with expertise in all these fields ($$$)
- Outsource each solution to different vendors based on their specific offering (disconnected)
- Use a technology partner to create a streamlined, optimized & integrated solution
Most companies are familiar with 1 and 2 (unfortunately). I've talked to 2 so far this past week. But very few people are aware that 3 is a viable, and affordable, option.
Read on to learn what a Technology Partner actually is, what they can do for you...
Be Your Industry Expert
Technology Partners are industry experts in their given field, and it's part of their competitive advantage to know more about their industry solutions than anyone else. These teams are constantly researching to stay ahead of the game, so capitalizing on that essentially means you can outsource your industry knowledge.
At the same time, these partners work with you as an extension of your team, so you get all that knowledge integrated with what you care about.
Outline your options based on desired outcomes
Many times, companies just assume they need a new technology because "everyone is talking about it". And the media loves to play into this with articles like, "2020 Mega Trends", or "Top 7 challenges for [role] in 2020".
This one always stands out for me; I remember when businesses first decided they needed to be on Facebook (yes, I'm that old) and the company I was working for at the time told me to "go set up a Facebook page". Why? What's the goal? Who are we talking to? How are we talking to them?
These are the types of questions that Tech Partners ask you FIRST, and then they can provide recommendations on what you should and shouldn't do to meet those goals. Think that adding text is the best way to shorten your claims cycle? Well, MAYBE, but have you thought about...the cost, the implementation, internal use & adoption, the customer experience...everything that could impact whether or not that tech will work to meet those needs? The right Tech Partner will make you THINK :)
Help you map your customer AND employee journeys
There isn't just one user of technology. There are many. So although we normally look at issues like, "our customers want to be able to text us, so get a texting platform", we don't look at how that impacts our employee experience OR the ability to get useful insights from the technology.
A Tech Partner keeps all of these aspects in mind. The business unit and their success metrics. The employee users and their training & adoption rates. AND the end customer. Without aligning all of these users, the technology alone cannot meet the untold goals of each.
...and what they are NOT.
Equally important to know is what a Tech Partner is NOT. Most are not a custom software design shop. Most aren't solely a self-serve platform (although they might recommend one). And although they are all about the technology, they are MORE about implementing certain technology in a strategic way to meet business goals.
SPLICE Software is a Technology Partner for companies looking to streamline their communications. So, if you have a specific technology that you're considering, and you're looking for a way to optimize that technology, the team at SPLICE would love to chat.