Customer Experience Management Archives - RSI Concepts - Top IT Solution Provider Company in Dubai, UAE

May 1, 2024May 1, 2024

The Impact of Cloud Computing on Custom Software Development [Full Guide]

Imagine you are decorating your home, when it comes to your room, you bought a cabinet but when you brought it in, it wouldn’t fit your door! What would you do? Will you change the cabinet or break the door? The custom software development could also be similar to that, you reach half-way and realize you need more computing power, or storage, in case of traditional hosting, you have to buy the larger package, however, in case of cloud you can seamlessly increase your resources whether it is computing power, or the storage and you will only have to pay for the resources you want or utilize.

Let say you have acquired a shared hosting, now half-way through you require a VPS or VDS server specs, you will going to pay for the VDS usually it is in full and similar for the higher specs. In case of on-premises data centers, if you face such limitation, then you will have to increase the hardware capacity, which too is expensive and has certain challenges. Therefore the cloud computing is the ideal solution for custom software development. The custom software development is usually a lengthy process, sometimes businesses also add more features sometimes during the staging, and some time even after it become fully operational. In this blog we will discuss the positive impact of the cloud computing on custom software development its long-term impact.

The Impact of Cloud Computing on Custom Software Development [Full Guide]

What is Cloud Computing?

Technically the cloud computing is a system of delivering computing power, storage capacity, database, server, operating system, networks, application environments and analytical tools. The cloud computing is a modern form of hosting, it is just one step ahead of it. Unlike the traditional hosting services or on-premises data centers the cloud computing is much more flexible and is capable of delivering resources as per demand. For example, if your demand rises you can immediately increase whatever resource you want in order to ensure a smooth and seamless operation of your software application. Furthermore the cloud computing is much more supportive towards innovation, and it is very cost-effective which makes it ideal for the custom software development.

There are three very flexible cloud computing service models which are ideal for custom software development:

IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service): The IaaS offers raw computing resources with full control over the virtual machine, storage and network enabling software developers to manage the control the operating system and application.
PaaS (Platform as a Service): The PaaS service model offers a fully managed platform where software developer can build, deploy, customize and scale software application without any worry about the infrastructure management.
SaaS (Software as a Service): The SaaS or software as a service offers fully managed software application to the end-users with enhanced scalability. Both software service provider and third-party software are offered through SaaS service model.

The Evolution of Custom Software Development

The custom software development have evolved tremendously, starting from micro applications, customized module to full-fledge organizational operating system, the custom software development have completely overshadowed the traditional commercial off-the-shelf software industry. The custom software development is popular due to the fact that it fully aligns with your unique business needs and offer much more freedom and control over the functionality of the application. This is what distinguishes them from traditional off-the-shelf application and make custom software much more reliable and effective. As the customized software application are developed from scratch, there is a lot of room to grow and expand, hence the resources required to run these apps also grow.

The traditional on-premises or hosting solutions are not agile enough, and have certain limitations, the cloud computing on the other hand offer the required flexibility, adoptability and scalability needed by the custom software apps. The custom software development is aimed to support the emerging needs of the organization as well. The custom software development can offer a great competitive advantage with its elevated adoptability, seamless integration, scalability and resilient towards emerging challenges. Traditionally businesses were relying on in-house IT infrastructure, however, that is not cost-effective neither it offers flexibility comparable to cloud. This is why businesses are now adopting cloud computing for their custom software development projects.

The Evolution of Custom Software Development

Cloud Computing Offers On-Demand Scalability and Unmatched Flexibility

One of the biggest challenge in custom software development is the resource management and scalability. Scaling up is the most crucial aspect of the business, if the IT infrastructure failed to offer the required scalability, the businesses will not be able to sustain operational efficiency. With on-premises database scaling up could be very challenging, adding more hardware devices or upgrading to the processors could be very expensive. Moreover managing the network, security, and other aspects is a very challenging and expensive feat. For example, if you faces a surge in users or need to increase computing power quickly, the cloud computing not only allow that but it automatically increase your resources when needed, ensuring a seamless and un-interrupted operation. The on-premises data center or traditional online hosting can also be expanded, however, it requires time and the cost too is high.

Furthermore the cloud offers another great feature which traditional hosting or on-premises data centers doesn’t offer, which is the ability to scale down instantly as it can scale up, it can be scaled down to minimize the cost. Furthermore the cloud is also one step ahead from traditional hosting solutions when it comes to the future proofing of your software applications. Let say if you upgrade your software application, to ensure highest performance and security, in order to implement the upgrades you must be requiring latest versions of the operating system and several other aspects of the IT infrastructure, each and every component will have its own cost and sometime would be very difficult to upgrade the environment. However, with the cloud, this can be achieved within a few minutes and with very less or literally no cost.

Cloud Computing Offers On-Demand Scalability and Unmatched Flexibility

Accelerated Development and Quick Launch

The cloud computing offer unmatched features such as scalable resources, access to pre-built services and APIs which accelerate the development cycle and help quickly launch the applications. These features help streamlining the development processes especially it helps with third-party system integration which enable businesses to quickly launch and market their applications. Furthermore the cloud computing also offer robust platform and development tools which are very helpful for the developers and help them boosting the development process.

Another remarkable feature of cloud computing is that it can provide centralized access to development resources. This enable development teams to collaborate with each other and prevent repetitive work which also accelerate the development process. The developers can work remotely and from separate geographical locations, which sharing codes, data, repositories and everything in real-time. By fostering a highly collaborative development environment the team can quickly and easily do the testing, implement the iterations, and manage the resources. Furthermore it is relatively easier and very quick to move to production environment form staging or UAT environment enabling quick launch.

Accelerated Development and Quick Launch

Enhanced Data Protection, Security and Backups

Unlike the common misconception, the cloud computing offers superior data protection, security and backup features. The cloud computing offers state-of-the-art security solutions with multi-layer protection and firewalls. Moreover the cloud computing also offers quick implementation of the advanced security protocols, encryption, advanced user authentication and access mechanisms and up-to-date protective measures. The adherence to advanced compliance standards ensure highest level of protection and security for the applications, users and the infrastructure. The cloud computing service providers have specialized and professional security teams and highly advanced security solutions which is usually not possible with the traditional hosting or on-premises solutions.

These advanced security features protect against data breach, moreover the cloud computing also offer advanced monitoring and threat detection tools which ensure highest level of security and data protection. Above all the cloud computing offers automatic updates of the resources, tools, and the environment which ensures your applications are running on the most secure and up-to-date infrastructure. Normally all cloud computing solutions comes with standard backup and recovery mechanisms, however, the cloud computing is very flexible towards backups and businesses can have multiple backup layers with advance CDN, and load balancing solutions which ensures your users always have a seamless and uninterrupted experience. The enhanced security, advanced data protection and data backup features can greatly enhance the efficiency and efficacy of your custom software applications.

Enhanced Data Protection, Security and Backups

Conclusion

The cloud computing has a profound and far-reaching impact over custom software development. The cutting-edge technology and advanced features of the cloud computing have completely revolutionized the custom software development and help businesses leveraging the full potential of the applications. The cloud computing not only offer superior resource management, scaling, security and monitoring tools, but it also help accelerating the development cycle and help businesses quickly and efficiently develop customized software applications.

The traditional hosting solutions and on-premises hosting often failed to meet the dynamic and diverse needs of the custom software development. Furthermore the on-premises IT infrastructure is expensive, difficult to manage and even more difficult to upgrade. The cloud computing on the other hand always offer up-to-date IT infrastructure with cutting-edge security, networking, and resource management tools. The cloud computing offers a very easy-to-scale infrastructure which can easily adopt to the emerging needs of your software application.

Whether you want to scale up to accommodate a rise in system users or whether you want to scale down to save the cost, the cloud computing offers that seamlessly. With the advanced cloud computing management and monitoring tools you can seamlessly scale up or scale down your resources as per your needs. Above all the cloud computing can automatically scale up your raw computing power and other resources if there is a surge in the users preventing your software applications from slowing down or cashing. This ensures a great uninterrupted and seamless user experience.

When it comes to security and data protection the cloud computing is superior to any other traditional hosting solution. It offers state-of-the art security tools with a multi-layer security protocol. Whether it is the networking tool, environment, server operating system or any other security tool you are using, the cloud computing automatically update all these tools and operating systems to ensure your custom software development project gets up-to-date security and robust performance.

The cloud computing also offers different service models and very flexible service plans which suits your needs and also help you easily customize your service plans if needed to optimize the cost. The upfront cost is also nominal comparing to on-premises data centers and businesses are free from managing the physical IT infrastructure further lowering their operational cost. In this blog we have discussed how the cloud computing is impacting the custom software development in a very positive way. If you want to learn more about the subject or if you want our help to migrate to any local or international cloud computing platform, please feel free to contact us through our Contact Us page or leave a comment in the comment box below and we will get in touch with you soon.

February 28, 2024

What is a Bill Payment Kiosk: Everything You Need to Know

The bill payment kiosks are revolutionizing the financial market and traditional methods of transactions between businesses and customers. A bill payment kiosk is a specialized type of interactive self-service kiosk which includes features and functionalities to collect payments from the customers. The bill payment kiosks offer seamless transaction with an intuitive self-service experience which is why businesses and organizations in Dubai, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi and all around the UAE are rapidly adopting the technology.

The bill payment kiosk are not exclusive to banking and financial sector, in fact various industries are showing great ROIs, making it one of the most popular emerging technology in UAE. A bill payment kiosk not only help streamlining the payment process, but it also ensures a higher customer satisfaction. Features like multiple payment methods, multilingual intuitive UIs, countless hardware features, customizable software, easy adoptability and automation makes bill payment kiosk a perfect companion to deal with diverse customer demand, managing operational performance and building a strong brand perception.

In this blog we will explore several key aspects of the bill payment kiosks and how businesses can leverage them to enhance customer experience and boost operational efficiency.

What is a Bill Payment Kiosk?

A bill payment kiosk is an interactive touchscreen kiosk which accept payments from customers via multiple modes such as cash payment via currency bills and coins, credit/debit cards, digital payments, NFC payments, integrated payment gateways, vouchers and many. A bill payment kiosk is a one-stop-shop where customers are offered multiple different services and information.

The bill payment kiosks are excellent at enhancing customer experience while offering them easy 24/7 access to business services such as paying bills, service charges, subscription fees, or checking out at retail stores and restaurants. In the fast-paced markets like Dubai, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi and other regions in UAE where the importance of time is paramount, customers and businesses both admire solutions which optimize service delivery process and minimize customer wait time.

A bill payment kiosk is designed to offer a multitude of services through intuitive user interfaces. It comes with a powerful backend software or management tool which enable businesses to control and manage data and information on the kiosk in real-time. The bill payment kiosk software offers great features such as customization, easy scalability, adoptability, and flexible integration which enable business to offer innovative features and help them improve customer experience.

What are the Types of Bill Payment Kiosk?

There are several types of bill payment kiosks based on their technical specification, usage, or industry-specific application. In general a bill payment kiosk has a touchscreen interface, cash acceptor and authenticator, however, coin-base payment, cash recycler for change return and POS integration for credit/debit card payments is also common. However, there are three major types of the bill payment kiosk on the bases of its physical design:

Indoor Bill Payment Kiosk: As the name suggests the indoor bill payment kiosks are designed to deploy in indoor setups, it could be an office, shopping mall, community center, transportation hubs, airports, libraries, healthcare, government service centers, etc. These types of kiosk are cost efficient and can offer multiple advanced features.
Outdoor Bill Payment Kiosk: The outdoor bill payment kiosks are deployed in outdoors – fully exposed to the harsh environment. These kiosks are built using specialized components with advanced temperature control and weather proofing features. The outdoor bill payment kiosks are slightly expensive and can have limited features due to the outdoor compatibility of the physical components and parts.
Customized Bill Payment Kiosks: The customized bill payment kiosks are tailored solutions as per the specific and unique business needs. Businesses usually go for customized bill payment kiosks in order to develop innovative features adding value to customer experience as well as helping then gain the competitive advantage. Furthermore businesses also require customized solutions in order to include additional hardware and software features which accommodate and strengthen their existing business processes without compelling them to make disruptive changes to their internal workflows.

What are the Types of Bill Payment Kiosk?

Furthermore there are many more types of bill payment kiosks on the bases of application and usage. Here are a few commonly used bill payment kiosks that are gaining popularity in Dubai, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi and all across the UAE.

Bill Payment Kiosk Machine: These are some of the most common bill payment kiosks in UAE. The bill payment kiosk machines are versatile with cash and debit/credit card based payment methods. These kiosks support transactions for a multitude of services such as electricity and water supply bills, telecom services, remittances, international payments, fees and charges for government services and much more. These kiosk machines are common in public areas, markets, shopping malls, and residential areas, etc. offering a quick way to manage payments.
Cash Payment Kiosk: These kiosks are usually offered by utility service providers, retail businesses, facility management companies, and organizations who are usually dealing with small amounts ranging from AED 5/10 Dirham to up to AED 200 Dirhams. Usually these kiosk doesn’t offer change and return but in certain cases these facilities are added too. These kiosks are usually found in busy service centers offering a quick alternate service channel to optimize efficiency.
Utility Payment Kiosk: The utility payment kiosks are usually utilized by utility service providers and installed at their attended and unattended service areas. The utility bill payment kiosks are also common in shopping malls, residential areas and high footfall public areas. These kiosks offer intuitive payment processes with additional features exclusively designed to simplify the customer journey.
Self-Ordering Kiosks: These self-ordering kiosks are utilized by small and medium sized businesses offering multiple services. Furthermore the food-ordering kiosks are also a type of self-ordering kiosk and are very common all across the UAE. Many popular food and restaurant chains, retail stores, and service providers are using self-ordering kiosks to enhance customer experience and to offer an alternate service channel for quick service delivery.
Self-Service Payment Kiosk: These types of kiosks are usually used at high footfall areas, public places for a multitude of different services, for example, the kiosk that you are using at metro stations to top up your NOL card or any other card or the kiosk you use to purchase bus tickets, cinema tickets, and even at entertainment venues are all different example of self-service payment kiosks.
Cash Payment Kiosk: The cash payment kiosks are usually designed to take and hold large quantity of currency bills, it usually offer a more flexible payment method such as ability to get payment in coins as well along with facility to return change in cash and coins. The cash payment kiosks are used by retail businesses, service providers, government and public offices, charities, libraries and various other sectors.
Money Transfer Kiosk: The money transfer kiosks are used by money exchanges, banks and remittance service providers. As in UAE a large number of expats is living who are regularly sending remittances to their home countries, this is why the money transfer kiosks are gaining huge popularity. These kiosks are equipped with specialized KYC tools and security features to comply with government policies and can hold large amount of cash inside them, ensuring a smooth and seamless customer experience.
Government Service Payment Kiosk: The government service payment kiosks are gaining popularity in Dubai, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi and all across the UAE. Different government departments are utilizing these kiosks. These kiosks not just take payments, but has ability to fully integrate in the workflow with additional integrated tools such as Emirates ID scanner, Passport Scanner, Document Scanner/Printer, Barcode/QR Code Scanners, Biometrics and much more. These kiosks are usually custom designed in order to seamlessly integrate with existing government services, workflows and business processes and can offer a multiple different payment methods along with cash payment.

Apart from above all, all different types of vending machines, parking ticket payment machines, and even the ATMs are also the types of cash or bill payment kiosks.

Commonly used Bill Payment Kiosks — Advantages of a Bill Payment Kiosk

What are the Key Benefits of a Bill Payment Kiosk?

Different industries utilizes bill payment kiosk differently for example, a government of public-office might be using a bill payment kiosk which have additional features such as Emirates ID scanner, biometrics, document scanners and printers and multiple payment methods, however, a retail store might be using barcode/QR code scanner, RFID reader, and in some cases digital weighting scale and such features.

However, no matter what industry you belongs to, there are certain benefits which are similarly applicable across all industries and applications. Here are some key benefits of a bill payment kiosk, regardless of business’ industry or size.

Easy Accessibility: One of the biggest advantage of bill payment kiosk is that it offers 24/7 access to business services. Easy access and reachability enhance customer experience and raise their satisfaction.
Reduced Wait Time: Whether used in attended service centers or unattended setups, the bill payment kiosks has ability to process payments much quickly, optimizing service delivery process, and reducing customer wait time.
Intuitive User Interface (UI): The bill payment kiosks usually offer multi-lingual and very user-friendly user interface (UI) which can greatly enhance customer experience. On-screen instructions and other intuitive features raise customer satisfaction.
Raise Operational Efficiency: A bill payment kiosk digitalize several processes and make transactions seamless. Which greatly improve operational efficiency and also help reducing the employee workload which lead to better resource management.
Multiple Payment Methods: A bill payment kiosk is a digital system which has ability to integrate multiple payment methods such as cash, coins, credit/debit cards, and digital payment modes, offering more ease, convenience and freedom to customers.
Real-time Processing: A bill payment kiosk software can be integrated with third-party software, tools, databases and central information center of the business. This enables it to process payments in real-time and update all relevant systems automatically, giving instant confirmation.
Privacy and Security: A bill payment kiosk complies with highest industry standards to ensure high level security and privacy. It offer self-service experience and encrypted data communication which raise protection levels and help gaining customer trust.
Business Intelligence Data: The powerful software of bill payment kiosk can provide a wealth of high-value actionable analytical data on customer behavior, market trends, service preference and much more which help business taking informed decisions.

Instant service delivery, easy access, intuitive features and secure transactions make bill payment kiosk an ideal solution for growing business. A bill payment kiosk can offer alternate service channel which can greatly improve the capability to serve more customers, hence reduce the staff requirements. All these features enhance customer experience as well as boot operational efficiency and help businesses scale for growth by maximizing their profitability.

What are the Key Benefits of a Bill Payment Kiosk?

How Bill Payment Kiosk can Elevate Customer Experience?

In the highly dynamic and fast-paced business landscape of UAE businesses located in Dubai, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi and all across the country are very inclined towards adopting modern practices and methodologies and implementing cutting-edge technology to elevate customer experience. The customer experience is one of the most important aspect of the business, as the entire business success heavily depends on customer satisfaction.

The bill payment kiosks or self-service payment kiosks are also a step toward elevated customer experience and satisfied customer journey. The payment kiosk machines offer a super user-friendly customer experience and also help businesses enhancing operational performance. Here are some key advantages of bill payment kiosk which help elevating customer experience:

Easy Access and Convenience: The biggest appeal of an interactive self-service bill payment kiosk lies in its ability to offer easy access and convenience. These kiosk machines operates 24/7 offering more freedom and letting customer access the services any time they want. Furthermore there is no need to stand in long waiting lines, which usually undermine customer experience.
Intuitive and User-Friendly: The bill payment kiosks are built on a smart kiosk management software which has ability to offer intuitive multi-lingual user interfaces (UIs). Furthermore on-screen instruction, access to updated information and direct customer support access offer excellent customer experience and make them more user-friendly.
Customer Satisfaction and Loyalty: By offering a friction less and optimized service delivery mechanisms through bill payment kiosks businesses can greatly boost customer satisfaction. Freedom, control and personalization with an intuitive and user-friendly service delivery process the customer happiness can be raised which is a key to customer loyalty and long term success.
Enhanced Customer Service: The bill payment kiosks are very reliable, offering most accurate services and information by avoiding almost all different types of human errors. Furthermore the bill payment kiosks also help boosting the performance of the service centers. By serving as an alternate service channel, the staff workload is reduced resulting in improved service quality.
Multi-Functionality: The bill payment kiosks are versatile, they comes up with multiple software and hardware based features which are all designed to enhance customer experience by simplifying customer journey. Such as specialized features to instantly scan documents, or access to information, or connecting with support, etc. All these features elevate customer experience.

With the advancements in technology the bill payment kiosk machines are becoming more user-friendly day by day. Businesses are rapidly adopting to self-service bill payment kiosks to streamline their service delivery processes which is completely transforming how businesses and customers are conducting financial transactions.

How Bill Payment Kiosk can Elevate Customer Experience?

Why the Placement of the Bill Payment Kiosk is Crucial for Success?

The success of the bill payment kiosk depends on the users, if not many users will use it, you won’t be able to leverage its full potential. But most of the businesses doesn’t realized that how crucial it is to place the bill payment kiosk on carefully selected strategic locations. For example, if you place a bill payment kiosk in a resting area at a highway, what do you expect how many people will going to use it? Not many, because despite having large footfall at those areas, the people who are stopping there are just there for refreshment or rest and doesn’t have any attention to make quick payment while traveling between Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

However, if you place your bill payment kiosk at the entrance or exit of a shopping mall, the chances are almost everyone will notice them. Hence you should chose the placement of these kiosk machines very carefully. The shopping malls, bus and metro stations, markets, community centers and places with large footfall are ideal to place a bill payment kiosk. If you are placing it in your existing service center, even then the placement matters a lot. For example, if you are placing it at a corner, where it is not as that visible, then the chances are most of the people will end up in queues instead of going for the self-service bill payment kiosk. Ensuring the bill payment kiosk is placed at a well-lit, secure, easily accessible place could greatly increase the chances of success.

Why the Placement of the Bill Payment Kiosk is Crucial for Success?

Why “Pay and Go” Bill Payment Kiosks are the Future?

The Pay and Go kiosks is a type of self-service bill payment kiosks, very popular among retail and service sector in UAE. The Pay and Go kiosk not just only offers convenience but it is a great leap towards more customer-centric and efficient customer service. The ease-of-access, intuitiveness, personalized experience, multi-functionality and optimized service delivery not just ensure customer satisfaction but also boost operational performance.

The digitalization and automation plays a crucial role along with additional features such as remote management, real-time data updates and flexible integration and countless many more benefits of a customized self-service Pay and Go kiosk. Another reason of the popularity of the Pay and Go kiosks is the fast-paced lifestyle of the country. Quicker access to service, freedom of choice, full control over financial transactions and simplicity offered by Pay and Go bill payment kiosks make them and ideal solution for customer-centric businesses.

Businesses can leverage the cost-effectiveness and easier adaptation of the Pay and Go bill payment kiosks to expand their market reach and offer their services for a broader audience base. All the valuable features and advantages offered by Pay and Go kiosk machines are encouraging more businesses to adopt to these solutions to gain great competitive advantage.

Why “Pay and Go” Bill Payment Kiosks are the Future?

Conclusion

The bill payment kiosks are becoming an indispensable need of modern customer-centric businesses. The versatility, multi-functionality, quicker adaptation, and higher customer satisfaction are the major factor contributing to completely reshaping the business landscape of Dubai, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi and broader UAE. Various industries are witnessing huge rise in customer satisfaction and operational performance by implementing Pay and Go bill payment kiosk solutions. Above all these kiosk machines are very cost-efficient with relatively longer lifecycle, low maintenance needs, less operational cost and convenience are making them ideal for many industries. Offering a quicker and more user-friendly service channel can greatly reduce the workload of the service staff, which lead to better and improved staff performance and higher service quality.

However, when you are considering to implement a Pay and Go bill payment kiosk, there are certain things that you should consider, such as the features you want to offer, the customer journey optimization, the bill payment kiosks software, the integration and even the placement of the kiosk, all these factors are the main contributes in the success.

In this blog we have covered many aspects of bill payment kiosks and designed this guide to be more understandable for a vast majority of the audience. If you want to learn more about the bill payment kiosks or if you want our help to design and deploy a highly cost-effective tailor-made Pay and Go bill payment kiosk for your business, please feel free to contact us through our Contact Us page or leave a comment in the comment box below and we will get in touch with you soon.

February 12, 2024

Benefits of Investing in Custom Software Development for Your Business in Dubai

The modern day businesses depends heavily on various software applications and digital tools. In fact the operation of today’s business is nearly impossible without utilizing technology. The software applications range from a simple accounts tool to a complex HRMS and a full-fledged complete Business OS (operating system). Different businesses have different needs, different industry sectors have different norms and standards, hence different level of software are required. However, one thing is sure that all modern day business are using some sort of software tool. It could be even a humble email client, like outlook, that too is a software tool. Or it could be a highly sophisticated ERP system to manage thousands of employees and huge business operations. Businesses in Dubai, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi and all around the UAE tend to be early adopter of the modern technologies. Furthermore businesses and companies from all around the world have presence in Dubai and all around the UAE which raise the competitiveness and diversity of the business landscape in the country. It is the strategic location of the country and its ports along with its highly business-friendly government policies which is and which will keep attracting more businesses, therefore it is important to make your business as much competitive as possible.

The Importance of Technological Advancements in Business

The technology help businesses boost performance and productivity, it streamline internal processes, enhance customer experience, improve product/service quality and it offers better monitoring and tracking capabilities. That is why it is crucial to leverage technological advancements to remain ahead of your competition. When it comes to the software solutions, there are two distinct ways to do that, the commercial off-the-shelf software (COTS) solutions and custom software development. Both have their pros and cons, businesses are using various different types of software on different levels and with different complexity and sophistication. For example, if you need an email client, you don’t have to reinvent the wheel, you can use any off-the-shelf email client. But if you need an ERP, HR System, or a document processing system or an intranet application, CRM, or other such tool, then you should seriously consider your requirements, goals and objectives and then decide which software solution type will serve you best. Every business evolved differently, and it is this difference which attracts your customers. This also means that every business have different goals and objectives with exclusive needs and requirements. Which can only be fulfilled with custom software development, the COTS are standardized applications and doesn’t offer much room for customization.

Key Benefits of Custom Software Development for Businesses in Dubai

When business owners, managers or decision makers go with the custom software development they are usually doubtful about the impact of this project. Most of the time businesses are reluctant to go with custom software development because it requires much more time, efforts and in some cases initial cost is also higher comparing to available commercial off-the-shelf solutions available in the market. Here are some key benefits of custom software development for business in Dubai, which will assure them higher success and greater impact than the counterpart COTS.

Key Benefits of Custom Software Development: Customization

One thing that businesses can never achieve from commercial off-the-shelf software solutions is the ability to perfectly align the software with their unique needs and ability to addressing to the very unique challenges they are facing. However the custom software development not only personalize the software solution as per your business needs but it also helps you to address the unique challenges you are facing and tend to deliver exclusive advantages which can gain you great competitive edge. The custom software development project starts with intensive requirement gathering drive, which help the development team to understand all your needs and challenges. That is why the custom software development can deliver more effective software solutions. Furthermore when a software solution is built exclusively for your needs it will also allow you to choose the features, technologies and work flows as per your needs. This also help integrating custom software with your existing IT infrastructure in a nearly seamless manner.

Key Benefits of Custom Software Development: Cost-Effective

It is a common misconception that the custom software development is expensive, however, that is not true at all. It might seem that the initial cost of the commercial off-the-shelf software solutions is less and they can setup immediately, even within a day or two, however, the COTS have recurring cost, which diminishes with long-term cost-effectiveness and even it makes them much more expensive than the custom software solutions. The initial deployment cost of the custom software development is quit higher, it also require a lot of time and efforts to breathe life into an idea. However, the customized software solutions offers better and cost-effective scalability, customization and very less maintenance cost. There is no recurring cost and you can always get them managed and customized from your internal IT team or any vendor of your choice, thus you are also not limited and stuck to a specific vendor. All these factors results in an exceptionally higher ROI and great future readiness.

Key Benefits of Custom Software Development: Security and Reliability

The security and reliability are few of the most important and crucial factors to consider while deploying a software solution for your business. One of the biggest advantage of custom software development is its ability to let you chose the features and technologies. With the custom software development businesses can chose the top-notch technologies and platforms to ensure highest level of security and reliability. Especially when you want to meet the highest industry standards and regulatory compliances, the custom software development is the best choice. Businesses can not only customize the features but also the frameworks, platforms and hosting environments which assures highest level of data protection. Any security breach or leak of customers’ data can completely ruin your reputation. As the custom software development involves intensive requirement gathering and rigorous testing which makes your custom software apps more secure, reliable and less sensitive towards common technology challenges.

Key Benefits of Custom Software Development: Flexibility and Scalability

In the modern fast-paced business landscape of Dubai, businesses needs are not fixed and businesses have to accommodate for the impact of ever-changing customer needs and technology advancements to remain competitive. The commercial off-the-shelf software solutions can provide a good quick fix to your current needs, but doesn’t offer the flexibility, development and customization that you might be needing in the coming years. On top of that the commercial off-the-shelf software (COTS) are designed for masses hence lack the personalization and ability to customization to address your exclusive challenges. However, the custom software development on the other hand can offer great flexibility and scalability. Whether you need to address your unique challenges, or you have sophisticated business needs, you can mold the customized software they way you want. As time pass and your requirements changes or your needs grow you can further add more features and increase the capacity of customized software.

Key Benefits of Custom Software Development: Seamless System Integration

In today’s modern world, the businesses and organizations have become more sophisticated and require a lot many different IT solutions and software tools. In order to effectively execute a task or to ensure seamless business processes for higher productivity and performance it is absolutely essential that all the different software, systems and solutions work in full harmony by enabling seamless communication between them. This communication means exchange of data, information and instructions. This is what is called system integration, it also known as integration or third-party integration. The custom off-the-shelf software solutions only provide limited integration capabilities. However, custom software development will enable businesses to build the software to be more compatible with their existing systems, databases, and IT infrastructure which makes them more compatible and integration friendly. Furthermore businesses can also customize them to achieve their integration objectives.

Key Benefits of Custom Software Development: Higher Productivity

The custom software development help businesses to achieve higher efficiency and productivity. There are several factors that help improving performance and efficiency, such as:

Custom software development let businesses build the user-friendly software solutions
Intuitive user interfaces (UIs) can greatly enhance user experience (UX)
Ability to customize the UI and workflows help employees easily adopt the new system
Customized feature help employees get their tasks done with higher efficiency
Different user groups can have exclusive features which further enhance their efficiency
System integration allow minimizing repetitive work and enhance performance
Ability to integrate mobile applications can greatly increase accessibility and convenience
Customized features and functionalities help improving workflows and business processes
Ability to monitor and track performance offers higher visibility

Businesses can greatly improve employee performance by deploying customized software solutions. That is not all, the custom software development offers businesses full control over the working of all features and help them get the desired outcome which can greatly improve internal processes, workflows and help businesses gain higher productivity.

Key Benefits of Custom Software Development: Higher Productivity

Why Businesses in Dubai should Invest in Custom Software Development?

As I have mentioned above there are several benefits of custom software development which makes it superior from commercial off-the-shelf software solutions. The custom software development help businesses digitalize their internal processes and maximize their efficiency by leveraging the automation. Furthermore when a software is exclusively designed for your business it will fully align with your needs, internal processes and strategic objectives. This makes it more impactful and productive comparing to commercial off-the-shelf solutions. Here is why a business in Dubai should invest in custom software development:

The commercial off-the-shelf software only partially match your business needs, however, the custom software development enables you to design and develop an exclusive solution which fully aligns with your business needs, integrates with your existing IT infrastructure and it also offers long-term service and support.
The development process of a commercial off-the-shelf software solution is slow, it only offers upgrades when a large majority of the users need it. However the custom software grows with business needs, any need can be met immediately either by customization or by adding more features and so on.
The commercial off-the-shelf software solutions are provided by a vendor or service provider, which offers very less control over various important aspects of the software. However with the custom software development businesses not only have full control over their data, storage and software but businesses also have full ownership rights for their customized software.
The commercial off-the-shelf software solutions are designed for masses and the vendor doesn’t have much interest in your exclusive needs or challenges, in fact the vendor follow the industry standards and market trends. However, the for the customized software solutions you get in touch with the software developers, designers and IT specialists who are designing your software application, thus they have better understand of you needs, concerns and challenges.
Although the initial cost of the commercial off-the-shelf software solutions is relatively lower, however, there are several recurring expenses. The COTS offer very limited customization but it is very expensive, moreover the scalability too is very expensive. The custom software development of the other hand have slightly higher initial cost, but in long term have no recurring cost, in fact it offers full ownership rights to the businesses and offer more flexibility, customization and easy scalability.

As the market landscape in Dubai is very competitive and dynamic therefore businesses need higher productivity, lower operational cost and better tools to gain greater competitive advantage. And the custom software development can provide all of these.

Why Businesses in Dubai should Invest in Custom Software Development?

Conclusion

In this modern and fast-paced market landscape in Dubai, where the customer needs are growing endlessly, rapid and sudden change are very common across all industry verticals, businesses need a proactive software development approach to mold and align their tools with the changing and growing needs. The custom software development is the way to design and develop software which are exclusively build according to the business needs and latest industry trends. Furthermore the businesses need to integrate various software and applications in order to improve their operational capabilities and to boost the employee performance. All this can only be achieved with a more flexible and controllable software development method which is only offered by the custom software development. The commercial off-the-shelf software solutions might offer lesser initial cost and are extremely easy to setup, however, in longer run neither they remain relevant nor cost-effective.

The custom software solutions on the other hand has incredible ability to grow as business grows and offer great ROI in long run. In this blog we have covered key benefits of investing in custom software development for business in Dubai and all across the UAE. If you want to learn more about the subject or if you want our help with your next custom software development project, please feel free to contact us through our Contact Us page or leave a comment in the comment box below and we will get in touch with you soon.

February 1, 2024February 1, 2024

How to Optimize Customer Flow Management for Scaling Business Growth?

The customer flow management is the most crucial aspect of customer journey. A good customer interaction and seamless customer journey determines the customer satisfaction and happiness. Happy and satisfy customers tend to be loyal hence provide a stable foundation where business can build up their growth and achieve their long-term goals. The important thing here to understand is that scaling and growth are two different processes. The business growth is a linear process and happens on a steady pace, while scaling means a sudden boost in revenue without exponential raise in resources. Businesses achieve growth by investing more resources, developing new products/services and investing in infrastructure and business processes. However, scaling happens when business effectively optimize the resources in hand and without making huge investments, businesses achieve higher profitability and generate more revenue. The scaling is achieved by implementing new strategies, improving processes and methodologies on a larger scale to achieve high-performance operations which drive more revenue and sales.

What is the Difference between Growth and Scaling?

If we compare the growth and scaling, the scaling tends to be the most desirable route to achieve long-term business growth. Businesses in Dubai, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi and other parts of UAE are well-aware of the fact that opening up new branches, hiring more staff, enduring the R&D for new products/services could be a very expensive and lengthy ordeal. Therefore instead of that businesses prefer to scale up. Think of a business such as a SaaS service provider, the initial cost of building up a SaaS product, acquiring infrastructure and hiring the relevant staff is a really big deal. However once the business is established the same businesses can serve thousands of customers while adding thousand more without increasing much of their expenses. Thus that means the expense remains almost same while the business started serving double or tripper number of customers which boost their revenue and also profit margins. Therefore scaling is one of the best route to achieve long-term growth. In this blog we will discuss how by simply optimizing the customer flow management a business can greatly boost revenue and drive growth.

Understanding the Customer Flow Management

The understanding and mastery of customer flow management is essential for scaling business growth. A queue management system plays a pivotal role in enhancing customer flow management, but before we discuss that it is important to understand the basics of customer flow management. By definition the customer flow management is a strategic planning and implementation of measures and protocols to effectively and efficiently manage the customer movements and interactions within business premises. The primary objective of customer flow management is to improve customer journey and enhance customer experience which is essential for higher customer satisfaction. The customer flow management helps businesses removing congestion, delays, avoiding long wait time and ensuring a smoother and seamless experience throughout the customer journey. Businesses often focus a lot on customer flow management as it guarantees higher customer satisfaction, better operational performance and profitability which ultimately translates into growth.

Key Strategies to Optimize Customer Flow Management with Queue Management System

A queue management system is a perfect tool to enhance customer flow management. A queue management system is a digital solution consisting of hardware and software components which are exclusively designed to enhance various processes involved in customer flow management. A queue management system greatly improves customer experience, it streamlines customer flow, automates several processes and offer useful features for service staff. Collectively all these features greatly reduce customer wait time and improve service quality. A queue management system is capable of completely transforming the service centers. It offer better visibility, monitoring, real-time queuing data, engaging customer waiting experience and a satisfactory customer journey which help businesses to be able to serve more customers without adding more counters or opening up new branches or investing huge amounts of hard-earned profits to expand physically.

Here are key strategies to optimize customer flow management by deploying an efficient queue management system:

Streamline Physical Space: A queue management system is a great tool to fully leverage the physical space you have. It helps guiding customers to the right counter, providing them real-time queuing updates in the waiting areas and making audio-visual announcements while eliminating congestions, crowd formation and typical waiting line problems.
Digitalization and Automation: A queue management system offers digital interaction and enable customers to sign-in to virtual queues using on-site self-service ticket dispensing kiosks, mobile applications, web portals, QR Codes and much more. It automatically route customers to the least wait time queues while directing them to the required service counter.
Personalized Customer Experience: A queue management system can automate the process of identifying customers and detecting their priority while automatically managing their route as per the queuing policy. A queue management system can also offer secure authentication methods such as Emirates ID scanning, biometrics, QR code and various other methods.
Data-Driven Insights: A queue management system can produce a wealth of valuable business intelligence data and insight by automatically collecting statistical and analytical data from each touch points. It stores historical data and provides in-built analytical tools which help management extract actionable reports and integrate insights to their decision making process.
Staff Empowerment: A queue management system offers various dashboard for administration, management and for service agents. It also offers innovative features to aid staff in pre and post-service tasks while expediting the service delivery process. A queue management system can accurately capture various employee KPIs which help in better human resource management and help HR in developing effective training programs to empower staff.

A queue management system also offers customization which enables businesses to build a tailored solution as per their unique needs. Furthermore businesses can also integrate the queue management system with various other tools, systems, databases and central information system to develop more effective, efficiency and innovative features. A queue management system is an ultimate tool to enhance and optimize the customer flow management while driving growth by scaling and boosting performance.

Optimize Customer Flow Management by Deploying an Efficient Queue Management System

How to Measure the Effectiveness of a Queue Management System?

If you are a business operating in Dubai, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi or any other part of UAE you must be aware of a wide variety of queue management systems available in the market. This could sometime cause confusion and made it difficult for the managers and decision makers to choose the right solution as per their needs. However with a few very simple and easy-to-understand metrics you can easily measure the effectiveness and impact of a queue management system on your operations, customer flow management and customer satisfaction. Here are a few KPIs or Key Performance Indicators which can be used to measure and quantify the impact of a queue management system:

Customer Wait Time: A reduction in customer wait time is a clear indicator of the success of your queue management system. This means if one counter was able to serve 20 customers in a day would now be able to serve, let say 30 or even more customers in a single shift.
Improved Service Delivery Process: The service delivery process involves various aspects, but majorly you can monitor the average service delivery time and compare it with the service delivery time before deploying the queue management system.
Customer Satisfaction or NPS Score: Businesses can integrate a customer satisfaction survey, customer happiness meter, rating scale or NPS feedback system via tabletop feedback screens. The customer happiness directly reflect the positive impact of queue management system.
Employee Performance KPIs: A queue management system can accurately monitor several employee performance KPIs for the service staff. Improvements in those KPIs is a direct indicator of the positive impact of the queue management system.

Regularly monitoring these metrics can provide you a deeper insight to the impact on deploying a queue management system on various aspects of your service center such as employee performance, customer satisfaction, and overall profitability and progress.

How to Measure the Effectiveness of a Queue Management System?

Can Small Businesses also Benefits from Optimizing Customer Flow Management?

There is a common misconception high-end software and advanced solutions like a queue management system are only suitable for large businesses, enterprises and organization. This perception is majorly due to another misconception which is that inertly such solutions are expensive. However, that is not true, a queue management system is a very cost-effective solution offering extraordinarily higher ROIs. Therefore a queue management system is effective and beneficial for every business regardless of the size, type or industry. In fact a queue management system is an excellent solution for a small business which enables them to achieve higher operational performance while improving customer satisfaction and happiness. A queue management system helps improving customer flow, minimizing customer wait time, boosting service staff performance and raising customer satisfaction. All these are essential ingredients for a small businesses who is looking to build loyal customer base and are competing with large businesses. Businesses can leverage the potential of a queue management system to achieve sustainable growth.

Conclusion

Deploying a queue management system is not just a strategic move to optimize customer flow for scaling business growth. But it is a most vital and essential step towards achieving long-term and sustainable business growth. Scaling business means leveraging the full potential of existing resources to maximize the revenue without proportionally adding resources/expenses. A queue management system is capable of transforming the entire service center while boosting the efficiency to many folds. It automates customer journey and customer flow, it helps service agents boosting productivity and performance. Furthermore businesses can also monitor and measure the efficacy and impact of a queue management system by monitoring some very simple key metrics. A queue management system is a very cost-effective solution offering extraordinary ROIs which makes it equally effective for all types and sizes of businesses.

Especially for small businesses it can greatly boost their operational performance and capabilities enabling them to serve more customers and generate more revenue. If you want to learn more about the subject or if you want our help to develop a custom queue management system for your business, please feel free to contact us through our Contact Us page or leave a comment in the comment box below and we will get in touch with you soon.

September 11, 2023

Building a Successful Email Marketing Funnel with Email Marketing System

Businesses in Dubai, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi and all across UAE have witnessed huge rise in conversion by implementing successful email marketing funnels with advanced email marketing system. There is a common misconception about the email marketing and email marketing systems, that there is a universal or standard framework which every business can follow to get the desired results. However, that mindset is the biggest cause of failure of email marketing strategies. According to several global studies, the CTR (click through rate), Open Rate and the conversion are consistently increasing since past 5 years. Here it is also important to understand that not all emails are intended to make a sale, most of the email that businesses send to their customers are to build and nurture relationships or for communication. When we talk specifically about the email marketing, it is considered the most cost-efficient marketing channel with almost $40 USD generated against every $1 USD spent on email marketing. That is staggering, but for different industries the benchmarks are different. Furthermore each business have a different personality, a different audience and a completely different preferences and goals. That is why an email marketing system is essential for managing building modern email marketing funnels.

Building a Successful Email Marketing Funnel with Email Marketing System

What is an Email Marketing Funnel?

The email marketing funnel is basically an email campaign consists of a series of different emails designed specifically to mature a lead into conversion by nurturing it and communication the right message according to the targeted audience throughout the entire customer journey. In fact it is a tactics to effectively manage customer journey. The funnels are designed not only to convert but to retain and make them loyal customers. That is why it is a long-term strategy consisting of following stages:

Brand Awareness – Present your products/services and the value you offer
Consideration/Engagement – Identify the problems and position your products/services as the right solution
Conversion – Nurturing relationship and facilitating onboarding
Loyalty – Ensuring your customers are satisfied with your brand
Retention/Advocacy – Strengthen relationship, make improvements, offer new solutions

The email marketing funnel is not a standard framework with a set of rules and standard practices. It is in fact different from each business, based on the targeted audience, business type, and even brand personality, the email marketing funnel could be built to maximize the outcome. Every business need to set their goals and acquire insight to understand their targeted audience before setting up their email marketing funnel. Furthermore there is always a room for the improvements. That is why an exclusive email marketing system is essential for designing a successful email marketing funnel. The email marketing system will help businesses quickly set up and execute their campaigns, it also help automating several repetitive tasks and can automatically handle different audience segments. The email marketing system is a great tool to quickly tweak and fine-tune your email marketing funnel to maximize the results.

What is an Email Marketing Funnel?

How to Build a Successful Email Marketing Funnel with Email Marketing System?

The email marketing funnels can be built easily with an effective email marketing system. The email marketing software help businesses to easily laydown and execute their plans and derive strategies which returns maximum ROI. Furthermore the email marketing systems are based on a powerful software which can be integrated with various internal systems and process. The integration allow management to easily execute their strategies and measure the effects. Without a proper email marketing system it is extremely difficult to build an effective email marketing funnel. Here are a few simple steps to build a successful email marketing funnel while using an effective email marketing software:

Email Marketing Funnel: Research and Planning

For any successful strategy the planning is a must, and for planning you need proper research. For email marketing funnel the very first step is acquiring insights, doing research and understanding your needs. The research and planning should include:

Acquiring Insight: Starting with acquiring insight, gathering data and understanding customer needs and expectations. It is important to build a comprehensive record of changing customer preferences over the time and then plan your communication accordingly.
Customer Segmentation: You cannot simply send a single email to all of your customers. You should segment them on the bases of their demographics, product/service preferences and also geographical data. Segmentation will help you catering to the needs of your targeted audience.
Customer Journey Mapping: The customer journey mapping is extremely important. Usually businesses doesn’t pay much attention on building customer journey maps. The customer journey map is simply a visual and simplified representation of the steps that your customers had to take form the very first interaction or brand awareness stage to converting into a sale. Different customer segments usually have different needs and also take different route to convert.
Building Email Lists: For any successful email marketing campaign the absolute essential is the right email list. Every business should build an email list. For that you can build opt-in forms, subscription forms, and lead capturing forms. This will help you with segmentation too.
Setting up Goals: It is extremely important that your goals align with the high-level organizational goals and objectives. If your goal is to generate more sales your emails should communicate the value proposition, if you want to build loyalty, your email marketing funnel should be able to engage with customers to increase their satisfaction and gain trust.

Building a successful email marketing funnel requires targeting different customer segments and catering them a variety of different products, services and communication materials as per their needs. Which is only possible if you have an effective email marketing system in place.

How to Build a Successful Email Marketing Funnel with Email Marketing System?

Email Marketing Funnel: Chose the Right Email Marketing Tool

The success of any email marketing funnel depends on how you target the audience, what message you send to them and the right message at the right time is the key to success. This is nearly impossible without using a fully or semi-automated email marketing system. When it comes to email marketing tools there are tons of options available in UAE. Businesses often rely on cloud based services as well, however, there are several factors that you should consider while choosing a right email marketing tool for your business. It is extremely important that you use a very effective email marketing tool to build you email marketing funnel. Here are the most important factors that you should consider while choosing a right email marketing tool for your marketing funnel:

Features
Price (Initial and Operational Cost)
Integration
Customization
Security and Privacy

When it comes to the features of an email marketing tool, the most important features are the tools to create the email template and the automation tools. Usually all email marketing systems comes with two basic content creation tools, a text editor, and an HTML customizer. Some email marketing tools also comes with a drag-and-drop type content customizer. It all depends on your needs, the HTML editor is the most preferred and commonly used template creation tool.

The success of any email marketing funnel depends on how you target the audience

The integration is one of the most important features, which could have different challenges with different off-the-shelf email marketing tools. The integration helps automating the email campaigns. For example if you are planning to send post-sale emails with follow up surveys or any content, you can integrate your email marketing system with your ERP, or customer database and sales management system which will send a trigger when a new sales is made and the email marketing tool will automatically sends a pre-set email template to the customer. You can personalize emails for customers and automate the entire funnel, you can send occasional greetings, newsletters and follow up emails, automatically. The customization is another important factor which allow you to keep up with the market trends and enables you to adopt to new practices and add features that suits your needs down the road. Most of the off-the-shelf solutions doesn’t allow any customization and the ones who allow it, offer very little and very expensive customization. If you are using a third-party email marketing tool or a cloud-based solution your data and content is hosted with service provider, you will have limited control and authority over it.

The integration is one of the most important features, which could have different challenges with different off-the-shelf email marketing tools

However, if you are using a customized email marketing system you can avoid all these problems, you can customize is as per you needs, you don’t have to pay hefty fees for upgrades or customization. You are not bound to a single service provider, you can host your data and content with yourself and as you may please. The custom email marketing system is a software which is exclusively designed for your business needs. You can acquire the services of a custom software development agency in Dubai like RSI Concepts or you can have in-house team to develop the custom email marketing tool as per your needs. The ownership rights belongs to you your business, you are not bound to service provider for anything, you can have another team to maintain, manage and customize your bespoke email marketing system. The final and most important thing is the cost. The cost of a ready-made email marketing system is usually higher, as they are providing you the platform and also the email server which you are using to send email. If you are a small business, you might not require a separate email server. If you are a mid-sized or large enterprise you can easily acquire a third-party email server to utilize with your custom email marketing tool. Altogether the ROI of a custom email marketing system is much higher than a commercial off-the-shelf or cloud-based email marketing tool.

A custom email marketing system is a software which is exclusively designed for your business needs

Email Marketing Funnel: Brand Awareness and Building Lists

Now that you have a clear goal and right tech in place, it is time to start implementing your strategy and plans. The very first step of any email marketing funnel starts with brand awareness stage. At this stage you communicate your brand message, acquire subscribers and build lists. The prime objective of brand awareness campaign is to get as much contacts of your prospects as possible. If you communicate your brand values and produce enough appeal in your content, you will get higher conversion rate at this stage. There are different tools and channels which can be used for brand awareness campaign. You can embed email subscription in your website and mobile apps. You can set up pop-up forms to collect lead data and you can run adverts on digital platforms to collect as many leads as possible. Because on later stages you will be nurturing these leads to generate sales. You should use lead magnets in your digital campaigns, whether it is a landing page, YouTube display ad, Google search ad, Facebook Ad or Instagram Reel, the lead magnet strategy will help you to collect more leads. A lead magnet is simple an incentive or appeal to attract prospects and to compel them to take time to fill in the lead form or to provide you their email address. Once you got that start with the welcome series emails where you introduce your brand, different solutions you are offering and present the value your products and services can provide.

The very first step of any email marketing funnel starts with brand awareness stage

Email Marketing Funnel: Consideration – Nurturing Your Leads

With a successful brand awareness campaign now is the time when your prospects are seriously considering your brand and comparing it with their existing brands and any other available solutions they can avail. This is a very crucial stage. At this stage you should build trust by positioning your products, services and solutions as the ideal solution for your prospects’ problems and needs. This is the time when your emails will tell your prospects the true value of your products, services and solutions and what made your brand and your solutions unique and better from other competitors. Your emails should communicate your value proposition, unique selling point and ROI of your solutions. At this stage your communication should build a sense of urgency to encourage your leads to quickly convert, and also address the most obvious concerns they could have. Ensure your prospects you will provide them good support and service. Studies have revealed that more than 80% of the prospects genuinely consider the rating and reviews of the other customers and this can greatly influence their decision. That is why it is important to include user-generated content, testimonials, customer rating, case-studies and even some free resources which will help you building gaining their trust. You should also include comparisons of your products and services with your leading competitors to give confidence to your prospects.

At this stage you should build trust by positioning your products, services and solutions as the ideal solution for your prospects’ problems and needs

Email Marketing Funnel: Conversion and Onboarding

The most important stage in customer journey is the conversion and onboarding, because that can also be counted as the first comprehensive experience your customers will have with your brand. This is where you should be able to utilize the advance customization and template creation tools of your email marketing system. It is extremely important to make your onboarding simpler and quicker. You should also design a series of emails which share promotions, offers and you can bundle them with freebies and special discounts to encourage your prospects to convert. Here an important thing to consider is that if your emails are too much pushy then it will repel your customers. It is better to use professional language, eye-catchy graphics with an adequate topping of urgency. Creating urgency is crucial, it will help you keeping your customers focused and not leaving them enough room to do comprehensive research which might change their mind. The onboarding process should be simpler, do not include long forms and complex steps in the onboarding process. Your email should be able to provide a clear and easy-to-follow path to conversion with adequate information and resources which can help your customers to convert conveniently. Any obstacle or complication at this stage will cost you a potential customer.

It is extremely important to make your onboarding simpler and quicker

Email Marketing Funnel: Building Loyalty

The customer journey doesn’t end at conversion, in fact a marketing funnel must include a comprehensive series of emails which are designed to keep your customers engaged. It is important to have a proper loyalty program in place. Your email marketing funnel will help you to achieve more customer loyalty with your loyalty program. You can share regular promotions, exclusive offers for customers, personalized communication, and loyalty rewards to obtain your customers’ loyalty. At this stage your communication should keep your customers engaged for example, you can create and share content which help your customers to effectively utilize the features of your products, services or solutions. At this stage collecting customer feedback, encouraging them to participate in polls contests and draws will increase their engagement. The customer engagement drives customer loyalty and help strengthening the relationship between a brand and its customers. Your emails should convey the message that you value your customers and how important they are for your business, you can do so by appreciating their loyalty, offering discounts or special deals, etc. An email marketing system will help you set-up scheduled campaigns and it will also help you personalizing your emails which are more effective than generic emails.

You can share regular promotions, exclusive offers for customers, personalized communication, and loyalty rewards to obtain your customers’ loyalty

Email Marketing Funnel: Increasing Retention

Customer retention is somewhat similar to building loyalty. However, the core difference between the two is that in your customer retention campaigns you include both your new customers and existing customers as well. The customer loyalty is an ongoing process, you will have to keep nurturing your relationship with your customers in order to retain them and get repeated business from them. The customer retention is not only important for getting repeated business, but it will also help you establish a strong and positive brand identity. The customer retention campaigns will help you maximizing the customer lifecycle which will maximize your ROI. The customer retention campaign is also more targeted, you must segment your customers on the bases of their purchases/subscription, their preferences, interests and demographic data. A good email marketing tool will help you setup multiple email templates for multiple customer segments. You should also focus on the active customers rather than each and every contact is your list. When you will focus only on active customers the chances to get another sale are very high. The customer feedback also plays very important role in customer retention. You can integrate your email marketing system with a customer feedback system and execute a closed-loop customer feedback campaign which will further help you strengthening the relationship with your customers. When you increase customer engagement, share useful information, offer them personalized and exclusive deals/discounts, and keep them up to date your customer retention increases.

The customer retention campaigns will help you maximizing the customer lifecycle which will maximize your ROI

Conclusion

The email marketing is one of the oldest digital marketing method and still it is one of the best digital marketing method. According to studies a business can generate up to $40 USD on each $1 USD spend on email marketing. However, simply just sending emails to your customers or prospects is not enough. The business operating in Dubai, Sharjah, and Abu Dhabi or anywhere in UAE are actively utilizing emails to communicate with their customers. However, most of the businesses are unaware of the impact of a successful email marketing funnel. In this blog we have discussed what an email marketing funnel is and how businesses can easily build a successful email marketing funnel with the help of an effective email marketing system. The email marketing system is a very powerful software tool, which is used to streamline email communication and marketing for a business. The email marketing tools help automating email campaigns and also enable businesses to send hyper-personalized emails to maximize the impact and ROI.

There are two types of email marketing tools, the commercial off-the-shelf tools and the customized email marketing systems. The custom email marketing tools is much superior as it will be designed exclusively for your business and according to your needs. You can also start with a cloud-based system and build your email marketing funnel. If you want to learn more about the subject or if you want our help to design and develop a customized email marketing system for your business, please feel free to contact us through our Contact Us page or leave a comment in the comment box below and we will get in touch with you soon.

August 18, 2023October 14, 2023

A Complete Guide to a Multi-Branch Queue Management System

Customer facing environments are most sensitive part of a business’s operations. It is extremely important for a business to maximize the operational productivity to ensure the customers are having a satisfactory experience. For large businesses with multiple branches the management is even more challenging. Usually the senior management is sitting in the head office, it is a time taking process to get the updates and information related to any branch. Most of the time the head office will have to approach the branch manager to provide them the required information. The queuing and customer flow management is always difficult. Therefore businesses need a digital queue management system which can help them streamline their customer flow and improve their operational capabilities. The digital queue management system provides live queuing coverage, instant updates, alerts/notifications, business intelligence data and useful features for service agent, branch managers, head office and senior management. The queue management system is an intelligent software solution with hardware components to offer a full control and monitoring over the customer journey which helps improving customer experience. In this guide we will discuss how business can implement and leverage a multi-branch queue management system to drive growth.

What is a Multi-Branch Queue Management System?

A multi-branch queue management system is a centralized queue management system which enables businesses to manage and monitor customer queues and customer flow in real-time across all connected branches. The multi-branch queue management system runs on a centralized software which is hosted on an in-premises server, online or in cloud. The server is connected to all branches. A basic queue management system have multiple devices integrated in a synchronized framework. For example, there is an interactive self-service ticket dispensing kiosk which not only dispense tokens but also take basic information of the customer and in some cases it has ability to ID the customer as well. There is a digital signage screen which displays the live queuing information along with some multimedia content. The modern queue management systems also have integrated counter name plates which display counter number and the token number which is being served at the moment. Furthermore there is an audio announcement system which is used for customer calling. All these devices form one branch’s setup, and if there are more than one branch, in case of a multi-branch queue management system all these devices in all branches are connected to a centralized queue management software which monitor and control all these components of the system.

How does a Multi-Branch Queue Management System Works?

The multi-branch queuing also works on the concept of queue management system and crowd control, but it provides additional management features which greatly improve the efficiency of the queuing process. In a multi-branch queue management system setup all branches are connected via network to the main server software. The server application communicates with all branches in real-time. Whenever any action is taken in any branch the information is sent to the server and then the response is sent to the branch instantly. Think of a website, the website is hosted on a cloud which might be located in another continent, however, when you click on a link or a file, it immediately opens it. Same technical process works here too. When a user/customer in any branch choose a service to generate a token number, the information is sent to the queue management system software which is hosted on a server, and then in return it issues a token number which is being printed out instantly from where the user/customer made the request. All branches are connected to the head-office in a similar fashion via a public or private network. The smart algorithms and source code is executed at the server, and all the data is also stored in the server. The service agents, branch managers, and the senior management or head office staff gets their dedicated administrative dashboards and the access to data and functionality is managed by an in-built administration and authentication module. That is how a multi-branch queue management system works.

What are the Benefits of using a Multi-Branch Queue Management System?

The biggest advantage of a multi-branch queue management system is that it offers a centralized management framework where all the information are stored in a central location, which makes management and monitoring much easier comparing to standalone queue management system. If each branch have a standalone queue management system then the information will be stored in silos, which poses monitoring and management challenges. Furthermore the senior management or head office doesn’t require any intermediate database/integration to consolidate all the information flowing from and towards all branches. Here are the key benefits of a multi-branch queue management system:

Easy Monitoring and Administration from a centralized location
All the data and updates are available in a centralized location which enables real-time monitoring and control over all connected branches
Since there is only one main queue management system software, therefore the implementation, operational and maintenance cost is low
All the dashboards are updated in real-time, the content/configurations can be pushed in real-time to all connected branches
Handling large footfall, congestion, and several other problems is easy with real-time monitoring and it enables the management to take quick and informed decisions
Enables real-time monitoring of customer flow, customer wait time, employee performance and other queuing metrics and system stats
Senior managers, branch managers, supervisors and stakeholders have up-to-date information and data all the time, there is no lag or latency
Easy integration with third-party software tools, customer databases, and central information center help driving efficiency and productivity

A multi-branch queue management system is essential for businesses who are managing multiple branches in remote locations, it help them minimize the administrative efforts while maximizing the operational productivity.

What are the Benefits of using a Multi-Branch Queue Management System?

What are the Best Practices for Implementing a Multi-Branch Queue Management System?

Implementing a multi-branch queue management system is a crucial task. The businesses should be very careful in choosing the right vendor, technology, queuing system type and several other factors. Here are some key points that a business should consider while implementing a multi-branch queue management system:

Identify your requirements and make a plan of what features you want to include
Find and shortlist multiple queue management system vendors
Scrutinize all vendors, evaluate proposals and finalize the best vendor
Choose the right platform and queuing type for your business
Always start with a pilot project, implement the system at one or maximum two branches
Train your employees, provide them with the manuals and required technical support, etc.
Now closely observe the performance of the branch and try to find what can be improved
Take feedback from customers, employees, managers and relevant stakeholders
Discuss and share your observations and finding with the vendor and make improvements
Monitor the system and evaluate the changes you made, and repeat until your customers are satisfied
Now go for full-fledge implementation or start implementing in remaining branches one-by-one

If you will consider the above suggestions you can save a lot of time and efforts.

What are the Best Practices for Implementing a Multi-Branch Queue Management System?

What are the Challenges of Implementing a Multi-Branch Queue Management System?

Implementing a multi-branch queue management system is not an easy task, there are several challenges that a business could face while implementing a multi-channel queue management system, such as:

Initial Cost: One of the biggest challenge is the initial cost, if you are planning to implement a multi-branch queue management system across all branches at once, the cost could be very high. That is why the best practice is to start with pilot project, and implement the queue management system to all branches in small chunks, such as one-by-one, or 2 or 3 branches at a time, etc.
System Integration: When you are implementing a multi-branch queue management system or any other system, the biggest technical challenge is the integration with other tools, and data synchronization. A modern queue management system with customer-friendly features would require many different types of integration. If your existing IT infrastructure and other systems are not compatible then you might have to develop intermediate tools to streamline the data flow.
Employee Training: Whenever a business implements a new solution they require training for the employees, same is the case with the multi-branch queue management system. You must have to train your employees in order to enable them to leverage the full potential of the queue management system. User manuals, guides, and training videos can be created to make your employees well versed with your new multi-branch queue management system.

It might sound difficult and a bit challenging though but implementing a multi-branch queue management system is not as that challenging. Businesses will have to face all these challenges whenever they implement a new system. However, a queue management system is relatively easier to work with, furthermore the business can use customized UIs and branding tactics to reduce the training needs.

What are the Challenges of Implementing a Multi-Branch Queue Management System?

Conclusion

The customer satisfaction is essential for growth and stability. Businesses are always eager to implement solutions and offer services to raise the customer satisfaction. Businesses managing multiple branches always face administrative issues, the visibility and data flow is one of the most challenging task in any multi-branch setup. That is why when it comes to queue management system, most of the businesses in Dubai, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi and other emirates of UAE prefer to implement standalone systems. However, that is not ideal, in order to leverage the full potential of a modern queue management system businesses need a comprehensive multi-branch queuing solution. A multi-branch queue management system is a very effective tool, it help businesses dealing with technical challenges, and it offer real-time monitoring and control over all branches. That is what makes it most effective. In this guide we have discussed multi-branch queue management system in brief details and tried to answer most of the questions a business could have while planning to implement a multi-branch queue management system. If you want to learn more about the subject or if you want our help to implement a customized and very cost-efficiency multi-branch queue management system for your business, please feel free to contact us through our Contact Us page or leave a comment in the comment box below and we will get in touch with you soon.

August 14, 2023

Maximizing Efficiency: The Benefits of Implementing a Queue Management System

Every business wants efficient operation, whether it is some internal process or a customer facing environment, the efficiency is essential. When a business has efficient work flows, processes and even the teams, they tend to produce more and better outcome with whatever resources they have in hand. That is the reason in order to generate value and drive profits a business needs efficiency in every aspect of the operations. Now when we talk about the customer facing environments, the biggest challenge is to make customer flow efficient and improve customer experience. Whether you are operating in Dubai, Sharjah, Abu Dhabi or any other part of UAE you must be aware of the fact that every customer have too many choices, you one mistake and you can lose them to your competitor. Furthermore the customers are also very demanding and they tend to switch service provider very quickly. Even just a single bad experience is enough to make customer the switch. Studies and market research have revealed that it is 9 to 25 times more expensive to acquire a new customer comparing to selling to an existing customer. That is why customer experience and customer satisfaction is crucial for a business success.

What is a Queue Management System?

A queue management system is a tool which consists of software and hardware parts and it is used to manage the customer flow and customer experience. The queue management software is a server application which is connected to an interactive self-service ticket dispensing kiosk or queuing kiosk. It is also connected to digital signage screens and audio announcement system. Some businesses also use dynamic counter plates which can also be managed through the queue management system. Furthermore the hardware part of the queue management system includes a ticket dispensing kiosk which allow your customers and visitors to interact with the system and issue them token numbers. There is a digital signage screen, which displays live queuing details and keep your guests informed about the current activities on each service counter. A business can have multiple signage depends on the premises size. Similarly the audio announcement system is also hardware part powered by in-built multi-lingual audio announcements module. The counter plates are also connected to the queue management system via network and can display the counter number/name along with the current ticket number. These components form a standard queue management system with basic configurations. Businesses can add more software and hardware components to enhance the features of the queue management system.

What are the Drawbacks of Poorly Organized Customer Flow?

A poorly organized customer flow have many drawbacks, it doesn’t only affect your customers but it will also have a negative impact on your employees and their performance. Which will translate to low productivity, poor growth, bad business reputation, higher customer churn rate, lower conversion rate and in the long run it will damage your brand image. When the queues or waiting lines are not managed properly the very first effect is extended wait time. When the customers will have to wait for longer period of time, they will be frustrated and annoyed. This will cause many other problems such as line jumping, customer complaints and more fraction in customer journey. When the waiting lines are not managed efficiently they employees also suffer, they will have to deal with customer complaints, they will have to manage the queues by themselves and they will have more workload, it will also distract them from their primary tasks which will undermine their performance. The customers will reach to the counter in stress and they will be unhappy, this will result in poor interaction with the service agents, and it will also make it difficult for the service agents to satisfy the customer. Long waiting lines, and extended wait time will result in higher customer churn. When employees will fail to improve their performance despite putting all efforts, they will leave too. Higher employee turnover will cause several other problems, higher customer churn rate will damage your business’s reputation.

What are The Benefits of Implementing a Queue Management System?

There are several benefits of implementing a queue management system, but it is important to understand that there are different types of queue management systems available in the market. You must have to choose the right solution that suits your needs and business type. However, one of the best way is to hire a well-reputed queue management system provider such as RSI Concepts and ask them to build a bespoke tailor-made customized queue management system according to your needs. Here are some of the benefits of implementing a queue management system:

Reduction in Customer Waiting Time

When the customer flow is well-organized, they queuing process is automated the customer wait time will automatically reduce. By implementing a queue management system businesses can automate several queuing process. The ticket dispensing is automated, the customer flow is managed by the smart algorithms of the queue management software, and the employee performance is also improved. A queue management system can automatically take decisions, and set customer route according to the historical data and the live queuing data, which is why the customer wait time is optimized. Furthermore the queue management system also help improving customers’ waiting experience by reducing the perceived wait time. It keep customers engaged and distracted from the waiting by frequently making audio-visual announcements and updating the digital signage. Furthermore the queue management system can also play multimedia content, adverts, promotional and marketing content on the digital signage which also help increasing customer engagement and help optimizing the perceived wait time.

Improved Employee Performance

When a business implements a queue management system the employee efficiency and performance is significantly improved. Without a queue management system the employees will have to adhere to several other tasks, most of which are not productive. Manually managing customer flow, especially during the peak-hours can greatly undermine the employee performance and it also have toll on service quality. However, with a proper queue management system in place the employees don’t have to worry about many things and they are free to focus on their primary and more productive tasks. This not only boost employee performance but also greatly reduce their workload. When the employees work under a balanced workload their satisfaction increases and they tend to perform better. The queue management system automate several queuing processes, and it also offers dedicated service agent dashboards, which can also lift up a lot of workload and help service agents in many tasks. Businesses can significantly improve employee performance and service quality by implementing a queue management system.

Enhanced Customer Experience

The customer satisfaction depends on customer experience and service quality, better experience results in higher customer satisfaction index. When a business implements a queue management system it automates several queuing processes. When the customers know that their tokens are issued by computer operated system, they have more trust over the system, and it assured them there will no favoritisms, no line-jumping, no intervention from the staff, whatever token is issued to them they will be served accordingly. Furthermore the queue management system keeps customers and visitors engaged and help diluting the effects of waiting and reduce their stress. This will improve their waiting experience. As the service staff is also aided by the queue management system, they are also more welcoming, fresh and prepared for the customers. This all results in a better customer interaction with the service agent and also tend to improve the service quality. Implementing a queue management system greatly improves customer experience and results in higher customer satisfaction which help your business building a strong brand image and reputation.

Real-time Monitoring and Remote Management

One of the best advantage of implementing a queue management system is that it offers real-time monitoring and remote management features. Businesses often have multiple branches where they deploy a queue management system, and even in case of only one office the real-time monitoring dashboard and capabilities to manage the system remotely are some of the most productive features. Usually there is a central location or head office where the top management resides, they want to monitor the queuing activities and stats to take timely decisions. The queue management system is a centralized software system which connects all branches and parts and enable real-time monitoring. The branch manager, or the senior manager at the head office or any other user with adequate access can monitor the live real-time queuing data and stats. Furthermore it is very easy to implement the queuing polices and strategies across the entire business, remotely from the head office. Businesses can also set automated alerts and notifications for the managers and supervisors to enable them to be more reactive towards the customer footfall and help them improve the customer flow by keeping them up-to-date all the time.

Collect Business Intelligence Data

The data is the backbone of modern fast-paced markets. Every business who wants to succeed should be able to collect, analyze and utilize the business intelligence data in order to generate value and productive outcomes. A queue management system can provide a wealth of highly accurate and valuable business intelligence data. The queue management system can collect queuing data, system usage stats, waiting time trends, customer footfall trends, employee performance and KPI metrics, and it can also collect direct customer feedback which can be incorporated in several internal decision making process to improve strategies and overall performance of the business. The queue management system can also be integrated with third-party tools and central information center which enables it to collect data from various sources, and it also allow the queue management system to provide business intelligence data for other systems and tools. Businesses can analyze the queue management system data and customer feedback using in-built analytical tools, or they can extract it in form of various intuitive report formats such as summary reports, trend reports and much more which help them utilize the business intelligence data at its full potential and maximize the overall efficiency and performance of the business.

Conclusion

In modern fast-paced markets where the markets are subjected to subtle and rapid changes, a business needs a proactive approach to deal with up-coming challenges. Managing customer facing environments and maintain a satisfactory customer experience is one of the most challenging task a service-based business ever faces. Poorly organized waiting lines and long queues can have devastating effects on a business. Pool queuing strategy and manual queue management can results in poor employee performance, low service quality, and unhappy customers. However when a business implements q modern queue management system, they can greatly improve employee performance, customer experience and consequently customer satisfaction. A queue management system offers many features which can help improving the customer flow and minimizing the customer churn rate. In this blog we have discussed what a queue management system is and how businesses can benefits from it. If you want to learn more about the subject or if you want our help to build you a tailor-made queue management system for your business, please feel free to contact us through our Contact Us page or leave a comment in the comment box below and we will get in touch with you soon.

July 24, 2023

Redefining Queue Management: How to Enhance the Customer Experience

For any business the customer satisfaction is the prime goal, it assures long term success, stability and growth. Businesses operating in service sector understand the importance of customer flow optimization and customer journey management. Especially in Dubai and anywhere in UAE the markets are very competitive, the customers have too many options available and people usually tend to switch after getting even only a single bad experience. That is why queue management is crucial for a business’s success. Long queues, poorly managed waiting lines and crowded lobbies are a great dissatisfaction for the customers, which not only raise customer churn but also harm business’s brand image and reputation. There are several challenges that customer facing environment have, one of the biggest is delay in service and long waiting time, furthermore the management of customer service center is also complicated and collectively everything impacts the customer experience. A queue management system not only reduce wait time it also streamline customer flow, provide real-time monitoring and it is very helpful for the management and staff which results in higher efficiency and raise customer satisfaction.

What is a Modern Queue Management System?

A modern queue management system is a digital solution which includes both software and hardware components. The software is designed with AI based smart technologies which enables it to collect data in real-time, take decisions at its own to improve customer flow and it improves management. A queue management system allow to monitor, track and improve customer movement within the premises and help improving customer waiting experience and customer journey. It automates several queuing processes and capture business intelligence data from each and every customer touch point. This ability allows it to take decisions at its own to ensure a smoother customer flow. Queue management system helps both service agents and the management to effectively improve the queuing process. It not only eliminates the inefficient and manual queuing practices but it also collects valuable business intelligence data insights which can be integrated in decision making and strategy building processes to further improve the customer flow management policy and practices. In this blog we will discuss how a modern queue management system can greatly enhance customer experience to achieve higher satisfaction.

Customer Experience: Long Wait Time

Long wait time has the most impact on the customer experience than anything else. No matter how good your office or facility is, how well your staff is trained, if your customers will have to face long wait time they will eventually end up unhappy. According to several studies on an average a customer could tolerate around 9 minutes of wait time, and any minute adding to that will have toll on customer experience, so much so that a time will come when your customers will become annoyed enough that they will decide to leave without even getting the service. This is called customer churn and keeping it at the lowest possible value is crucial for your business’s success. Longer wait time doesn’t only bother your customers but there is a phenomenon known as perceived wait time, which even worsen the conditions for both businesses and customers. The perceived wait time is the wait time our brain perceived instead of tracking the real-time. The perceived time is always higher than the actual time, for example, your customers have waited for let say 20 minutes however their mind perceive it longer than that maybe 30 or even 40 minutes.

Longer wait time means even longer perceived wait time which results in bad customer experience and cause frustration. That is why it is important to control, reduce and efficiently manage both wait times. A modern queue management system not only help minimizing the wait time but it also offer features which help reducing the perceived wait time’s impact by increasing customer engagements. There is another psychological phenomenon into play which is the fear of unknown, if the customers have no clue of how long they will have to wait this will add to their fear and they think they might have to wait for long period of time. However, a queue management systems comes with a powerful software tools which is built on smart AI and advanced data processing algorithms. These features enable queue management system to monitor the live queuing situation, consider the historical data and measure the ongoing performance on the service counters and estimate the remaining time to service. Hence when the customers are given their token they are also provided with estimated time to their turn.

When the customer know how long they will have to wait, they tend to remain calm. Furthermore there are several other features which help improving customers’ waiting experience. A modern queue management system comes with a smart customer calling module. The modern queue management systems are integrated with digital signage displays and a multi-lingual audio calling system. The digital signage keep displaying the current token number at service counters, upcoming tokens and few more details which keep customers distracted from the waiting and minimize the impact of waiting. Furthermore the queue management system can automatically make audio announcement where it calls token number and the service counter allotted to that token number, usually the customer call is made in two or three languages followed by a short music tone. The digital signage screens are also not only used to display queuing information, but a modern queue management system comes with in-built digital signage management module as well. Which allow businesses to run marketing or promotional videos or any other entertaining content on the large displays along with the queuing information. The digital signage and speakers are installed at strategic locations with aim of ensuring every customer at any place in the waiting area can view the signage or listen to the audio announcement. All these features help greatly reduce the waiting stress and improve customers’ waiting experience.

Customer Experience: Quick Service Delivery

Let us just admit whenever we have to face a situation where we have to wait for some time in a queue or in waiting area, in such situation when we reach to the service counter we want to get the service as quickly as possible and leave. For any customer facing environment it is crucial to offer a quality service and in a timely manner. When the customers already waited for some time, they are in hurry and want to leave as quickly as possible. A modern queue management system help businesses minimize the service delivery time by offering specialized features to automatically manage the customer journey and to help the service staff in their tasks. A modern queue management system offers a dedicated dashboard for the service agents, it can integrate with central information center and other third-party tools to enable quick availability of the data and information for the service agents, and it monitors employee KPIs. All these features help reducing the service delivery time and ensure a smooth customer flow. A queue management system automates several customer journey steps, and internal processes which means the staff doesn’t have to worry about any such thing, in fact they can easily focus on their primary tasks which results in quicker service delivery as well as improved service quality.

For any customer facing environment it is crucial to offer a quality service and in a timely manner

Furthermore the queue management system also allow customers to sign-in using self-service ticket dispensing kiosk. Usually the ticket dispensing kiosk as the customers about what service they need this help the queue management system to route the customer to the right service counter and put them in the right queue. Most of the time customers end-up in the wrong queue which could cause a lot of problems and result in delays in service delivery. On top of that each business have its own queuing policies. Businesses always offer multiple services and apart form that there are different customer groups which are prioritized differently, for example, the VIP customers, people with special needs, elderly people, etc. All these customers are expecting a different treatment from the business, which is defined in the queuing policy. A modern queue management system help businesses effectively implement their queuing policies and provide better monitoring and control over customer flow. Some businesses also offer stepped services which means a customer is required to visit multiple or more than one service counter in order to get a complete service. All these variables can make queuing very complex for both businesses and customers and cause unnecessary delays in service delivery.

A queue management system automates several customer journey steps, and internal processes

Customer Experience: Better Service Quality

The service quality or the quality of the interaction a customer have with the service agent can greatly influence their opinion about your business. It is essential to ensure a customer have a happy and satisfactory experience with your service staff. A queue management system help reducing the workload of the service staff. With manual queuing the staff regularly have to engage in queue management tasks, which distract them from their primary tasks and result in poor quality service and more customer complaints. With the queue management system the entire queuing process is autonomous which means the service staff have more time to focus on their primary tasks, this increase their performance which improve service quality. Furthermore the queue management system also help service agents with their several other tasks which also result in quicker and better service delivery. The modern queue management system comes with advance employee performance monitoring tools which also help management track and monitor employee performance and collect valuable data which support HR decisions and help improving the workforce. All these features collectively help management improve the service quality and consequently the customer experience.

It is essential to ensure a customer have a happy and satisfactory experience with your service staff

Customer Experience: Business Intelligence Data

Data plays a crucial role in the success of any modern business, majorly due to the digital advancements, rise of online channels and customer preferences, the businesses are compelled to adopt to modern IT infrastructure in order to stay relevant and competitive. A modern queue management system can produce a wealth of highly accurate and valuable business intelligence data which can help businesses refine the customer experience by acquiring insight to customer behavior, detecting pain points and highlighting the areas of improvements. The business intelligence data covers a wide spectrum insight and information such as queue management system usage stats, customer preferences, customer footfall analytical data, employee performance data, and even the customer feedback data. The business intelligence data is collected autonomously and available in form of interactive reports. The management can customize these reports to align them with their goals and strategies. The business intelligence data can also be synchronized with central information center or any other third-party system via easy integration. When management have accurate data and insight they can make informed decisions. It also help evaluating business strategies, processes and practices and help businesses to make improvements which results in better operational performance and higher customer satisfaction.

Business Intelligence Data plays a crucial role in the success of any modern business

Conclusion

Queue management system offer a variety of features and tools which help management improve the customer experience, optimize the operational cost, improve employee performance and achieve higher profitability. A good customer experience is crucial for a business to build a good brand image. The competition is tough in Dubai and other parts of UAE, businesses proactively improve their offerings to delight their customers. The customers are also very demanding and the market trends are subjected to subtle and monumental changes. It could be very difficult for a business to keep up with these changes without having right tools in their arsenal. A queue management system is the perfect companion for any customer facing environment. It help reducing the wait time, have positive impact on employee performance, and it significantly improves the customer experience. A queue management system offers a centralized management mechanisms which enables businesses to monitor all connected branches in real-time and make sure right actions are taken and in timely manners to avoid any disruption or unwanted delay in customer flow. In this blog we have discussed how a modern queue management system can help businesses enhance the customer experience and leverage the technology to achieve their long term goals and success. If you want to learn more about the subject or if you want us to help you implementing a tailor-made queue management system solution for your business, please feel free to contact us through our Contact Us page or leave a comment in the comment box below and we will get in touch with you soon.

July 1, 2022

What is CXM (Customer Experience Management)?

The prime goal of any business is to satisfy its customers and establish a long term relationship with them. Every business’s success is based on its customers. Satisfied and happy customers are considered to be the backbone of any business. There are two major reasons for that, one the satisfied customers become loyal and do repeated business and the second they help promoting the brand’s positive image which attracts more customers. Here in Dubai and all around the UAE the markets are very competitive which also made customer more demanding. Furthermore the technology is heavily integrated in our society with almost everyone (99%) of the population have access to the internet and social media. This makes market more vibrant and digitally dominated. The market trends also keep changing all the times so does customer’s needs and demands. Customers expect excellent experience form their favorite brands. That is why businesses are diverting their attentions to the customer experience management solutions.

Now a day’s the customer satisfaction matters the most, there have been several studies and worldwide surveys which indicated that the customers are happy to pay extra if they are getting good experience. This makes customer experience even more important. The most common mistake businesses made is that they think only the customer service or customer care departments are responsible for the customer experience. However, in this modern world, that is not correct. The customer experience includes customer engagements, satisfaction, experience and communication at all touch points throughout the customer journey. The customer experience management framework is a bit more customer-centric or customer-first approach to build and nurture a mutually beneficial relationship with your customers. The customer experience management help businesses to understand customer experience more effectively and enable them to enhance customer experience to boost loyalty and generate more revenue.

What is the Difference between Customer Experience Management (CXM) and Customer Relationship Management (CRM)

Although the customer experience management and the customer relationship management both look fairly similar, but both are completely different. Despite there are several basic elements and similarities the primary objectives of CXM and CRM are totally different. The customer relationship management or CRM is used to learn what the customer look like to the business and customer relationship management or CXM/CEM is what a company looks like to its customers. The customer relationship management (CRM) is optimizing and improving internal processes by collecting data from manual, semi-automated or in few cases fully automated channels. However, the customer experience management (CXM/CEM) takes this to one step further and allow businesses to collect data in real-time and offer a much deeper understanding of the customer experience.

The customer experience management (CXM) focuses more on utilizing technologies and modern communication methods to enable a cross-channel engagement and managing customer experience across all touch points and in all departments. Which makes customer relationship management just a component of the customer experience management. Here are some most obvious differences between the customer experience management (CXM) and the customer relationship management (CRM):

Customer Experience Management (CXM)	Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
Provides both qualitative and quantitative data insight across all touch points	Provides quantitative data insight across certain touch points
Prioritize customer experience and unify the data across the entire customer lifecycle	Traditional analytical approaches for impersonal statistical data and trends
Prioritize customer engagement to drive sales and revenue	Prioritize operational capabilities and improvements to maximize the profitability
Enable businesses to respond faster to the market trends and changes with intelligent real-time data analysis and its impact on customers	Identification of market trends and response time is much slower and it focuses heavily on customer service to improve customer happiness
It utilizes automation and modern technologies to focus on the entire organization and all its functions and it covers the entire customer journey which includes, sales, marketing, support, web, social media, in-branch experience, etc.	It mainly focuses only on the sales team while enabling the businesses to nurture their relationship with customers by leveraging the automation and modern technologies

The customer experience management is a combination of technologies, processes, methods and strategies a business utilizes to monitor, organize and improve each and every interaction with its customer across all channels and throughout the entire customer lifecycle. Acquiring a new customer is very expensive, it could cost around 5 times to 25 times more than selling to an existing customer. That is why customer satisfaction is extremely important for growth and profitability. Studies have revealed that only a small portion of the loyal customers could be responsible for a huge portion of the entire revenue a business generates.

Why you Need a Customer Experience Management (CXM/CEM)?

The customer experience management (CXM/CEM) is not just another branding campaign, it is a very powerful data driven framework. Which help both businesses and customers equally and strengthen the relationship between business and the customers. The Dubai and in fact the entire UAE is a very well connected and competitive market. An effective customer experience management could provide your business the much needed advantage which will not only ensure customer satisfaction but also distinguish you from the rest of the market. It is a win-win scenario for both the customers and the businesses. The customer get an excellent personalized experience with satisfactory interactions and the business gets more leads, conversions and it also help businesses obtain a good reputation in the long term. The businesses can also acquire an excellent business intelligence data which provides them a much deeper understanding of customer persona and help them optimize well as per the customers’ needs.

Customer all over the world appreciate personalized experience. When their favorite brands offers them a personalized experience they feel more connected and valued which helps businesses gain their trust and drive customer loyalty. Here are the key benefits of the customer experience management (CXM/CEM):

Significant Improvement in Customer Retention:

Studies have shown that up to 5% increase in customer retention can increase your profit from 10% to 25%. That is because it is 5 to 15 times less expensive to sell to an existing customer than acquiring a new customer.

Happy Customers Need Less Attentions:

One of the biggest advantage of happy and satisfied customers is that they require less attentions. It requires less resources to serve them with satisfaction hence the service cost can be significantly reduced in the long term.

Improve Brand Reputation:

Happy and satisfied customers are more likely to promote your brand and products/services. According to several studies almost 80% of the customers make a purchase on the bases of their past experience or words of mouth.

Significant Reduction in Marketing Cost:

Loyal customers are tend to promote the brand with not only words of mouth but also on social media and digital platforms. Which can help improving your brand awareness and it can attract more customers without any marketing cost. Furthermore a good brand reputation also attracts more customers and reduce marketing cost and efforts too.

Improved Product Development:

Better understanding of the customer persona, their preferences and the market trends help businesses improve their existing products and provide excellent data for the product/service development process. Businesses can develop new and innovative products/services with features their customers and market is craving for which also boosts sales and conversions.

Great Competitive Advantage:

Improvements in all business functions such as operations, productions, supply chain, customer care, sales & marketing, etc. help boosting the overall performance of the business and also raise the quality of the work which can provide a greater competitive advantage and increase overall profitability.

Provides Huge Volumes of Crucial Data:

The business intelligence data gathered under CXM program can be a game changer for the businesses. It can accurately evaluate the impact of various customer engagement and customer satisfaction campaigns and it can also help in building future strategy as it provides a highly accurate statistical and analytical data which aids decision making processes as well.

Despite being so advantageous and useful the customer experience management (CXM) is still underrated in many regions and industry sectors. Studies have revealed that almost 70% of the businesses who are running an active customer experience management (CXM) campaign still don’t integrate the CXM data with their financial data. The customer experience management in itself is a very impactful framework however businesses can leverage its full potential only if it is linked with their financial data. Customer experience management (CXM) software integration with the financial data can boost its performance to several folds.

What is the Primary Goal of Customer Experience Management (CXM)?

The primary goal of the customer experience management (CXM/CEM) is to generate more revenue for the business. However, this can only be achieved by accomplishing the following most important tasks:

Link CXM to Financial Data: It is crucial that the CXM data is linked with your financial data. As the primary goal is to boost the revenue so without linking it to your financial data you will be flying blind.
Understand Your Customer Persona: The CXM collects data and provides a deeper understanding to the customer persona which helps businesses in setting up strategies and making plans.
Identify the 20%: According to several studies and researches all around the world. The 20% of the happiest customers are usually responsible for the 80% of a business’s revenue. It is crucial to identify those 20% and allocate more resources to keep them happy and satisfied.
Learn More about Your Brand’s Promoters: The brand promoters are only a small portion of your customers who are satisfied enough to promote your brand. Such customers are tend to be the best brand advocate and this data can be utilized to boost referral campaigns and acquire low-cost customers in a short period of time.
Understand Customer Journey: The customer journey plays the key role in customer satisfaction. The CXM provides a highly accurate and comprehensive view of the customer journey and make customer journey mapping and improvement more simple and effective.

The primary goal of any customer experience management (CXM/CEM) program is to boost the revenue and growth of the business. A CXM helps businesses to invest their resources in the most profitable areas. It can maximize the ROI of almost each and every business function. If a business wants to transit from a sales-oriented to a more successful customer-oriented brand, then the CXM program is the only solution.

How to Create a Good Customer Experience Management Strategy?

Any customer experience management starts with a 360 degree view of the customers. The business should start collecting statistical and customer data and converge it to a single centralized information center. Usually the customer data is scattered across different business functions such as sales, marketing, customer service, and operations. The first step is to consolidate the data streams form all touch points. Here are the essential of creating a good customer experience management strategy:

Combine and consolidate the data streams from all customer touch points into a single database.
Build customer personas – understand their needs, expectations and problems and segment customers into groups based on demographics (age, gender), geographic (location), customer behaviors and purchase habits.
Map the customer journey. The customer journey mapping help identifying customer touch points and their expected behavior on all those touch points. Customer journey mapping helps businesses to understand how customer will interact with their product and service and help the CX team to create a customer vision.
Build a strong and impactful brand image or brand personality to strengthen the bond between customers and the business. The unique brand personality help businesses establishing a strong emotional connection with its clientele.
Collect customer feedback in real-time and channel it to the CX team and other stakeholders to improve their visibility. It will help them understand the impact and effectiveness of the strategy.

Large businesses and enterprises can easily assemble a customer experience management team and appoint a CX manager who will be responsible for the creation and implementation of the customer experience management strategy. For SMEs and local businesses it is easier to appoint a single person to oversee the customer experience management tasks. Usually there is a chief customer experience office or CXO and a few customer experience managers (CEMs) and then the relevant teams. The data analysis and reports are generated by the CX team or executive and shared with the CXO and stakeholders and all relevant departments. This way the management can get a clear picture of the customer experience across all touch points which makes it easier for them to revise the strategy by making improvements to it and set a plan of action to further enhance the customer experience to obtain maximum customer retention.

How to Create an Effective Customer Experience Journey Map?

The customer experience management team or the manager is responsible for the customer experience at each touch point. That is why it is extremely important to map the ‘customer experience journey’ or ‘customer journey’ in order to effectively build and execute the customer experience management strategy. The customer experience journey map will identify all the touch points and let the team build a better strategy to optimize customer experience at all those touch points. Each touch point will reveal how the customer will interact and what customer behavior should be anticipated. Furthermore the team can improve the customer experience by optimizing those touch points as per the strategy. Here are the key touch points of the customer experience journey map:

1. Discovery Phase:

The discovery phase or reach phase is the phase where a customer or prospect discovers the business. Usually it could be from digital marketing or traditional marketing channels. These days the websites, social media and digital advertisements are the main players. However, customers also tend to consult with their friends, family and coworkers a lot.

2. Evaluation & Comparison:

In this phase the customers and prospects compare all available options in the market. They list down the competitor products/services and compare their different attributes, features, and costing, etc. Furthermore the customers also evaluate the business on the bases of its brand personality and they also try to find social proofs, recommendations, customer reviews and even references. If a brand succeed in gaining the trust of the customer at this stage the chances are they will get the businesses.

3. Decision (Purchase):

This is the phase where the customers finally came to a conclusion and make a purchase decision. Businesses consider this stage as a big win, however, it is just the beginning of the customer loyalty, retention and relationship building. Offering a flawless purchase experience is absolutely essential. Furthermore the business can capture transactional feedback at this stage which can be very useful later.

4. Support:

After sale support and services are considered to be the backbone of any loyalty program. It is crucial for the business to offer a great customer experience at this stage and make offering which can strengthen their relationship. If a customer got dissatisfied at this stage they will eventually leave the business and move on with a competitor.

These are just the minimum touch points of the customer journey. However, in the modern digital landscape business in Dubai and all around the UAE use several communication channels and offer several different types of digital and in-office/on-store interactions. Considering them all in the customer journey map is crucial to improve the accuracy and efficacy of the customer experience management (CXM/CEM) system. One of the most important component of the customer experience journey mapping is the customer persona. It is extremely important to segment your customer base into several groups and then it is easier to plug-in the typical persona into the customer experience journey map to enhance the customer experience at each touch point.

What are the Best Customer Experience Management Techniques?

Managing the customer experience throughout the entire customer journey is not an easy task. It requires a great strategy and excellent work to capture customers’ attention and keep them loyal. However, here are a few modern customer experience management techniques which can help businesses to achieve the desired goals and results of the program:

Content Creation: The customer experience management team must have to understand that at each touch point and stage of the customer journey they will have to prove value to the customers. That means for each relevant stage or touch point the business must have to create excellent customer-facing content. The ideal way is to offer personalized content such as emails, messages, web content, social media posts and online communication. The social media, websites, mobile apps, and other digital channel are an excellent solution to increase customer engagement by offering them personalized and most relevant content.
Evaluate All Touch Points: It is extremely important for a customer experience management team to continuously evaluate each and every customer touch point. The continuous evaluation can provide valuable business intelligence data which can tell what are the most popular touch points, at which stage the customers are making purchase decision and at which stage the customer are leaving for a competitor. This will help identify the problems which can be rectified to boost customer engagement and to improve their experience.
Collect VOC Data: The VOC or voice of the customer is the customer feedback data which should be collected on all customer experience journey phases. Collecting the customer feedback data is not enough the customer experience management team or manager should also be able to analyze the data to understand the customers’ sentiments. The emotional attachment with a brand is one of the key factor of customer loyalty and if effectively used it can be a game changer.
Great Customer Loyalty Program: The customer who keeps a brand dear also wants the brand to acknowledge their loyalty. The customer who do repeated business with a brand expect some kind of reward or acknowledgement from the brand. A well-designed customer loyalty program can not only make your customer happy but it could also drive upselling and increase revenue.

The customer experience management team or the manager must continuously analyze the customer data. This will help them effectively improve their strategies and yield better results. Another great advantage of continuous monitoring and analysis is that it provides brands adequate time to make changes and do course corrections. Which can prevent more customers from leaving and reduce your churn rate and it will also help to prevent such happenings in future.

What is a Customer Experience Management (CXM) Software?

The customer experience management (CXM/CEM) is a very challenging task. The sheer volume of the data alone could be a great challenge. Furthermore analyzing the data, categorizing it and generating reports poses additional challenges down the road. That is why the customer experience management requires an appropriate technology to support it. For that the customer experience management software are used. The customer experience management (CXM) software is a tool that collects data from each customer touch point and provides in-built analytical tools to generate actionable reports. These software are exclusively designed to support customer experience management tasks. Hence the interfaces are very simple and several operations are fully automated which makes the CXM software’s operation completely seamless. All good customer experience management (CXM) software comes with in-built CRM (customer relationship management) component/module along with marketing automation components and mostly an omnichannel customer support service module to provide support team with several convenient communication channels.

Here are the key features of a good customer experience management software:

Personalization Engine (to enable personalized communication)
Digitalization and Automation Tools
Customer Service Center/Call Center Tools
Customer Feedback Collection or VOC Tools
Knowledge Base Management Tools
Emotions or Sentiment Analysis Tools
Statistical and User Data Collection Tools
Customized Reporting Tools
Alerts and Notification Center
Flexible Third-Party System Integration Tools
Support for Cloud, Online Hosting and In-Premises Data Centers
Simple and Cost-efficient Scalability Features

These are some of the key components of the customer experience management (CXM) software. There are several off-the-shelf software and tools that can be utilized however in terms of user experience and data integration most businesses uses customized customer experience management software. The customized customer experience management software are tailor-made solutions which are exclusively designed as per the needs of the business and provide great value in terms of user experience. Furthermore the customized customer experience management software are also very cost efficient as they are very flexible towards integration and doesn’t require business to made any major change in its current business processes. The customized solution is far superior then commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) customer experience management software available in Dubai, UAE. A customized software development company in Dubai, UAE such as RSI Concepts can offer a-to-z solution for your customer experience management software needs.

Conclusion

Customer experience management has become absolute necessity these days. In the very competitive market businesses can utilize customer experience management tools and framework to boost their revenue and to build a long lasting successful track for their journey. Here in Dubai and all around the UAE businesses usually mistaken customer experience management as customer relationship management however, it is important to understand that the customer relationship management is merely a component of the customer experience management framework. The customer experience management is a highly data drive framework which is a combination of software, data collection processing tools, strategies and processes. The primary goal of the customer experience management is to generate more revenue for a business by improving customer experience at all touch points and at all stages of customer experience journey. The customer experience management covers all business functions and all touch points, which help collecting a huge volumes of data in real-time which can make businesses more robust and agile.

There are several commercial off-the-shelf customer experience management software however, the customized customer experience management software is far superior to that. RSI Concepts is a leading customized software development company in Dubai, UAE. If you want to learn more about the subject or if you want us to help you with your customer experience management software needs, please feel free to contact us through our Contact Us page or leave a comment in the comment box below and we will get in touch with you soon.

Check out this: Guide to Custom Software Development