How lead-to-order automation saves communications service providers time and money
Modernizing back-office systems and processes drives cost savings and productivity.
The communications industry is at a crossroads. There are enormous opportunities to be had, but sustainability and modernization challenges are standing in the way for many telcos. Today’s customers expect more from service providers, the employee experience needs to be a priority, and growth depends on the ability to do more with less.
To address these challenges, telcos need large investments that make it possible to reimagine their business model. Many have started modernizing their systems and operations, but very few have done this holistically. These investments, while daunting, are key to a telco’s ability to grow, thrive and scale in the modern era.
Too many communications service providers focus on quick wins in front-end applications rather than doing the heavy lift of overhauling back-office systems and processes. This is understandable. These quick wins allow companies to feature things like customer portals, which may look great, but often don't allow the customer to go very far before needing to call in. Front-office applications (like customer portals) rely on a foundation of data and processes. The foundations need to be connected and automated to deliver the best possible experience.
Seventy-eighty percent of B2B decision makers prefer remote interactions or digital self-service and yet many communications service providers only accept B2B orders over the phone. The lack of self-service, frustrating delays due to data inconsistencies, or need to rework orders due to missing information (despite the fact that they’ve already been submitted), makes for a poor customer experience and an incredibly inefficient business operation.
Meeting today’s customer expectations, and adequately preparing for the future, requires that order management processes are connected, friction free, and completely automated. True digital transformation must include the front and back offices. To truly reimagine the customer (and employee) experience, telcos need a robust series of automated process flows that require minimal intervention. Investing in this type of solution will help address the fundamental pain points of day-to-day operations through the creation of a single source of truth. No more manually rekeying order information or manually checking for inconsistent or duplicate data. Automating order management not only holds the most promise for growth, cost reduction and efficiency, but it also paves the way for future digitization efforts.
Why order management?
Order management sits at the center of everything, and an efficient lead-to-order process is at the heart of every successful telco. When sales representatives’ responses to requests for a quote are delayed, prospects look elsewhere. When representatives submit flawed contracts and orders, service deliveries are delayed, customers are frustrated, and costly re-work and truck rolls are often required. Without automation, 69% of sales teams’ time is spent on manual back-office tasks . By automating manual back- and front-office tasks, you can increase sales team productivity and cost savings.
Delivering the perfect order transforms customer relationships by letting the provider use digital channels more efficiently, operate better assisted channels, and expose partner portals. People expect seamless omni-channel experiences and 360-degree self-service capabilities. Prospective customers want to be able to place an order online, and existing customers want 24/7 access to a portal where they can look up account information and/or track the status of their order without having to call in. Delivering on these expectations turns prospects into customers and reduces churn.
Automating the quoting, contracting, and ordering process for complex enterprise orders onto a single platform opens up a world of possibilities by:
- Reducing complexity
- Providing transparency
- Offering AI capabilities and unique insights
Simplifying operations with a single source of truth
Today, 71% of systems are not integrated . Order management systems are often siloed and coupled with aging billing systems, and they can’t provide the transparency or flexibility needed to power meaningful customer experiences. Automating the order management process on a single platform solves these issues. It streamlines processes, creates efficiencies, and reduces costs.
An investment in modern horizontal solutions both supports the omni-channel digital journeys of today and future proofs for tomorrow. Unifying systems so everyone across your organization has access to all the information they need creates a single source of truth. It simplifies operations and reduces the complexity of having multiple systems, processes, and siloed data systems.
Increasing productivity with order automation
Manual tasks take up too much of your sales team’s time, and relying on representatives to manually fill, track, and service orders results in costly errors. Automating and simplifying the quote-to-activation process (including intelligent field service) is key to reducing costs and increasing efficiency.
It’s no surprise that only 37% of low-performing companies have automated the generation of quotes and proposals, as compared with 65% of high performing companies. In fact, organizations that automate these processes see increased productivity almost immediately. Furthermore, automation reduces errors, resulting in 60% improvement in operational efficiency, according to Salesforce research. Bringing back- and front-office tasks into automated processes lets sales teams focus more on sales and client relationships, and less on manual “busy work.” Because of this, fewer people are needed to work each order, making it easier to expand and scale operations.
Reducing order fallout and revenue leakage
Simplifying the buying and fulfillment process lets sales representatives head off problems at the beginning. Many of the downstream issues that often break orders can be addressed up front, resulting in less leakage. And, because all pertinent information is captured at step one, representatives are aware of problem areas and prepared with alternate solutions. For example, a representative won’t be able to place an unserviceable order for customer locations outside the network footprint. The system will flag this (and not accept the order) before a quote is generated. This creates less back and forth or disappointment on the client end, and a better overall experience.
Faster time to market with catalog driven architecture
A catalog driven solution architecture, or a system with a central product, service, and resource catalog that masters all the data, assures that information across an organization is uniform. It means that data entered in one system immediately updates in all the other systems. This allows communications service providers to rapidly configure and introduce new products and promotions. Any changes to the central product catalog automatically cascade to CPQ (configure, price, quote), order management, and contract lifecycle management applications. This approach is well aligned to TM Forum and MEF industry standards and can be implemented quickly via product configuration, accelerating launch cycles and reducing risk.
Boosting customer satisfaction with order transparency
Tracking data points and reporting on ongoing operations results in data driven decision making, operational efficiencies, and reduced revenue leakage. It also creates transparency, giving the customer the information they want via self-service and assisted service platforms.
We know that B2B customers want 24/7 access to seamless, omnichannel experiences . Automating processes helps telcos give these customers the experiences they crave. Orders can now be visualized as they move through various stages. Customers can track progress and set up alerts on a customer portal, service agents have access to that same information so that assisted channels are up-to-date and consistent, and sales representatives can easily check up on orders and quickly spot any that may be in jeopardy.
Gaining insights with AI and analytics
One of the biggest benefits of automation is the opportunity it gives you to gain valuable insights into every order. Adding artificial intelligence and analytics on top of your data visualization platform lets providers and sales teams make more informed decisions. Service providers can track KPIs to gain insight into sales productivity and identify areas for improvement, and sales teams can unearth unforeseen opportunities and refine go-to-market strategies. Ultimately, this layer of intelligence helps telcos turn insight into action, driving productivity, revenue, and employee engagement.
With AI integration, you can fully harness the data captured across your organization. You can couple what you know about your customers with what you’ve learned through past order journeys to recommend next best actions, predict which orders might fail and why, and figure out what you can do to minimize risk. You can predict what might go wrong before it actually happens and prevent it, and your sales teams can proactively manage client relationships.
Investing in the future of your business
Whether you take an evolutionary or a “fast-track” approach to digitization, you need to fully commit to the investment. Back-office processes like order management are at the core of everything. Modernizing these systems pushes the evolution of the rest of the system forward, laying the groundwork for everything else. From data unification and creating better customer experiences to garnering important insights that allow you to scale and do more with less, 360-degree digitization is a necessity. It lets you achieve today’s goals and tackle the challenges of the future.
