Welcome to the Vivantio Vibe podcast.  Each month, we'll bring you the latest updates on Service Management solutions, software, innovations and interviews with smart people who have smart things to say.  All in around 30 minutes or less. 

This month, we visit with Vivantio's VP of Technology Andrew Stevens about the customer journey and the importance of customer success teams and customer service teams working together. Plus, we introduce our new integrations tool FLEXBridge and what the future of CX will look like. 

You can listen below or download wherever you get your favorite podcasts including iTunes or Spotify.   

In the old view, a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system was used to house data about customers that could be tapped by sales and service organizations to support their efforts. Other systems—with varying degrees of connectivity and access—might house other customer data relating to things like credit terms, orders in-production, contracts, etc.

While some technologically advanced enterprises have tied more of these data sources directly to their customer-facing teams, there is still opportunity for radical improvements in transparency and access—with the aim of improved customer service and satisfaction.

The value of a Unified Service Management Platform

The concept of a single view into the enterprise has existed for some time, but remains something of a stretch goal for most B2B companies who face challenges such as growth through M&A (thereby inheriting disparate IT solutions), large or multi-national companies whose sprawling operations remain siloed, multi-brand/product companies, etc.

Fortunately, for forward-thinking service organizations, there are technology platforms that can—today—provide needed connectivity and visibility into a Service organization (and many of its adjacent systems) in a comprehensive manner.

Visibility and access—without an ERP overhaul

Vivantio's FLEXBridge integration platform offers users a single, shared back-end architecture and consistent user interface across all integrations— while providing centralized reporting and management. FLEXBridge opens up the Vivantio platform to meet future integration possibilities with other vendors—and customer solutions, whether cloud-based on on-premises.

This type of solution can help your team

• better address all use cases
• track and report on the KPIs essential to improved service
• tailor service provision at the individual customer level

This isn't just for consumer-driven businesses

Today, these consultants suggest that “even traditional business-to-business players in sectors such as chemicals and steel [need to make] bold moves to build dynamic shared digital ecosystems around customer needs.”

Several ways to leverage an "über API" to optimize your customer service

There are several ways a Vivantio/FLEXBridge solution can quickly integrate your solutions—both cloud-based and on-premises tools. Here are three examples:

To learn more or request a live demo, click here.

Today, every business is a service business. The future success of one’s business is tied to customer experience. Now available on demand, Vivantio Vice President of Technology Andrew Stevens presented a 35-minute webinar showcasing Vivantio’s new enhancement, FLEXBridge™, which allows for seamless integration with virtually every other essential tool for a complete customer experience ecosystem.

Watch it now on demand. 

As part of the complete customer experience ecosystem, Vivantio's Unified Service Management Platform integrated with FLEXBridge enables B2Bs to:

• Gain comprehensive visibility into virtually all data that touches any part of the Customer Journey
• Use no-code technology to simplify bi-directional data integration and mapping
• Track and report on the KPIs essential to improved service
• Tailor service provision at the individual customer level

Not only is it easier for your team to sell (and cross-sell... and upsell) to satisfied customers, it's a whole lot more profitable—from 25% to 95% more, according the inventor of the Net Promoter Score, Frederick Reichheld of Bain and Company.

It's a phenomenon that makes intuitive sense, but it's even more impactful when you start looking at the numbers. Whether the KPI levers you're trying to pull involve increasing revenue from monthly subscribers or shortening the sales cycle for major programs, focusing on delivering superior Customer Experience (CX) will pay great dividends.

The "shortcut" that benefits every stakeholder

Better Customer Service has a direct effect on accelerating the sales process, by improving customer retention, upsell and cross-sell opportunities. Statistics show that acquiring a new customer can cost five times more than retaining an existing one.

Improving the Customer Journey—some concrete steps

Understanding the concepts and principles behind the Customer Journey can go a long way in helping you re-imagine current practices to find ways to streamline processes, break down silos, and increase transparency across the entire extended value chain. All of this helps bolster your team's ability to deliver a better CX.

Achieving these gains often means improving your human-driven processes, making sure your team is supported by the right technology—and giving your customers robust self-service options for quickly getting the information and services they need most.

For the technology piece, be sure to find a "good fit" partner

Two main considerations should be:

1. Does the Customer Service platform provide you with the kind of robust
   visibility and interfaces with your enterprise systems to make "one-call resolution"
   a reality? Look for solutions that can deliver on the vision of a unified customer
   service management platform.
2. Does the solution match your in-house skills/need and leave you free to configure
   for the future (without a lot of expensive consulting)?

Boston MA (May 5, 2021) -Vivantio, a leading provider of customer service optimization software and solutions, is launching FLEXBridge™, a new integrations platform that facilitates connections between Vivantio’s Unified Service Platform and other line-of-business applications. FLEXBridge allows information from applications commonly used in enterprise service management, customer service management and IT to be made available safely and securely within Vivantio’s Service Management tool.

“With the integration of FLEXBridge, Vivantio continues to showcase its leadership and innovation in the B2B customer service software space,” said Andrew Stevens, Vice President of Technology. “As businesses grow and service management is increasingly digitized, there is a strong need for all related service management and delivery tools to be tightly integrated. FLEXBridge was designed for demanding B2B service teams who prioritize delivering world-class service to their customers.”

FLEXBridge serves as the core of Vivantio’s Unified Service Platform, allowing information from disparate customer service systems within an organization to be shared safely and securely. This new integration will reduce the amount of time, human resources and capital it takes to fulfill customer service requests, resulting in higher customer satisfaction and reduced costs for B2B firms.

Of the many benefits FLEXBridge offers, it is:

• Easy to use: Bridges to other systems are created and maintained using a simple wizard-based process
• Centralized: All administration, monitoring and maintenance is carried out via the web-based admin portal, even when using on-premises agents
• Extensible: Unlike other vendors, the FLEXBridge platform isn’t limited to “well-known” tools – support is available for connecting to in-house developed, legacy and on-premises tools
• Cost-effective: Customers can configure any number of bridges (subject to the bridge type being available within their product tier) without additional cost
• Out of the box: Bridges will include links to CRM tools such as Salesforce, MDM software such as Microsoft InTune, JAMF, and Ninja RMM, and IAM solutions such as Azure and Okta

The innovation of Vivantio’s FLEXBridge platform further underscores that the key to achieving business success is through Service Optimization. Service Optimization is the ability to glean coherent insight and achieve the most efficient use of processes and information—across all disciplines and teams—to provide real business efficiency and optimal service delivery.  To learn how to apply Service Optimization to the latest evolution of business service, please read Vivantio’s latest report here. 

About Vivantio

Founded in 2003, Vivantio is a leading provider of customer service optimization software and solutions for demanding B2B service teams. By combining the comprehensive power of enterprise-level software with the flexibility of a modern cloud-based solution, Vivantio provides an intuitive, flexible and scalable unified service management platform that empowers businesses to achieve unparalleled service excellence. The platform scales to meet the complex business needs of large, multi-site organizations, to optimize workflows across several departments including IT, operations and customer service. Vivantio is a trusted partner offering cost-effective solutions through flexible licensing. 

(It may not even be cheaper - in the long run.) 

While no Service manager in 2021 has "extra" budget to throw around, it's also unwise to compare Service Management platforms simply on their advertised monthly charge per seat. Factors like inadequate functionality, costs of training, and the expenses of implementing and coding customized solutions can have major impact on the price you'll ultimately pay for your solution.

Fortunately, protecting yourself from unwelcome surprises can be accomplished by asking a few key questions at the outset:

Does the platform integrate easily with our other enterprise systems?

Achieving true service optimization requires new levels of enterprise visibility. And while all forms of integration require a serious effort, many popular platforms require extensive customer interface work—if they even accommodate real-time integration at all.

It's important to calculate the value of being able to give customers the latest information—from a single "source of truth" within your organization. Similarly, the ability for your Customer Service team to contribute to the updating of enterprise-wide data from a single interface can be extremely valuable in both time savings and accuracy/reduction of errors.

Multiply that by the proven customer satisfaction "dividend" of proactive communications (based on dynamic information and triggers from all your interfaced systems) and the value of the right system becomes readily apparent.

Can the platform manage our external and internal customers as required?

Maybe you're trying to accommodate many different customers with different SLAs...Maybe you need to serve both external and internal customers in an integrated way...Maybe you manage several different brands within a larger parent company...

In any of these cases, it will be important for you to easily adapt the rules, scripts and processes for each of these groups of customers. Make sure the platform you choose can easily make these kinds of distinctions—without a lot of custom re-coding.

The more functionality you have out-of-the-box with your Service Management platform, the sooner you'll be boosting your KPIs for optimized service.

How dependent will we be on outside consultants to make it work for us?

Some of today's popular platforms require extensive implementation assistance. To make the product appealing, the monthly cost may not appear too high—until you begin to add-in consulting fees.

Being able to easily do more with your in-house resources not only save you money, but can get your initiatives moving faster as well. After all, who knows your company and processes better than your own people?

Look for platforms that allow for easy configuration as opposed to platforms that demand extensive re-coding and customization.

A closer look can make a big difference

Peeling back the label of low-entry pricing can reveal many hidden costs of a Service Management platform. Finding a partner that has the right features to support your full list of needs—today and in the future—is where you'll realize the ultimate value and keep your total cost of ownership exactly where you want it to be.

To learn more or request a live demo, click here.

Welcome to the inaugural Vivantio Vibe podcast.  Each month, we'll bring you the latest updates on Service Management solutions, software, innovations and interviews with smart people who have smart things to say with information you can use. All in around 30 minutes. 

This month, host and Director of Digital Marketing for Vivantio Todd Carruth visits with industry experts Stephen Mann and Andy Walsh about the power of ITSM and ITIL to meet and exceed customer expectations. Topics covered include: 

• What is ITIL and why is it important for Customer Service Management
• ITIL 4's holistic approach to service management
• When ITIL may not be the best option
• Customer journey and the future of ITSM 

You can listen below or download wherever you get your favorite podcasts including iTunes or Spotify.   

Revenue pressure is at an all-time high—whether you're an established telecom provider or a scrappy SaaS startup. 2020's seismic impact will linger well into the coming months and everyone is struggling to make up for lost time. If you are looking exclusively at your Sales team to drive KPIs like monthly recurring revenue (MRR) you might be missing a major opportunity.

The shortcut to higher MRR runs through Customer Service

One of the major culprits in declining revenues is customer churn. The cost of continually finding, acquiring, and on-boarding new customers is substantial—not to mention how long that process can take.

Stopping the "leaky boat" of customer churn—by attending to issues of Customer Service— should be a first-priority for companies where this is an issue.

To see why, we can look at a typical customer journey that encompasses Sales, Service Management, and Customer Success phases. As the figure below shows, you can accelerate (or bypass altogether) several steps in the process by focusing on better service which can boost KPIs in retention, cross-sell and up-sell areas.

Methods for achieving this kind of acceleration can be gathered under the discipline of Service Optimization, and Vivantio can provide some excellent evidence for starting a Service Optimization effort. (Download our 35-page report here, for a start!)

A 73% revenue boost—from your Service Team

The venture capitalist and business author Tomasz Tunguz published an analysis of how achieving even a 5% negative net churn rate could impact the customer value for a SaaS provider. In his example, the average customer’s monthly recurring revenue (MRR) increased by 73%.

Vivantio can help you quickly and affordably develop an infrastructure—based around a Unified Service Management Platform—to support the kind of Customer Service that delivers on this promise. We're especially adept at helping Customer Service/CX leaders within companies that manage multiple teams or support multiple brands.

To learn more or request a live demo, click here.

If you've been looking to make leaps in Customer Service improvement, but have struggled with finding the right method—or justifying the investment to your boss—you shouldn’t miss this fast-moving and fact-filled webinar:
Vivantio’s 46-minute “Rethinking Customer Service in 2021".

In less than 50 minutes, you'll understand why a Service Optimization Solution could put you in an "uncatchable" competitive position for the foreseeable future.

• Self-service configuration and ticket routing
• Load-balancing strategies and practices
• Optimized workflows and business rules
• Proactive vs. Reactive service for improved CX

Now available on demand, don't miss Greg Rich, CEO of Vivantio and Alexis Mackie, Customer Success Manager as they share the secrets to moving against your 2021 Cs/CX goals and start Rethinking Customer Service in 2021! 

New service optimization guide underscores need to meet elevated customer expectations.

Vivantio has launched a new guide, "Leveraging Breakthrough Service to Transform Your B2B Enterprise." The comprehensive guide identifies the distinct benefits of centralizing customer service and offers B2B business owners a detailed process for implementing it at their organization, inclusive of proven strategies for overcoming common challenges. 

"The reality is every business is a 'service business' today and it's time that B2B organizations' strategies reflect that," said chief executive officer Greg Rich. "Even traditional companies in industries like healthcare and energy/utilities are rapidly acknowledging their roles in 'co-creating value' with their customers. Business leaders seeking a competitive advantage will need to align their organizations so that customer service plays a central role in all their business activities. This report details how they can go about it effectively and efficiently."

Businesses in today's remote world need to meet the needs of their customers' elevated expectations. This is especially true for B2B companies that maintain a complex web of interwoven, dynamic and long-term relationships between suppliers, vendors, contractors, internal teams and their customers - and often their customers' customers.

Service optimization is the key to achieving business success for B2B organizations.

For any B2B business, service optimization is the key to achieving business success. Service optimization is the ability to glean coherent insight and achieve the most efficient use of processes and information - across all disciplines and teams - to provide real business efficiency and optimal service delivery. For nearly 20 years, Vivantio has been pioneering service optimization and this comprehensive guide showcases how to apply it to the latest evolution of business service.

To learn more or to download your copy of "Leveraging Breakthrough Service to Transform Your B2B Enterprise," click here.