The only path to growth is by empowering subscribers to self-administer their own services
The idea of going to market with a solution that empowers subscribers to manage their own account, solve their own problems, and rarely need to speak with a customer service representative is sheer NIRVANA to most service providers. To many it seems like an unrealistic goal and they struggle to even grasp how different their front and back office operations would look if they had such a capability.
So ... you've spent hours, days, weeks, and months preparing to bring your product to market, and now you find yourself scrambling to determine how you'll monetize it, how you'll manage it, and how you'll deliver the perfect order! You're not alone and unfortunately billing and operations is so often an afterthought that many businesses fail to recognize it before it's too late.
Subscribers often form their first impression of you based on the ordering experience. Was it easy? Was it fast? Did it work? You may think this can be achieved by substituting humans for systems, or you might even think your subscribers are anti-technology and won't embrace it. Let me be first to say, or maybe the 2nd, if you don't believe your subscribers will use a self-care system because of an aversion to technology, then you might want to sell them a toaster instead of a connected "thing". We're amazed at how often this is a concern. Imagine the banking industry today without self-care tools. Then imagine the diverse user population of online banking. Self-Care solutions are the KEY to growth and customer satisfaction!
if you don't believe your subscribers will use a self-care system because of an aversion to technology, then you might want to sell them a toaster instead of a connected thing
Touchless Customer Signup
A good self-care solution always begins with the ability to capture new subscribers immediately, easily, painlessly, and profitably! One of the biggest miss-conceptions we see in the market today is the idea that a Shopping Cart can be used to sell subscriptions like a case of paper. We've seen some incredibly clever attempts, but it always falls short. It's not only awkward for the end-user, but in most cases it ends up creating more overhead than if you just took the order over a phone.
Subscriptions are not shipped goods and often require the user to provide product specific information at the time of signup in order to complete the purchase. This supplemental data collection activity is awkward and impossible to perform in most eCommerce applications today. A Self-Care signup experience is your first opportunity to impress a new subscriber and it can often be an influencing factor in reducing subscriber attrition.
A good self-care system will also strive to complete the initial signup process with an activated account, a well written Welcome Letter delivered via email, and clear guidance on how the subscriber can begin using their new services immediately. The subscriber should be able to complete this activity all within minutes and without the assistance of any customer support staff.
If you can achieve this, you'll have no issues scaling the acquisition side of your business.
My Account Management
If you're like many cellular IoT and IoT operations who are faced with shrinking profit margins, you're constantly being forced to consider new ways to reduce expenses related to servicing your subscription revenue streams. It doesn't matter if you're lucky enough to be making north of 50% per subscriber ... one bad call or a lengthy manual process - and you've spent 6 months of gross profit with them on the phone.
An application where subscribers can log in and inquire about their services and make changes is critical. This is something an eCommerce platform will never provide. The eCommerce model is a one-trick pony that doesn't provide the necessary capabilities to support returning subscribers who want to manage their services with you.
Automated Notifications
One of the most commonly underutilized tools in any self-care operation are subscriber notifications and announcements. Don't confuse these with spam messages, general service bulletins, or drip marketing campaigns. These are opportunities to confirm changes that subscribers have made to their own accounts or changes to their account which are scheduled. These messages are PRIME opportunities to remind subscribers about frequently asked questions regarding your product, upcoming changes, or potential issues with their own account. Some great examples of automated notices are below.
These are opportunities to confirm changes that subscribers have made to their own accounts or changes to their account which are scheduled
Conclusions
The promise of a self-care driven operation will ensure that you realize a higher subscriber satisfaction rate, have less turnover, and increased profitability. As the cellular IoT and IoT markets continue to take shape, it will put more pressure on pricing and innovation which means a healthy line of revenue will depend on a well built subscriber operations platform that MUST employ a self-care solution.
Connectivity, billing, payments, and self-service on one platform.
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