Customization, Key to Customer Engagement in the Digital Era

Q: What does Genesys offer to the Mexican market?

A: Genesys is a technology business that connects companies and customers through communication channels: voicemail, chat, email, social media or video. The Mexican market seeks every feature that has to do with digital channels and their integration with traditional channels, such as voicemail. This is the only way to better serve customers in the shortest possible time. By having all the information in one place, response times are shorter. It also ensures the customer feels understood and that the company knows them. 

Our goal is to help companies in Mexico evolve and move to the next level. We want to make sure their customers do not get frustrated when interacting with customer service. Instead, they should receive memorable experiences. We believe that this is a competitive and differentiating weapon for companies. Today, it costs very little to change from one company to another.

When companies provide their customers with a good experience, those customers become loyal. A loyal customer is a customer who is less price-sensitive and who speaks well of you on social media and with their circle of friends. They are customers who are willing to consume and try different products or services within your portfolio. A great example is Apple. The loyalty it has created among its customers means they do not mind paying three times the average price for a smartphone because of the experience it offers.

Q: How has the pandemic changed customer expectations related to brands?

A: Companies need to be aware that it is not necessary to have a face-to-face interaction to do business. It is possible for businesses to continue with their operations and for clients to consume services and products through remote channels. The pandemic has also made us realize that the level of maturity that exists in Mexico regarding these issues is not the same as in other countries. We have encountered many deficiencies in having to change to a world where everything needs to be virtual, not only from a technical point of view, as companies are not able to absorb the drastic changes in demand that we are still seeing today, but also from the point of view of functionality. Many companies did not have digital channels in place to be able to learn from their customers and they have had to reverse this situation in a very short time. 

Q: Once a company has adopted the necessary technology, what are the biggest challenges they face in delivering a seamless experience to their customers?

A: First of all, the company has to have the technology to serve its customers through many different channels, to be able to know exactly where the customer is in their journey and to have real-time access to all the information they need to serve customers. After that comes everything that has to do with change management in the company. Technology is not enough. Companies have to be able to change processes and even culture to reshape the way they serve customers.

We provide end-to-end support to our clients. At the start of our relationship, we hold a series of workshops to determine at what point of maturity the company is and to accompany employees through this transformation. We define the KPIs that we need to start measuring and identify what requires special attention and who are the ideal employees to be involved in this change. The second phase involves us constantly measuring the objectives for which the project was implemented and making sure that they are met. 

Q: What sets Genesys apart from its competitors?

A: Genesys' presence and leadership in the global market is a guarantee for our customers. We have 30 years of experience and we have been able to evolve and adapt to the new ways in which consumers want to interact with brands. It is a combination of constant innovation, market know-how and best practices. We seek to be there for our clients from start to finish and to ensure that their business gets the benefits for which the project was implemented. 

Q: Genesys uses AI and cloud technology in its solutions. How does this set the company apart from its competitors?

A: All these technologies are built into our platform. Genesys invests a great deal in R&D every year so our system is always state of the art. One of the objectives of AI is to automate all interactions between companies and their customers that do not generate much value in terms of experience. These can be balance inquiries, for example, which can be answered by a chatbot or any other automated system. However, we know that the customer's connection with the company must be carefully managed. When a customer has more complex questions that cannot be answered by an automated process, that interaction has to be handled by a person and become personalized.

Q: What are the main trends that will continue to shape the interaction between companies and their customers? 

A: For some years now, we have observed that the telephone channel has been displaced. Despite being a traditional channel, many consumers, especially younger generations, do not feel comfortable having a telephone conversation with someone. They often prefer to solve their problem by their own means or through digital channels. There is also an increasing need for immediacy. If a consumer is browsing a website and asks a question via chat but does not get a quick answer, he closes the page and forgets about it. 

There is a huge deficiency in telephone-based customer service which has contributed to this change. If a customer calls, they spend too much time on hold, they are not transferred to the right department and sometimes they get no response. This is one of the big challenges that persist today and where Genesys helps companies.

Q: Which industries face the greatest challenges in improving their customer relationships?

A: Many of the traditional banks, which are the largest in the country, already have the necessary technology. What they have not done is to take that transformational step that involves many areas of the company and is the last mile to be able to serve their customers well. I believe that the banking and telecom sectors are the most challenging due to the complexity of their business. Digital native companies, on the other hand, were born with a mindset of providing an experience as a service, putting the customer at the center. What they sell are basically experiences, even if they are really offering a commodity. Today, the most valued companies are those that have managed to turn a commodity into an experience as a service. An example is Netflix, which offers movies but it in a differential way and with good service. 

Q: What new industries do you want to focus on or strengthen in 2021?

A: We are focusing especially on the health industry. We believe that medicine has been transformed by the pandemic. Seventy percent of consultations can be done through telemedicine. There is no need for patients to go to doctors' offices and this opens up a huge opportunity as user experience will be vital. Genesys can contribute a lot to this experience by providing remote channels while complying with all the necessary safety and regulatory standards.

Likewise, we are focusing on all the digital native companies that need robust platforms that enable them to serve their customers quickly and easily. These companies need more and more technology like that which Genesys provides.

Q: What new solutions does Genesys have in the pipeline this year?

A: Our platform is updated on a weekly basis. We add eight to 15 new features every week that can be used just by refreshing the platform's browser. We tell our customers that with Genesys they have a platform to continuously consume innovation. 

We have a program aimed at startups called Ignite. We feel committed to the development of the entrepreneurial community in Mexico and Latin America. This program helps these companies to improve their relationship with their customers without having to suffer a hard economic blow. 

Genesys is a US-based company that delivers more than 70 billion customer experiences for organizations in over 100 countries. Through the cloud and AI, the company connects every customer with marketing, sales and service solutions