Industry news

Using social media to drive sales is not just about having an online presence on Facebook or Twitter, but instead, using new platforms and technologies to change the traditional purchasing process and subsequent customer relationship.

More often than not, traditional ways of engaging with customers are being superseded by social strategies which allow customers to listen and respond to individuals on a one-to-one basis, using tools that can gather real time data allowing brands to act in ways and at speeds that were never before possible.

Is ‘going digital’ the key to driving sales?

‘Going digital’ really means 'going interactive' with additional channels to reach customers, both current and new. Take luxury brand Burberry which is using ‘Tweetwalk’, to launch its new fashion collection on Twitter, allowing the company to not only connect with its customers but to also drive footfall online to research the brand before buying in store or over the internet.

Through more flexible social engagement strategies companies are able to support and nurture the customer through the purchase funnel – from visibility, through enquiry and ultimately to sale. Technologies exist today which allow you to track the customer journey, map influential online communities and can be used to shape marketing and product strategies in real time.

Ultimately digital channels have to be convenient, entertaining or preferably a combination of the two. Fortunately overlaying your social strategy with richer content has become more affordable as the technology proliferates. More and more companies, today, are using video blogging for example, showing a real human element to online communication whether via ‘pushed’ video guides highlighting say, installation instructions or via ‘community contributions’ helping share learnings across all customers. These all provide rich content for customers when researching a purchase.

But digital activity must go further than the cash register because what follows the purchase has a profound effect on future sales given the greater ‘collective memory’ of the masses.

Understanding customers’ needs

Thankfully there’s now a real opportunity to actively engage with customers post sale – whether that is by simple surveying or by tracking negative comments on sites such as Facebook and Twitter. This can demonstrate the company’s commitment to fully understand and resolve customer concerns or demands as well as providing a way to prevent complaints from escalating on highly visible sites.

Of course, there’s no magic formula to driving sales through social media, it’s a combination of having a good product in the first place – using social media effectively and being able to track and respond effectively.

To do this you must analyse data across all channels – for example, evaluating how much traffic can be redirected from your customer advisors to online resources allowing them the time to provide greater service when they do speak with their customers. Or being attuned to positive or negative mentions in social media – taking a decision to intervene or stand by as your reputation is discussed in social forums.

Your customers are better connected than ever. You can’t afford to ignore them.

An innovative public-private partnership is set to improve transactional services for Slough Borough Council, delivering £26.5m savings over the next ten years and bringing new business into the town.

The partnership with global business process outsourcing group arvato will see £3.8m being invested into transforming services such as revenues and benefits, payroll, finance services, HR and logistics services. The partnership will go live on 2nd April 2012.

arvato has also guaranteed the creation of 100 apprentice positions, who will be trained to NVQ Level 2 in contact centres.

Rainer Majcen, managing director, public sector, arvato UK & Ireland said, “Our approach to enhancing services and achieving cost savings is based on investment - in infrastructure, technology and people – and a fundamental belief in collaboration.

HP has announced a 7 year services deal with Swiss-based global agribusiness Syngenta Crop Protection. The agreement will see Syngenta moving parts of its technology infrastructure to a private cloud environment using HP Cloud Computing Solutions, giving the company real-time data access and thereby allowing it to adjust quickly to changing business conditions.

“Syngenta has embarked on a new era of productivity and innovation to help growers around the world,” said Martin Walker, head of Business Services, Syngenta. “HP complements our global reach and we value HP’s expertise in the latest technology innovation as a trusted infrastructure services supplier.”

A group of NHS trusts in London are planning to outsource the buying of medical accessories to a private hospital group to cut costs.

The trusts are discussing a 10–year deal with BMI Healthcare, which operates 70 private hospitals in the UK, to buy medical consumables such as wound dressings.

The four trusts are Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, King’s College Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, South London Healthcare NHS Trust and Barking, Havering and Redbridge University Hospitals NHS Trust. The goal is to combine the buying power of the private group with the public sector.

The government has not in general measured the benefits delivered by its two central internet services Directgov and Business.gov, and the infrastructure service Government Gateway, which together cost some £90 million a year, according to a report today by the National Audit Office.

Government departments and other public bodies use Directgov, Business.gov and Gateway to provide information to the public and to support a range of government online services.

It is crucial that the Government Digital Service (GDS), established in March 2011 to implement a new strategy to deliver all government information services digitally, builds in the right mechanisms to achieve value for money as it plans the future of digital shared infrastructure and services.

Amyas Morse, head of the National Audit Office, said today: "It is a good thing that people visited the two main government websites some 200 million times last year. However, it’s still unclear what benefits have been achieved and at what cost. We cannot conclude, therefore, that the taxpayer is securing value for money."

Accenture has signed multi-year agreements with insurance and wealth management services provider The Hartford to assist in the transformation of The Hartford's finance department.

Under the agreement, Accenture will provide The Hartford with management and technology consulting as well as finance and accounting (F&A) business process outsourcing (BPO) services.

Accenture North America Finance and Risk Services Financial Services managing director Gary Fink said: "We are pleased to have been selected by The Hartford for their enterprise finance transformation project. We look forward to working with The Hartford and helping them to create the foundation for high-performance finance."

Minister of Industry, Investment and Commerce, Dr. Christopher Tufton, has announced a new investment in Jamaica’s business process outsourcing (BPO) sector by the Convergys Corporation, one of the largest agent-assisted customer service companies in the world. Convergys is projected to employ nearly 1,000 persons when its first call centre slated for Montego Bay becomes fully staffed in 2012.

Speaking at a specially organised press briefing held at JAMPRO’s New Kingston head office, Minister Tufton noted that the Convergys call centre represents the company’s initial foray into the Caribbean. "Convergys is a quality investment for Jamaica...we are confident that it will offer Jamaicans new employment and career opportunities in an industry with a bright future in Jamaica," stated Minister Tufton.

“This new investment is here today because of the professional facilitation efforts of JAMPRO, a key agency of the Ministry of Industry, Investment and Commerce, working in partnership with a number of other agencies of the Ministry, as well as with the HEART Trust/NTA, to make this investment a reality,” he added.

CA Technologies has announced that Logicalis UK, part of the international IT and Communications (ICT) solutions integrator, is bolstering its private cloud offerings with CA Automation Suite for Clouds.

The private cloud services platform will enable Logicalis UK customers to benefit from the rapid delivery of private clouds, whilst also achieving improved cost efficiencies.

“Logicalis UK is at the forefront in offering cloud services to the FTSE 250 and public sector customers. The new offering, based on CA Technologies, will provide its customers with access to a market leading solution that manages private clouds across a broad combination of hardware and virtualisation technologies that customers already own, combined with innovative strategic advisory services, planning and rapid service delivery. By adding CA Automation Suite for Clouds to its existing cloud offerings, Logicalis UK will offer a new set of capabilities that enable IT to provide cloud-based services to its customers rapidly and more cost effectively,” said Roger Pilc, general manager, Virtualisation and Automation, CA Technologies.

Infosys has announced that it has signed a multi-year Transformation and Business IT services contract with Syngenta AG, one of the world leading agribusiness companies based in Switzerland. In a landmark contract that will provide consistency and predictability of service delivery, Infosys will consolidate Syngenta’s Global Business IT services landscape under a single shared services engagement.

Martin Walker, Global Head of Business Services for Syngenta: "Syngenta works across the globe and these services are critical to our success and competitiveness. Infosys was an obvious choice for Syngenta for its willingness to partner, ability to deliver superior solutions, leverage global presence and robust Business Transformation framework and capabilities. Infosys has aligned its priorities with Syngenta strategy, which is clearly evident in all interactions and is a key element in the success of this partnership."

Everything Everywhere has announced a £1.5 billion network evolution plan, which will see the further integration of the T-Mobile and Orange mobile networks and deployment of “4G-ready” (LTE) technology.

The investment will be made over a three-year period, with the company planning “double digit” growth in its 2012 network investment compared to 2011.

In the first half of 2012, Everything Everywhere intends to “further improve” its cross-network roaming for T-Mobile and Orange subscribers, to enable devices to automatically select the stronger signal from either network. It will also begin a “phased programme” to streamline network sites, as part of a plan to deliver synergy savings of £3.5 billion by 2014.