Focus on CX: “IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Automated Document Generation and Customer Communication Management 2024 Vendor Assessment"
By Scott Draeger, SVP of Product Marketing and Vertical Solutions at Smart Communications
IDC has earned a great reputation for identifying the upcoming trends in the CCM market, and Marci Maddox’ 2024 research builds upon a strong body of work that has covered several generations of Automated Document Generation Customer Communications Management (ADG/CCM) CCM technology[SD1] . In this blog, we will explore how Smart Communications helps clients focus on CX to avoid falling behind in a time where organizations are under pressure to improve experiences or lose business to competitors.
The research suggests that organizations that have postponed projects to improve customer communications are about to fall behind in terms of both customer experience (CX) and employee experience (EX,) as leading ADG/CCM technologies deliver benefits to prospects, customers, and employees that are beyond the capabilities of legacy CCM technologies. The report targets technology evaluators by suggesting; “Buyers should proactively consider an expansive set of use cases across automated document generation and customer-facing functions to fully leverage the value an ADG/CCM application can provide.” The ADG/CCM technology is designed not to address communication obligations one document or channel at a time, but to enable seamless, journey-wide customer engagement. It achieves this by sharing content across channels, ensuring accessibility, and supporting consistent, cohesive interactions throughout the entire customer journey.
ADG/CCM technology has grown to support more steps of the customer journey by including more types of communication across more channels. According to the research, “ADG/CCM applications tailor the user experience to generate documents and communications within the context of a task, use case, or business value stream.” Legacy ADG/CCM technologies focus on discreet communications, almost totally ignoring context. With features like Conversation History, Smart Communications captures communication metadata for later repurposing in downstream systems to optimize customer experience and reduce costs.
If you haven’t looked at CCM technology to improve customer experience, you risk falling behind as advancements continue to accelerate while you remain static. As a Leader in the space, Smart Communications has continuously improved on our award-winning cloud-native CCM technology for automated document generation. In the market, “Vendors have advanced document generation to include personalization elements by pre-populating communication workflows with data-driven rules or the newer AI and generative AI (GenAI) capabilities.” Smart Communications is ready to support you as you make your next move.
In the automated document generation space of CCM, our SmartCOMM™ technology stands out by offering a unified environment. It transforms applications capable of generating billions of batch communications into self-service, on-demand communications – or even employee-assisted interactive experiences – all without the need for redundant designs, deployments, or approval cycles. Additionally, SmartCOMM can deliver tailored communications to multiple parties using multiple channels by leveraging capabilities like interactive merge, editions, and draft editor.
As we look to the future of your customer conversations, consider this important message from the report; “Despite the level of change, planning should start immediately to outline a communication strategy focusing on the CX or risk of falling behind customer expectations and its implications for customer loyalty, lifetime value, and profit margins for the business.” If you have been sitting out of the market by postponing investments, your competitors may be beating you on experiences.
The good news is that Smart Communications cloud-native technologies have a reputation for delivering value quickly by combining flexible low code interfaces with the instant availability of cloud-based architecture. You can catch up to your competitors, and pass them, faster than you think.
Download the report today and get started on your CCM transformation.
About the Author
Scott Draeger is the SVP of Product Marketing and Vertical Solutions at Smart Communications. He has a passion for collaboration, and over 25 years of innovating customer communications technology, around the globe. He focuses on improving communications for the recipient while improving performance for the business. He started as a document designer using a collection of hardware and software technologies, before moving to the software side of the industry. He finds connections across disciplines with certifications in graphic design, customer experience, electronic documents, and an MBA in international business.