10 Tips to Improve the Customer Experience with SAP Integration

Real-time data availability is essential to providing the customer experience people expect today

The technology available for SAP integration has advanced considerably in the last 10 years. The widespread availability of smartphones and the arrival of cloud-based computing has made the customer experience more challenging for companies. Customers expect fast responses to inquiries and requests for quotes. Companies with outdated or slow technology aren’t able to meet those demands and lose the edge when it comes to selling to these customers.

Real-time visibility guarantees the most up-to-date information

Customers are used to accessing the information they want at a moment’s notice. Whether it is checking the price of your product against a competitor’s by scanning a bar code or looking up the address to the nearest Starbucks, customers have more access to data than ever before.

But some businesses have a lag from when the data populates through the system until it updates product inventories, customer contact information, and more. That information gap can be the difference between an unsatisfied customer and a loyal brand enthusiast.

Having the most accurate information on inventory, product location, and order history does not only benefit the employee but the customer as well. How do you connect with customers who have these expectations? Use real-time SAP integration to give sales and support representatives the power they need to keep up with the increasing demands of customers.

Faster service is one way to improve the customer experience, but it isn’t the only way. Here are 10 more ways you can improve the customer experience with SAP integration:

1. Provide easy access to order history

Have you lost a receipt recently? It happens all the time and can be infuriating if you need to return a defective product or provide proof of purchase to contact technical support. If the store requires a hard copy of a receipt to resolve a problem and you don’t have it, it immediately becomes a negative customer experience. Many times, it takes businesses forever — often getting a manager involved — just to look up a receipt to provide proof of purchase. Or the system has been purged of sales data from a transaction made long ago.

But what if the store could bring up your entire order history with a few keystrokes and provide you with that missing receipt? Or better yet, allow that customer to look up that information for themselves?

2. Deliver self-service options

People don’t always want to speak to a live person to get information:

• According to the Harvard Business Review, 81% of customers across all industries attempt to take care of matters themselves before reaching out to a live representative.
• 75% of customers in a recent Zendesk survey said that “self-service is a convenient way to address customer issues.”
• And 67% of respondents prefer self-service over speaking to a company representative.

Having a robust self-service system, powered by a real-time SAP integration solution such as enosix Transact, can provide the customer with up-to-date information immediately after a transaction occurs.

3. Support mobile devices

Insider Intelligence estimates that total “m-commerce” sales will reach $284 billion, or 45% of the total U.S. e-commerce market by the end of 2020. The days of online shopping strictly happening from behind the screens of desktop computers are over. Brands, especially eCommerce sites, must be configured for mobile devices.

According to Google, 40% of mobile customers went to a competitor’s website after an unsatisfactory mobile Web experience, and 57% of users would not recommend a business with a bad mobile website. Improving the customer experience must include a plan to configure your SAP-to-frontend integration to support the mobile experience.

4. Deliver seamless transition from sales and service

We all know that information is power, and immediate access to the most up-to-date customer information assures that you always have what you need to address customer issues. This means that a customer service team member can easily access real-time data and provide correct answers because they have all of the information for that customer at their fingertips — even — if the call occurs a couple of hours or even minutes after the sale.

5. Shorten wait times and resolution times

Nothing destroys a customer’s experience faster than the inability to get an actual person on the phone to answer a question. Real-time SAP integration assures that the customer service representative has the latest information and documentation on an issue, even if the call was accidentally disconnected.

There is no need for the customer to wait for the person who was helping them before because all the data captured on the earlier call is right there in front of the new rep so they can continue resolving the problem seamlessly. Real-time data integration means that both the wait times for service and the time to resolve a problem are decreased.

For example, when Carhartt, the well-known durable workwear company, partnered with enosix to improve customer service calls, the results were:

• 25% faster resolution time on calls
• 50% increase in first-time customer service call resolutions

6. Offer a live chat option

Part of the positive customer experience is fast response and resolution times, and according to HubSpot, customers expect to get a response from customer support within 10 minutes.

7. Communicate over numerous channels

No one communication channel meets the needs of all your customers. You need to provide many options for your customers to resolve issues if you want to provide the best customer experience. This may include email, phone support, live chat, social media messaging systems, and more. The more options you provide, the greater the number of customers you will keep happy.

8. Connect with customers via social media

Customers love social media and may use it to promote or pan the goods and services of your business. What better way to show customers that you care than by having rapid interactions with them via social media?

Resolving problems, generating sales leads, and answering questions are just a few of the ways a real-time social media presence will benefit your business. For customers, your SAP integration makes the buying experience even better. Imagine the loyalty you will receive if you answer a customer’s question using Facebook Messenger or thank them for a positive Google or Yelp review. Don’t overlook social media as a serious option for engaging with customers online.

9. Get accurate quotes out faster

One of the biggest hassles for both sales teams and customers is the amount of time it takes to generate a sales quote. Most company quote processes involve complex interactions between multiple systems before the salesperson can provide an accurate quote, and this takes time — sometimes a lot of it. For example, enosix replaced a costly quoting system for Verso, a leading North American paper company, with a Salesforce-integrated solution that reduced the quote publication time by 98%.

10. Create a customer-focused business culture

SAP integration is just the start to improve the customer experience. Business leaders must communicate the importance of delivering superior customer service all the time to maintain an edge over their competition. Implementing new tools and systems is a great approach, but it means nothing if your employees don’t buy in to the need for superior customer service in every interaction.

Are you ready to improve the customer experience with dynamic real-time SAP integration?

Then reach out to us here at enosix. We are a recognized leader in providing integration solutions between front-end platforms like Salesforce and SAP ERP systems. Request a demo, reach out to us via our simple online contact form, or give us a call at 844 436-6749 today to see how we can put an enosix solution in place for you.