THE BOARDROOM

It has been a year since a new world of lockdowns, social distancing, and quarantines were thrust upon us. Through this challenging time, both individuals and companies have found value in genuine connections.  Well-managed relationships can pay off for companies, even through crises. Research by KPMG shows that “investing in the customer relationship in times of difficulty will be repaid by enduring customer loyalty. Firms that maintain their ethics during periods of catastrophe grow and prosper.” Customer relationship management (CRM) platforms offer a comprehensive and frictionless way to nurture and manage those essential connections. Supercharge relationships with CRM In a nutshell, CRM is a technology that links businesses to all the information they have about each customer—name, contact details, which social media ads they clicked; products they added to cart; services they requested a price quote for, etc. The most effective CRM platforms use artificial intelligence (AI), automation, and cloud computing to supercharge their capabilities. The world’s leading CRM provider, Salesforce, deploys all these technologies out of the box. When a CRM platform is used by the entire company, everyone (even employees from different departments) will always be on the same page. Interactions with customers will also become more personalized. Your organization will gain a powerful new way to manage relationships and enjoy key benefits such as connecting with more customers and keeping them happy; improving collaboration across departments; and gleaning actionable insight from customer data. To make these perks more accessible to organizations in the Philippines, Globe has invested and partnered with Third Pillar , the country’s largest Salesforce provider. Our combined services will help local enterprises make the most of their digital transformation, by giving them the tools to understand their customers better and streamline marketing, sales, service, and business operations. By deploying CRM as part of your relationship toolbox, your company will enjoy the following benefits: Find more leads Any company of any size, whether B2C or B2B, can reap the benefits of a 360-degree view of their customers. For customer-facing teams, CRM can help them make better, more meaningful connections. Marketing departments, for instance, will be able to understand customers better and see where each one is in the sales funnel, through data gathered from various digital channels. The team gets to send personalized and targeted messages that resonate with intended audiences, as well as to measure the impact of these efforts. Salesforce has a marketing suite of products called Marketing Cloud that uses AI, automation, the cloud, and an exclusive partnership with Google Analytics 360 to help companies gain deep insight into potential and existing customers. Close more deals By connecting sales teams with other departments—marketing and customer service, for instance—and providing them with analytics and intelligence capabilities, leads can be easily converted into opportunities and sales. Sales forecasting also becomes easier. Aside from lead management, opportunity management, and sales forecasting, Salesforce’s Sales Cloud also automates the generation of quotes through its configure-price-quote (CPQ) software. This gives customers fast and accurate pricing every time. Keep your customers happy Gaining customers is one thing—keeping them is another. Unfortunately, the pandemic has also put customer loyalty to the test. McKinsey found that 75% of consumers in the U.S. have tried new brands and channels, driven mainly by convenience and better value compared to their usual brands. But even after successfully convincing people to choose their brand, companies still need to keep customers happy by providing excellent service. To do this, businesses will need to give their customer support teams a comprehensive view of each customer’s history and needs. By harnessing the power of AI, cloud computing, and automation, Salesforce Service Cloud helps customer service teams resolve cases faster and deliver personalized support across channels. Improve collaboration across teams With comprehensive customer information available to each team member, departments are better able to collaborate and build on each other’s progress. For Salesforce users, because the service is cloud-based, the data is always up-to-date and accessible anywhere. This makes it perfect for teams who are working remotely. View meaningful information, get actionable insight Companies are constantly inundated with data and conversations with consumers through different channels. Social media, websites, messaging apps, SMS, and emails all compete for attention, exponentially increasing in volume as digitalization accelerates. The competitive edge belongs to businesses that can collate, organize, and glean actionable insight from this surging tide of information. CRM platforms typically display data on a dashboard, with charts, graphs, and other data visualizations. This lets users quickly see the information they need without having to sort through hundreds of rows and columns in a spreadsheet. Regular reports also help users make sense of data by analyzing it to identify trends and distill actionable insight. Salesforce, for instance, provides a customizable dashboard that lets users arrange information based on what is most relevant to them. For instance, a director of marketing may want to see email marketing metrics, whereas the head of sales may want to highlight forecasts. These two users can tweak their individual dashboards according to the nature of their work. As increased competition between businesses and wider distances between people become the norm, the competitive edge belongs to companies that use tools like Salesforce to foster better connections with both customers and employees.

Globe Telecom —through its enterprise arm Globe Business —made a historic mark as the first telco to launch network virtualization in the Philippines. Using the telecom company’s Network Function Virtualization Orchestrator (NFVO), businesses across the country can now set up their Software-Defined Wide Area Network (SD-WAN) requirements virtually, along with a symphony of cybersecurity and communications applications. “Before NFVO came to fruition, companies were required to install multiple hardware to get their network running seamlessly. With the limitations caused by COVID-19 and the ever-rising demand for internet connectivity, it became apparent that virtualization would be the next step to revolutionize networks,” shared Peter Maquera, Senior Vice President for Globe Business. “NFVO provides businesses with stable, reliable, and scalable networks by replacing physical appliances, such as routers, firewalls, IP PBX systems, and load balancers, with virtual ones.” These virtualized network functions include SD-WAN capabilities and Virtual Firewalls (vFW). SD-WAN allows businesses to use any existing connectivity and deploy their own virtual private network to any location. vFW, on the other hand, provides companies with the ability to grant or block traffic and protect private networks against threats. NFVO makes it possible for businesses to connect to cloud resources; enhance and automate branch connectivity; manage and control incoming and outgoing network traffic; enable routing, firewall security, and virtual private network connectivity; and get subscription-based and cost-efficient business telephony services hosted in Globe data centers. “Aside from the security, real-time network visibility, and control that NFVO gives, the platform also equips businesses with a competitive edge through speed and agility,” added Maquera. “A physical network setup usually takes more than a month. With Globe’s scalable solution, service-level agreements are cut down to mere hours, if they already have existing connectivity in place, leading to more cost savings and no interruptions to services, since everything’s virtual.” Globe Business’ NFVO forms part of the telco’s plans to strengthen the triumvirate of digital transformation—connectivity, cybersecurity, and Cloud. Through a single network solution, Globe aims to empower enterprises to benefit from multiple virtualized features and functions provided by trusted global vendors. With it, businesses across industries can expand their operations and further contribute to the country’s economic recovery. Experience network reimagined with Globe Business’ robust enterprise connectivity. Explore SD-WAN and more by visiting our website . You may also talk to your Account Manager today to get started on expanding your network.