The problem with the average “good idea” is translating the idea to action and harnessing the limited resources in between. One good idea is proactive outreach (using automated outbound voice with an IVR system integrated with an automated dialer) to a known satisfied customer. That customer bought your product or service, and you took the trouble to elicit feedback. So you know that someday in the future you might be able to count on his or her return business.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, though, can cause your product to stay at a lower level as the customer goes elsewhere in search of something perceived as better and fulfilling a higher need. So there you are looking up at the customer and wondering whether you need to amp up and make that previously contented customer a present loyal one.

You do that through outbound notifications, which is one of those good ideas that can be harnessed with call center and customer resource management automation. We’re not talking about saturation robocalls here. Your effort needs to be filtered through intelligent design.

Here are just two examples:

• Your customer’s product warranty is expiring soon. You can program your outbound notifications to either prompt the customer to buy that extended warranty or to offer a special trade-in or discount deal for a new product.
• Your customer’s product manufacturer has partnered up with another product and there’s a special coupon deal or offer to promote that partnership. Your customer data base lists who bought the product, so you can launch the notification easily.

OK, so maybe you have a different reason for automating your customer outreach. Perhaps you’re a nonprofit organization with an upcoming fundraising campaign, but you don’t have the resources of your local PBS station. Or you might be doing a targeted telephone survey project focusing on a demographic you know will be likely to stay on the line and complete it.

Whatever your application, automated outbound notifications can take that good idea to the good results you’re after. In between the latter and the former is the cloud-based call center application that does the labor-intensive customer targeting and automated dialing. In the meantime, though untouched by human hands at its origination, your outreach can give the customer instant access to qualified people who are far more than the “ghosts in the machine.”

Looking for the best cloud-based software to get your product higher up in your customer’s wish list? Contact us. We’ve got the latest and greatest platform to stay ahead of Maslow and execute your good ideas.