Previewing the TSIA World Interact Conference: 3 software trends to help maintain growth

As West Monroe prepares to attend the upcoming TSIA World Envision Conference in Las Vegas this October, we reflected on the key takeaways we learned in May, and how it has enhanced our conversations with clients around optimizing their strategies for success.

The key issues discussed at the conference:

1. Are not equipped with the necessary technology or capabilities to scale efficiently  
2. Are unable to deliver a consistent and effective customer experience  

This is largely due to the complex nature of the solutions being provided, the number of products and features in a company’s portfolio, and the need to bring cross-functional teams to address customers’ issues. 

We spoke with many clients at TSIA about the opportunity to optimize the way we engage with our customer base, leveraging a digital mindset supported by customer data and tight linkage of cross-functional teams. 

We discovered three main tactics in which organizations with complex portfolios can focus their efforts to keep pace with their rapid growth—without sacrificing customer experience.

1. Think beyond Swarm

Many companies are leveraging the “Swarm” model, an approach that originally was intended to “intelligently match” a customer’s issue to an experienced individual, and then “swarm” the issue by sending many individuals to quickly resolve it. 

There are obvious benefits to the Swarm model, but many companies are struggling to operationalize because of: 

• Uncertainty around the right tools to enable collaboration and case tracking and insights 

• Immature processes in place to drive scalability across Swarm teams 

• When it is appropriate to use the swarm model versus others to solve a problem (Coveo estimates it is only required for 5-7% of cases today)

• Concerns that a Swarm model won’t scale as the business grows 

Companies must begin thinking about the Swarm model beyond just leveraging support specialists. There is an opportunity to engage customers with appropriate resources to help automate the process and reduce costs. 

For some organizations, this may simply mean building out deflection capabilities—such as self-serve knowledge content—and driving efficiencies via specialization and outsourcing. Others may require a more complex strategy that includes artificial intelligence, machine learning, and other tools to enable contextual customer engagement.  

We suggest assessing the maturity of your support organization and understanding how you compare to industry benchmarks and best practices. Then, create a path to improvement and ensure your business case supports the required investment.  

2. Organize functions and data to support product-led growth and the customer experience—especially from a digital standpoint 

Another common pain point expressed? How to best structure a company to support product-led growth. For starters, companies aren’t managing customer data effectively. Customer information is constantly being captured and stored across organizations—but is rarely used to its full potential because business units are siloed with differing initiatives and poor working relationships. 

Next, business units aren’t set to seamlessly communicate and share customer insights. For example, service teams are not looped in early enough on product updates nor are privy to customer feedback from sales teams, putting them at a disadvantage at a time when high-quality customer service is pivotal. 

For a company to consistently achieve long-term growth, it’s critical that all business functions are aligned, and that all data is effectively leveraged by relevant business units. We challenge you to think broadly about how your data will be used across the business. This will set you up to best understand how to store data and structure your teams.  

3. Exploring all avenues for efficiency, including sales and revenue 

Companies are constantly searching for ways to become more efficient but oftentimes forget to re-examine some of the more traditional models. For instance, the antiquated headcount-driven sales model could be replaced by opportunities to invest in technology that capitalizes on data points captured by the sales teams to better understand customer tendencies. By leveraging data and systems to be more efficient with sales, organizations can improve win rates and lower the cost of sales. 

Many organizations are not thinking about their revenue in the right way. Revenue Operations (RevOps)—an integrated set of data and insights, processes, and systems intended to align functions of an organization, facilitate emerging business models, and earn revenue faster—has recently gained traction and interest, but most companies are unsure where to begin. We recently published a report on the current state of RevOps and how companies should approach implementing a successful RevOps strategy. When done successfully, RevOps programs have clear benefits: higher revenue, improved net retention rates (NRR), and lower go-to-market expenses.  

Our team is excited to attend the TSIA Conference in Las Vegas this October and discuss with you the latest industry trends. If you’re planning to be there, please reach out to us!