The shape and color of the Cloud formations have a dark tinge out at the farther edges. The market for Software As A Service applications seems headed into a commoditized future. As more and more software companies offer SaaS products, the swelling competition will exert ever-growing pressure on pricing. Sound familiar? It should, for increasing power and availability of choices coupled with decreasing price has been the reality of the PC market for many years. But that dark future is not inevitable for SaaS. Consider the example of a company that still consistently gets premium prices for a premium product family in the midst of the PC sameness. Even better, a company who enjoys continuing levels of customer loyalty its competitors can only helplessly envy. SaaS vendors who want more than subsistence, take note: Who will be the Apple of the SaaS community?
I’ve been a Mac user for nearly 20 years. My iPod handles the music that is a constant companion, and my iPhone goes everywhere with me. (I wish that I had far more than the few shares of APPL in my IRA holdings.) I enjoy my trips to the Apple store, and the thought that maybe there might be cheaper prices to be found elsewhere holds no allure. While I’ve only had to call for Support a bare handful of times over the years, each occasion has been effective and pleasant. 
Saying “it just works” is only the beginning part of the reason I keep buying from Apple. There is a consistent experience of delight inherent in the products themselves, in their use, and in interacting with the people of the company that is not accidental; it’s all the result of the company’s relentless insistence on excellence of design and execution. That insistence works for the company as well as the customers.
The single source for all of the product’s components is a key aspect that SaaS vendors wishing to emulate Apple’s success need to recognize. The seamless linkage between my computer, phone and music player wouldn’t be possible if all three came from different vendors and the burden of tying them together was on me. I have no interest in learning about technology, I just want to use it. I realize that Apple doesn’t make all of the components of their products themselves — but I have only one number to call when I have a question. And I almost never need to call that number.
Taming the Technology Challenge
You’ve determined that your customer contact center needs a new phone switch, or a case-management system, or a knowledgebase engine, community forum/interface or other piece of support technology. Now the “fun” begins. Which one of the bewildering array of available products will be the best for your company and operation? Should you go with a traditional on-premised system, an open source entry, or turn to a Software as a Service vendor? What functionality will you need in the future in order to authentically run your center on a P&L basis? How do you avoid expensive surprises? Will you and your team be able to get any work done at all in the midst of the calls from the vendors’ sales teams? How will you know what’s reasonable when it comes to the pricing? At what point does a good deal become too good? What are the pitfalls of the implementation and integration phase, and how can you minimize their impact? How long will it really take before the new tool is fully up and running?
Professional Counsel
Most professional contact center managers will go through a major vendor/technology selection process only once or twice in their careers, and will have the scars to show for it. However, this is our business, and we’ve developed a detailed process and skill-set to handle it. We know the players in the industry, for we work with them all the time. We know where the risk points are, and how to guide our clients safely through them. We know the difference between the initial price quote and the “best and final offer” that comes at the end of a well-run process. Perhaps best of all, the sales teams call us instead of adding unnecessarily to your workload. Once the decision has been made, we can help to prepare you so that the implementation fees stay reasonable. Our job is to make sure that you ask all the right questions and to help you make sense of the answers. We’ll smoothly take you through the steps of the process from beginning to end.
For more information about how your company’s Customer Support/Services Contact Center Technology suite resources can be extended and optimized, please join us for a complimentary consultation during Office Hours.
Revised: September 2, 2009