Ironing out distortions in consumer communication

“The customer is always right”, “The customer is king” or “Place the customer at the centre of your business strategy” are phrases and statements that we all know well. At a recent event at Astrolabs in Dubai, the Google tech hub in the Middle East, we heard practical advice about how these mottos can translate through every aspect of a business.

Recently, an audience of entrepreneurs was part of a discussion where one innovative UAE-based start-up venture narrated its success story on how an excellent customer experience begins by first fixing the broken lines of business communication. A cloud communications provider named Knowlarity showcased how interaction between consumers and businesses is changing fundamentally, and that it has never been more important for companies to improve and better manage their customer communications.

The company itself had developed an innovative communication solution for larger corporations and organisations to more efficiently manage their communication leads.

To illustrate, a virtual assistant named ‘SuperReceptionist’ developed tracks incoming and outgoing calls while ensuring they do not lose any customer leads. Its ultimate aim is to help businesses grow faster through intelligent and reliable communications via digital tools, and to help customers efficiently interact with businesses by reducing the friction inherent in any communication process.

For any business, particularly a start-up, it is imperative that critical calls are not missed in the course of doing business, which is why a number of local and global companies such as Google, Amazon, Uber, and Deliveroo are relying on such intelligent virtual-driven assistants to optimise their lead-to-sales operations.

This is also very critical in the region as a whole, and particularly within an emerging market which has a large proportion of start-ups, which in turn is driving much of the city’s progress. In fact, start-ups according to the World Bank, are one of the main engines of job creation in the Middle East, with events such as Expo 2020 set to focus considerably on small businesses to help draw on their expertise and ensure a long-lasting legacy.

So, it goes without saying that it is vital that small businesses remain nimble, and are not losing out on revenue or opportunities simply because their business lines are letting them down.

It stands to reason though that creating a start-up will not be without its ups and downs. Indeed many start-ups fail before they have even really got out of the starting blocks. So, the odds ultimately are against the business even before they have really started to trade.

But this is part and parcel of the success journey. Nevertheless, companies will realise how to overcome such hurdles through sheer passion and determination to transform a widespread problem into a commercial opportunity.

As such, we have witnessed the inspirational story of how Knowlarity was able to attract the interest of investors raising over Dh73 million from Delta Partners, Sequoia Capital and Mayfield owing to their inventive business proposition.

When it comes to building a successful start-up, the most strategic approach that companies should follow is to be customer centric, which is the bloodstream for any business to sustain and retain customers. And whilst that may sound easy to say, the key is to start with fixing broken communication channels with consumers, making it easier for customers to reach out in the first place.

The writer is with Delta Partners.