Empowering productivity

By Ben Samman, Managing Director, APAC, Jabra

Modern technology allows customers to shop globally. In order to differentiate and not lose the battle of price to lower-priced foreign competitors, customer service is crucial.

This battle for customer service happens in terms of both customer experience and branding in every customer interaction especially when the customer interacts with a call centre—usually customers contact a call centre when they have a problem—rarely to thank the company for a great product or service.

As such they are already in a bad mood.  The wonderful thing about call centres is that with the right training, an agent can take an angry customer and upsell or even create an experience that will ensure customer loyalty for life.

Ben Samman

The current landscape

The battle for customer service hasn’t changed, but its nature has. Today, it moves faster, is multi-faceted and customers are generally more impatient. They are more demanding. With greater competition, the stakes are higher.

Research shows that 70% customers switch suppliers because of poor customer service.

Technology advancements mean that customers want to reach out via multiple channels – through chat, social media, email, phone, video, voice, etc.

Organisations need to be able to manage these rising expectations from their consumers in the best possible manner and ensure that each and every interaction for the customer is pleasant, without disturbance.

The clear link between technology and high performance.  

Along with the appropriate work processes and organisational culture and training for personnel, you need the right technology to complete the proposition.

The technology is a very crucial factor, in fact, it could be the make or break component as quite often, work processes and culture are also influenced by technology.

It must be comprehensive, right down to the everyday tools and software that employees use.

Our products are meant for both the employer and user in mind – delivering a vital solution to improve return on investment through increased workplace productivity and accelerated user adoption.

Remote and knowledge workers

 The lines that define working environments and interactions blur rapidly. In a world where working from different locations every day is the norm, the need for seamless and stable connectivity becomes crucial.

More and more workers are multitasking, handling phone calls while operating a PC or moving around at the same time.

The value of knowledge work is challenged by an imbalance between collaboration and concentration. Sixty-nine percent of knowledge workers state that disturbances in the open office have a negative impact on their performance. Studies show that knowledge workers are interrupted every 10 minutes.

In a world where workers choose or need to work anytime, anywhere, and are increasingly facing greater distractions and disruptions, the need for technology to cut the clutter and enhance productivity is greater.

Our products go back towards helping people work well and stay productive within the new and dynamic working environment.

 The Malaysian scene

Malaysia has a number of world class companies that make the country a good destination for outsourcing of call centres. Multi-language capabilities, good infrastructure, low-cost and in some cases a favourable tax regime make Malaysia an increasingly important outsourcing hub.

So, how are companies now leveraging this natural advantage? Are they optimising it by now putting the technology in place to become the best call centre destination in the world?  Are they making Malaysia  the best place to facilitate the work of information workers?

Through innovation and the focus on human technology, we’re bridging the technological gaps that allow companies to deliver world-class customer service and communications; to optimise their resources and to give them a competitive edge.

From contact centres, mobile workers to hot-desking, Jabra has solutions for CIOs, knowledge workers, remote teams and office employees who want to increase productivity without sacrificing flexibility.

Our products are designed to intuitively adjust microphone volume and block out ambient sounds. They also come with an automatic volume arrestor to stop volume peaks to protect agent and user hearing. Most of all, our approach is human. It’s in line with what people need and want.

From headsets that we are customarily known for, to software solutions that optimise the utility and performance of hardware, we provide a comprehensive range of products to cater to varying market needs and requirements.

Growing the market

We have always had a strong and reputable presence for quality products and solutions that are intelligent and intuitive to empower productivity and provide comfort.

The strategies to grow and capture market share in each segment are different. For consumer, it’s about market penetration – building brand awareness and appeal among consumers.

With regards to business solutions, it’s about strengthening our position among key business sectors. Corporates know us already. It’s about continuing to innovate new and improved solutions that stay in touch with market needs.