Intelligent CIO Africa Issue 74 | Page 65

COMPANIES ARE NOW URGENTLY TURNING TO CHAT CHANNELS TO HELP THEM MEET THESE NEW EXPECTATIONS . CLICKATELL IS INVESTING AND INNOVATING IN THIS SPACE SO WE CAN ENABLE COMMERCE WHERE YOUR CUSTOMERS ARE .
INDUSTRY WATCH

COMPANIES ARE NOW URGENTLY TURNING TO CHAT CHANNELS TO HELP THEM MEET THESE NEW EXPECTATIONS . CLICKATELL IS INVESTING AND INNOVATING IN THIS SPACE SO WE CAN ENABLE COMMERCE WHERE YOUR CUSTOMERS ARE .

Attendees at Clickatell ’ s Connect Interact and Transact ( CIT ) annual event in held recently in Nigeria heard how chat commerce can assist companies , especially banks , connect with customers who are increasingly demanding a new way of engagement and shifting their trust from traditional organisations to start-ups .

The event , which is normally hosted in Lagos for Clickatell ’ s Nigerian and other African customers and partners , was hosted virtually this year and chaired by Hannes van Rensburg , Chief Commercial Officer , Clickatell .
“ COVID-19 has changed customers ’ buying behaviour and how they interact with brands . For this reason , it has accelerated digital investments for many organisations . Companies are now urgently turning to chat channels to help them meet these new expectations . Clickatell is investing and innovating in this space so we can enable commerce where your customers are ,” van Rensburg explained . that customers expect return on consent and that trust and permission must not be taken for granted . It was also noted that a focus on financial well-being , through advice and in refining products for consumer needs , will define leaders
An engaging panel discussion following the keynote focussed on the importance of chat when it comes to empowering consumers in a digital world .
Gareth Bray , Business Development and Partnerships at WhatsApp , opened the discussion by sharing how COVID-19 had accelerated existing trends .
“ We ’ ve been working with our partners , such as Clickatell , to onboard new businesses , whether it ’ s their first foray into conversational commerce or to vastly increase the efficiency of their customer service by using asynchronous chat apps . We have multiple use cases in the FinTech space in Africa . One company began onboarding new customers through their chat channel , which meant they could still grow their business even in the throes of a pandemic ,” Bray said .
Featured speaker , Alyson Clarke , Principal Analyst at Forrester kicked off her keynote titled : ‘ The Future of Banking ’, by sharing some of the company ’ s research findings . These showed how banking business priorities have changed during the pandemic . Of note was banks accelerating their shift to become digital businesses , ranked as the third top priority postpandemic , closely following growing revenue and reducing costs .
Forrester stated that the next decade in banking will be all about insights and who consumers trust to use them . The organisation says : consumers want personalised experiences and products , with a level of guidance and assistance set by customer preference ,
Pieter de Villiers , Co-Founder and CEO , Clickatell , confirmed this trend and pointed out that chat was faster , simpler and smarter for both the customer and for the bank . De Villiers said Clickatell believes banks , particularly in the emerging markets , can increase their reach by a factor of three if they implement chat . “ The goal should be no pain for your customer and ultimately zero hold time ,” he added .
With over 2 billion users on its platform , WhatsApp understands user behaviour when it comes to chat .
“ Meeting your customer where they are is key in all of this . Our findings show that 60 % of users choose to message a business rather than pick up the phone .
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