S6 | 474: Increasing speed to improve CX with Doug Rubingh, Sinch MessageMedia

Digital StrategyTechnologyConversational AI
Written By Basil Ali

About the Episode

Recent consumer research by Sinch MessageMedia showed that 32% of customers expect an immediate response when they contact your business, and many brands are simply not equipped to handle that at scale. Today we’re going to talk about the importance of speed of communication when optimizing the customer experience.

To help me discuss this topic, I’d like to welcome Doug Rubingh, President US & UK at Sinch Message Media.

About Doug Rubingh

Doug Rubingh is President, U.S. and U.K. at MessageMedia. His 27-year career in the tech space has combined a unique blend of leadership, sales, management, and operations at every level, leading companies to dramatically grow their business and increase profitability. Importantly, throughout his career Doug has remained committed to supporting his teams, fostering their growth and celebrating their successes — recognizing the integral role that each team member plays. Doug uses this human-first approach to drive global growth for MessageMedia, helping businesses of all sizes to better connect with their customers.

Resources

Synopsis

The episode delves into the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) and other emerging technologies in marketing technology and customer experience. The speaker emphasizes the growing interest among organizations to incorporate AI into their tech stack in a safe and effective manner. They highlight the significance of customer engagement and service in driving transformation in these areas. Furthermore, the speaker notes that customers are seeking seamless communication with businesses, without the need for additional platforms. Integrating AI into existing tools such as marketing automation, e-commerce, CRM, and ERP can facilitate this objective. The episode also acknowledges the hype surrounding AI in the martech and technology world, while underscoring its practical and impactful applications. The potential of AI to expedite communication and responses to customers is discussed, including its ability to craft messages, re-engage customers, and provide conversational responses to inquiries and frequently asked questions. The episode also touches upon the importance of swift response rates and the measurement of success in customer communication and experience. Overall, the episode explores the trends and advancements in marketing technology and customer experience, with a specific focus on the utilization of AI and emerging technologies like SMS.

In the episode, Doug Rubin, the head of Cinch Message Media North America, emphasizes the paramount importance of adopting a customer-centric approach and placing customers at the core of marketing and customer service strategies. He suggests that businesses should closely examine customer demands and utilize data to make informed decisions on how to effectively reach them. This entails understanding their needs, preferences, and expectations, and tailoring marketing and customer service efforts accordingly.

Rubin also underscores the significance of engaging in genuine conversations with customers. He asserts that customers expect businesses to interact with them on a human level, rather than treating them as faceless entities. This involves demonstrating empathy towards customers, actively listening to their concerns, and providing personalized support. By embracing a customer-centric mindset, businesses can cultivate stronger relationships with their customers, enhance the overall customer experience, and ultimately foster customer loyalty and satisfaction.

To support this customer-centric approach, Rubin suggests implementing tools like Cinch Message Media, which can serve as a centralized hub for all messaging activities. This can assist businesses in improving support and streamlining communication with customers, ensuring that they receive timely and relevant responses.

Overall, the episode underscores the significance of prioritizing the customer and placing their needs at the forefront of marketing and customer service strategies. By doing so, businesses can create a more positive and engaging customer experience, leading to long-term success.

The episode also mentions the utilization of tools like central message media to enhance messaging activity and support. According to the transcript, adopting tools like central message media can establish a centralized hub for all messaging activities. This means that businesses can consolidate their communication channels in one place, simplifying the management and response to customer messages. Additionally, employing a customer engagement platform with automation functionality can leverage customer service teams and facilitate the scheduling and automation of communications, including SMS. This can be particularly beneficial for smaller teams that may become overwhelmed with messages and struggle to provide personalized attention to each customer. Overall, utilizing tools like central message media can enhance messaging activity by streamlining communication channels and automating processes, ultimately improving support and customer service.

Doug Rubingh, President, U.S. and U.K., MessageMedia

Basil Ali
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S6 | 475: Customer lifetime value for the win, with Neil Hoyne, Chief Strategist at Google
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S6 | 473: Meaningful customer dialogue with Christian Ward, Chief Data Officer, Yext