Month: April 2021

How the evolution of technology has helped connect the world

Posted on by dev_nuvolar

How the evolution of technology has helped connect the world

Connecting the world in a fast and effective way has been a key concern of visionary people for a long time. Remote and immediate communication between people took its first steps with the telegraph and telephone in the 19th century. However, it would be during the 20th century when the telecommunications phenomenon would advance with great speed. Leaving in its wake current inventions such as radio, television, mobile telephony… and the Internet.

Recently, the video calls we enjoy today were a figment of writers and screenwriters of science fiction movies and comics imagination. Nowadays social networks and streaming are part of an evolving reality. Join us on this brief historical tour of human communication!

The telegraph, faster than the mail to connect the world

In reality, the telegraph did not have a single inventor. In parallel, two groups of scientists worked on both sides of the Atlantic on similar developments during the 1830s. On the one hand, William Cooke and Charles Wheatstone in England. Very soon, their first equipment began to be used in British railway signaling.

Meanwhile, in the United States, Samuel Morse was taking the first steps to create his version of the telegraph. Together with Alfred Vail and Leonard Gale, he produced a system that completed the electrical circuit each time the operator pressed the dial key. This produced an electrical signal that traveled along a wire to a receiving device at the other end.

A revolutionary code

Morse and Vail perfected a code to identify the letters of the alphabet and numbers. For this purpose, they assigned to each letter and number a set of dots and dashes (short and long marks with the key). This is what is now historically known as Morse Code.

On May 24, 1844, Morse sent the first official message using this telegraph system. He was in Washington D.C. and Vail, the receiver, in Baltimore, Maryland. Later, the invention would be enriched by the contributions of Ezra Cornell and Thomas Alva Edison.

By 1861, the Western Union Telegraphy Company, owned by Cornell, became the first nationwide telegraph company. Undoubtedly, the telegraph allowed faster transmission of messages over distance, surpassing the mail that traveled by railroad and horse-drawn stagecoaches. This changed the operability of sectors such as the military and journalism. It also influenced the economy, as it allowed the first long-distance money transfers. In short, it was a breakthrough in connecting the world.

The telephone, a technology that has been evolving for 170 years to connect the world

32 years after Morse’s first telegraph message, two inventors were vying for the creation of another revolutionary communication system. Within hours of each other, Alexander Graham Bell and Elisha Gray, in that order, patented their telephones. However, Bell ended up winning a legal dispute over the originality of the invention. For this reason, we believed for a long time that the Scottish scientist, who emigrated to the U.S., was its legitimate author.

But surprisingly the truth is that the first pair of telephones were created by the Italian inventor living in New York, Antonio Meucci in 1854. Unlike Bell, the Italian had no money to patent the prodigy.This is so true, that the U.S. Congress itself would end up recognizing Meucci’s merit in 2002.

Radio, another way to connect the world

Even in the full consolidation of the telegraph and telephone, several scientists wanted to go further. That is, to transmit messages between distant points without using wires. As early as 1865, the Scottish physicist James Clerk Maxwell published his Theory of the Electromagnetic Field. In it he determined that electric and magnetic fields travel through space at a speed similar to that of light.

Based on this principle, the German scientist Heinrich Rudolf Hertz would discover, twenty years later, the way to produce and capture these electromagnetic waves. He also demonstrated with experiments the travel of these waves through the air, ratifying Maxwell’s theory. In his honor, the unit of frequency in telecommunications was named Hertz or hertz (Hz).

The beginnings of radio

All of the above discoveries prompted the first experiments in wireless telegraphy,which are the forerunner of the radio. An invention attributed to several creators. Starting with the Italian Guglielmo Marconi, who in 1895 developed a transmitter inspired by Hertz’s experiments, with which he managed to transmit signals to a receiver located two kilometers away. Even so, the prodigy did not attract the attention of the Italian government, so Marconi left for England. There he founded the Wireless Telegraph and Signal Company.

In 1899, Marconi demonstrated his devices by achieving a 48 km transmission between Dover (UK) and Boulounge (France). Two years later, he was able to transmit a signal 3,400 km across the Atlantic Ocean. He would later establish the first commercial transatlantic wireless telegraph service between Ireland and Canada. The Italian scientist managed to enter the U.S. market, although he was not recognized there as the creator of the invention.

Is the invention Tesla’s?

On the other hand, many specialists claim that Nicola Tesla invented a wireless message transmission system in 1895. And therefore Marconi went ahead, patenting it and using it in his 1899 experiments. The U.S. Supreme Court eventually recognized Tesla as the rightful creator of the invention in 1943.

All these advances laid the foundations for today’s radio communication, which is vital in military, public and private security operations. But also for emergency services. As well as for various productive sectors such as aviation, mining and construction, among many others. Obviously, they also influenced broadcasting as a means of information and entertainment to connect the world.

Television, the transmission of image and sound to connect the world

Television is also an invention with a long history. The first technologies aimed at transmitting images and reproducing them on a remote receiver emerged in the late 19th century.

John Logie Baird in the United Kingdom developed a television system that could transmit images over short distances, which he tested in 1926. A year later he was able to transmit them over a telephone line between London and Glasgow. And in 1928, he succeeded in transmitting television signals from London to New York.

The first transmissions

Using the system perfected by Baird, the BBC in London began its first official television transmissions on September 30, 1929. And on December 31, 1930, it would make the first simultaneous broadcast of image and sound. This was a milestone for the recently launched invention. Also in 1930, in the United States, the legendary CBS and NBC networks would do the same with the systems developed in the country.

This was followed by continuous improvements in the resolution of transmissions, color and many other advances in broadcasting and receivers. In this way, television became one of the most influential information and entertainment media in the following decades.

Unlimited innovation to connect the world

In the last 50 years, technological evolution has been unstoppable. Thanks to the development of microprocessors in the early 1970s, personal computers began to become popular. Computing was no longer the exclusive preserve of large companies, government agencies or scientific institutes. We could find them in homes and offices, making them more accessible to many more users. As if that were not enough, the next big thing would change the way the world was connected in the following decade; mobile telephony burst onto the scene commercially in the early 1980s and would evolve at breakneck speed as well.

Mobile telephony

To mention all the milestones in the evolution of this invention would take much more time. However, it is impossible to ignore the breakthrough that mobile telephony meant in its function to connect the world. As a precedent, there is the historic call of April 3, 1973, made by Martin Cooper, a Motorola executive, from a New York street. Using the DynaTAC 8000X, the first cell phone in history, he communicated with Joel Engel of Bell Laboratories, his competitor… Motorola beat the veteran Bell in this challenge.

But the device would not go on sale until 1983. To tell the truth, it was not at all practical in today’s perspective. It looked like a brick at 33 x 4.4 x 8.9 cm and weighed one kilogram. In the same year, Ameritech Mobile Communications, the first U.S. company to provide cell phone service to the public, began operations.

With the development of the GSM 2G standard in the early 1990s, mobile telephony would advance unstoppably in capacity and functionality.

WWW, the democratization of the Internet to connect the world

In the early 1990s, the launch of the World Wide Web project began to facilitate public access to the Internet. Previously, the use of the Internet as a form of communication between networked computers was reserved for military, educational and scientific institutions. The WWW was created in 1989 by British physicist Tim Berners-Lee at the European Particle Physics Laboratory, CERN.

In addition, Berners-Lee developed a first search engine in order to facilitate access to the WWW from personal computers. The latter program was replaced in 1993 by Mosaic, created at the University of Illinois. But the emergence of search engines contributed decisively to the popularization of the Internet.

Similarly, with the creation of web pages, many companies began to have a presence on the network. As a result, the Internet was becoming attractive as a marketing channel. E-mail also became a tool for communication between people and organizations.

Today, the conventional media are turning to the Internet in order to offer an added value to their users. Newspapers have web portals, TV stations and broadcasters share content on networks such as YouTube and podcast platforms. On the other hand, there are paid digital native media that offer a variety of content. Among them are streaming platforms such as Netflix.

Ecommerce changes the way we shop

As the design of web pages began to be enriched with multimedia content, the initiative to sell online emerged. Companies that practiced traditional sales through printed catalogs or telesales programs on television would find a strong competitor in ecommerce. In 1995, two iconic online commerce platforms appeared: eBay and Amazon. A couple of years later, the technology company Dell surpassed one million dollars in online sales. Online payment platforms such as PayPal would soon appear as an alternative to credit cards.

Social networks, another way to connect the world

At first, social networks served as a space for old friends to meet up. Nowadays, social networks are the space for interaction par excellence between acquaintances and strangers. Through them, we share content in various formats, we learn about details that go beyond the news on news portals. We even share professional interests, look for jobs… and even shop. By now, more than half of the world’s population is a user of social networks!

Among the first platforms were Sixdegrees (1997), Friendster (2002), Myspace and the current professional network LinkedIn (2003). Shortly after, Facebook (2004), the current leader in number of users, YouTube (2005), Twitter (2006) and Whatsapp (2009) emerged. Although Whatsapp is still considered a messaging platform, it is one of the most versatile and widely used social interaction channels. The list continues with: Instagram and Pinterest (2010), Google+ (Google’s failed experiment, in 2011) and TikTok (2016). And these are just the most popular!

Mobile networks and devices

From the very basics, mobile networks evolved to connect the world from portable devices. The early 1G, based on a frequency modulated (FM) transmission system, was slow and unstable. On the other hand, the 2G successor was associated with the new GSM standard and SIM cards, where personal and device information was recorded. It was faster and allowed sending and receiving from SMS to sending emails.

Shortly thereafter, the advance and popularity of the Internet called for an upgrade to 2G. An “intermediate generation”, 2.5G, solved part of the problem in 2001. With it, the Internet reached cell phones with most of its possibilities. As a result, the speed improved. Almost immediately, the third generation of 3G and its intermediates arrived, making the unimaginable possible. In particular, it became possible to watch and record videos, hold video conferences and even take photos with good resolution. In the midst of their leadership, touchscreen smartphones emerged, bringing significant physical and functional changes. And we say leadership, because it is still in force, despite the emergence of 4G in 2009. With the fourth generation, connectivity and devices enabled file upload and download speeds of up to 150 Mbps — ten times faster than 3G!

5G is already a reality. At least in Spain, the first networks were established in 2019. Above and beyond the high speeds offered by this connectivity technology, there is the possibility of making greater use of advances such as the Internet of Things IoT, Artificial Intelligence and Big Data.

Mobile apps

The first mobile apps would come embedded in our devices during the 1990s. In themselves, they made up the functionalities of many phones: agenda, calendar, games, etc. In 2000, WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) technology already allowed access to small versions of web pages. As well as sending and receiving emails and reading news.

But the big breakthrough for mobile applications came with the introduction of Apple’s first iPhone in 2007. With the capacity of this device it was possible to download the applications that the user required for work, entertainment or shopping. As a result, the Apple company opened its virtual app store, AppStore, the following year. In 2008, Google responded with the launch of its HTC Dream, or GMobile, with its Android operating system. And it would immediately open its app store, today known as PlayStore.

Connecting the world is part of our mission at Nuvolar.

Throughout this brief summary, you have seen how the technologies described above have impacted the way we connect the world. Reaching today’s communication systems with their enormous potential is the product of a relentless pursuit to achieve an increasingly effective interaction between people. This continuous change of standards makes users’ expectations and demands evolve as well.

This is the main reason why at at Nuvolar we insist on providing user experiences that exceed the expectations of those who browse the websites, environments and applications we design. For us, UX and UI are essential and we apply them thoroughly in every project we take on.

We love what we do and it shows in the results of our work! Would you like to know how we can improve your company’s online presence? Contact us!

How to create great digital experiences for users?

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How to create great digital experiences for users?

Creating remarkable digital experiences that engage and build customer loyalty should be one of the main concerns of companies. Beyond creating attractive marketing strategies -which are necessary- we must think hard about the customer. Today’s digital and demanding consumer seeks to establish a relationship with brands goes beyond the simple purchase of products. They have expectations of brands because they want to feel recognized and understood. When a brand does not achieve these objectives, the consumer abandons it and looks for another brand that provides what they are looking for.

This is the big mistake that many organizations continue to make; they focus only on their products and aggressive marketing strategies to capture consumers’ attention. They do not see the Internet and new digital tools to create customer and user experiences. They only use them to insist on old marketing strategies.

On the other hand, some brands that create the experiences that the customer wants. These firms show concern for knowing their consumers better and trying to meet their needs and expectations; user experience (UX) becomes a primary goal.

Disruption is about creating great digital experiences.

If you are reading this post, you want to know what elements you should consider creating great digital experiences in each of your brand’s channels. But first, you must understand that the “big secret” is not in the number of channels and technological tools you have. It’s how you make them available to the customer to satisfy their needs and meet their expectations. Think about these current examples:

  • Amazon is not ending the big retail chains. But poor service and customer experience from online retailers could.
  • Netflix didn’t wipe out Blockbuster. The video game and movie rental franchise failed to adapt to new demand models.
  • Apple Music did not dethrone the music industry. The major record companies did not bother to innovate in marketing.

With these examples, you can see that the real disruption is not only in the technology but in how you use it and what values you add to your channels to achieve a satisfactory user experience.

Essential elements to deliver great digital experiences

In short, a digital experience is an interaction between a user and an organization through an online medium. For this reason, the elements to take into account to create great digital experiences include aspects such as user experience (UX) and customer experience (CE). Two different concepts but related to each other.

First, UX focuses on the interaction of people with specific digital products or services. Those are websites, apps, or a particular program. The main concern of UX design is usability and the overall look and feel of the channels. At the same time, CX encompasses the customer’s perception of various aspects of their relationship with brands. Among them, we can find marketing, attention, quality of products and services, or the sales process. Of course, it also includes interaction with digital channels. So the UX is part of the CX.

Having said this, let’s review the essential aspects you should consider to deliver great digital experiences to your customers:

Know your customers and their journey

To provide unique and rewarding experiences to your customers, you need to know them well. You also need to understand their journey from the moment they recognize a need until they buy your product.

Initially, the generic description of the target audience, typical of traditional marketing, does not offer a complete view of your consumer. In this case, it is convenient to precisely define your ideal buyer persona. This outline of the customer profile goes beyond socioeconomic data, gender, and age. So it delves into people’s thoughts and actions about their needs/concerns and how they solve them. All this, in line with their status, academic level, work sector, and position in the company, among other variables. For these reasons, you may likely have one or more buyer personas.

At the same time, you must understand the buyer journey of your buyer persona from the moment he/she recognizes a specific need or desire until he/she buys a product. This “journey” includes researching products or options, choosing a supplier, and making a purchase. To this, we must add your brand’s strategy to build customer loyalty. Either through email marketing, personalized offers, good after-sales support, etc. The quality of this interaction and customer/brand experience would motivate the customer to become a brand evangelist.

Loading speed and usability to ensure great digital experiences

Likewise, page load speed and usability — essential elements in UX — also determine the success of the digital experience. Often, when profiling your buyer persona and determining their buyer journey, you will see that they are digital customers. This implies that they research their needs on the Internet and make online purchases using mobile devices or computers. And unless they need to have contact with a physical channel (store, office), their journey could be entirely digital.

In this context, you should be aware of the loading speed of your website, e-commerce portal, or apps. According to many studies, if a page takes three seconds to open, the probability of abandonment increases by 32%. But if it takes up to five seconds, this probability increases by 90%. At this point, we must emphasize the importance of optimizing your website or applications for mobile devices (mobile-first). Since the vast majority of users make purchases and online queries through these tools.

At the same time, the usability of the web or app is a crucial element to avoid obstacles in the customer’s journey. By usability, we mean the ease with which a website, app, or IT solution can be understood and used by the user. From there, it should be easy to learn how to use it and take full advantage of its functionalities. In other words, the usability of your website or app depends on how intuitive and easy to use it is for the user.

More about web usability

As web developers, this concept is fundamental and is a big part of our raison d’être at Nuvolar. The different developments and projects that we create are designed under very strict usability criteria. When we design these channels, we think about our clients and -particularly- about our clients’ users, who will finally interact with the solution. Accordingly, we carry out a rigorous analysis of these products and incorporate constant improvements. The idea is that the user can easily find the information or products he/she is looking for, buy, do all the procedures required, or be served on the platform without difficulties or cracks in the process!

Provide an omnichannel experience

As we said before, our current customers are primarily digital. For this reason, it is not surprising that, instead of consulting the Google search engine, they may use a social network. We insist that if you know your buyer persona and their purchase paths well, you know the social networks they frequent. Through them, they learn about products, promotions, and other brand communications. Do you want to provide great digital experiences to your customers? Allow them to interact with your brand on their favorite channels. If necessary, make the buying process easier for them to use through these platforms and extend the support service.

Above all, listen and consider the opinions, suggestions, and expectations that users express on social networks. Remember that the best way to monitor interactions is through a CRM (customer relationship management) solution.

Convenient payment platforms

In reality, the customer journey does not end with the sale. However, it is a crucial moment in the process and the digital experience. The customer may be very enthusiastic about your products and their prices. However, when the payment methods they use are not available, they give up their intention to buy. This can’t happen! By knowing your customer well, you will know which payment methods he usually uses. Therefore, you must offer him all the options that suit him, such as credit card, payment gateways, etc.

Nuvolar helps you build great digital experiences.

Building great digital experiences is part of our work at Nuvolar. Web development is in the DNA of our professionals. That’s why we think about our clients and our clients’ users. Consequently, we intensively apply UX and UI design to our projects.

At Nuvolar, we are experts in customizing one of the best CRMs on the market for your company. Of course, we are talking about Salesforce; we have been working with this platform for twelve years, and we are certified, partners. In this way, you will be able to apply the improvements in products and services that the customer expects, customize offers, and much more. Contact us, and we will provide you with personalized service to your needs with the best-specialized advice.

What does Onboarding mean at Nuvolar?

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What does Onboarding mean at Nuvolar?

You may think that an onboarding process is about signing paperwork, receiving company merchandising, setting up your accounts, and a few other little things. At Nuvolar, we look at it through a very different lens.

We believe that the process of onboarding is one of the most important periods in the life cycle of an employee, so it is just as important for us as a company. Changing companies — leaving a job, moving out of your comfort zone, and facing a new challenge — can be very exciting, but also scary, and you might wonder whether it is the right move. This decision is definitely not always an easy one to make.

Because of all this, we take the onboarding process very seriously. For us, it starts way before a new colleague’s first day.

From the moment a candidate makes the decision to join the company, we are in constant contact. We stay available to answer any questions or doubts, going into any little details that might be important to them. To us, explaining what the first days and weeks will look like is only the bare minimum.

Providing a clear agenda, prepared by the new colleague’s team, is a must, as is stating clear expectations on what meetings can be expected and what they will look like (how long they will be, what topics will be discussed, who will be in charge of inviting the new colleague…). Additionally, we assign an Angel, an unofficial mentor who meets the new colleague during their first day and helps them with little things during the onboarding process.

Finally, the most expected day comes the first day of work. To make sure that everyone knows in advance about their new colleague and can learn a bit about them, we send out a personal introduction with some interesting facts. On their first day, apart from all the welcome meetings, many people send a welcome message on Slack, creating a warm welcome that makes it clear to the new colleagues that they are a part of the family from the very start.

The first day is packed with informal meetings with the different teams across the company and a meeting with the Angel, who gives the newcomer some much-needed guidance on their first day, including first-hand tips and information about daily life at Nuvolar. There is also time to do some of the necessary paperwork and start browsing through the tools that we use on a day-to-day basis; meanwhile, we are always available to answer any questions and clarify any doubts that the new colleague might have at any moment.

We always say “ask as many questions as you need, even if there are hundreds and hundreds of them” — and we mean it. All of us were in your position at one point and we know how it feels, so we strive to make the onboarding process as smooth and pleasant as possible so you can enjoy the journey with us from day one.

The first day, full of emotions, introductions, stories, and information, ends with a closure meeting where we recap, touch base on how the new colleague feels, see if we can help in any way, and answer any pending questions.

On the second day, the focus is on learning what the different teams do; the projects and activities that they carry out within the company. It is our way to provide the new team member with a nice overview of the business we are running. As an individual, you may be working on a particular project, but what we find crucial is that you understand what other teams are doing and what the overall scope of the company’s business is. Why? Because even if different teams are working on different projects, we are always pulling the same rope together as one big team, a family. Besides, knowing about other teams opens doors for your personal growth and development.

From that moment onwards, the new colleague is fully involved in all team meetings, daily stand-ups, retros, etc., and has periodic one-to-one sessions with their lead.

During the next few days, someone from the HR team periodically messages the new starter to make sure that everything is going smoothly and to help with anything that might be needed. As onboarding is really important to us and improving its quality is an ongoing process, we are always looking for feedback. For this reason, we have set up a 2-week survey that we ask all new colleagues to fill out. It contains questions not only on the onboarding process itself but also on the recruitment process, as we try to evaluate the new colleague’s experience from the very beginning.

To finalize the process, we run meetings on the 30 and 90-day marks, where we ask a set of questions focusing on team spirit, new hire experience, expectations vs. reality, company culture, and other topics, to get the point of view of a new colleague.

On top of the above process, we hold what we call “mini donut sessions”, where we spend some time chit-chatting with different colleagues across the company with the purpose of getting to know each other. We also organize social activities such as games or chitchat after work, Friday fun day, etc., which are run online at the moment.

Overall, the onboarding process is something that we are continuously reviewing and reworking in an effort to make it as efficient and enjoyable as possible for our new colleagues. Based on past feedback, it seems we are doing a pretty good job: “One of the best onboardings I have been through.”

How can technology help us get to know our customers better?

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How can technology help us get to know our customers better?

Knowing customers in order to meet their needs and anticipate their expectations is one of the main concerns of the most competitive brands in the current market. In recent decades, the development of the Internet and ICTs has facilitated the achievement of this goal. However, on many occasions, it is the consumers themselves, as users of mobile connections and new forms of social interaction, who have put pressure on companies to change their approach. In other words, companies are not only concerned exclusively with products and production processes but are also focused on customers and data as a source of information.

Regardless of their level of digitization, organizations need to incorporate and constantly improve data management technologies in order to adapt faster to changes related to preferences and consumption patterns. Furthermore, they will also be able to offer unique customer experiences that strengthen brand engagement.

Knowing customers through data and technology

Nowadays, data capturing that helps us know our customers and understand them better is relatively common. In some cases, we may even run the risk of collecting so much data that we cannot manage it if we do not have the right technology. However, this information has become an essential element in today’s business environment.

A recent survey of executives showed that 49% of those interviewed found that data analytics enabled them to make better decisions. Consequently, in order to make better use of data and analytics, you need to know how to extract value from them. To make these decisions, it helps to review what brands really need to know about the customer.

What do organizations need to know about customers?

The amount of data that can be generated by user interactions across online and offline channels can seem, sometimes, overwhelming. However, it is essential to identify the different purposes for which this customer information is often used. The following is a brief description of the most common cases in which data is often used to learn about customers:

  • Cognition. At this level, brands evaluate customer behavior when browsing websites and their reaction to marketing communication, as a basis for assessing the effectiveness of the channel and promotional strategy.
  • Personalization. The purpose here is to develop customer profiles as a basis for the personalization of the offer and the communication. As well as to establish individual relationships with groups that meet particular characteristics and preferences. At this point, segmentation is an indispensable process.
  • Accumulation. In particular, the focus of this demand is on monitoring trends in user behavior. In the same way, there is interest in market tracking results that can influence decision-making on business strategy.
  • Context. In this case, the main interest is to contrast consumer behavior in both offline channels (physical stores) and online. Specifically in e-commerce, social networks, and apps.

Technologies that help you get to know your customers

As we said above, organizations that want to know their customers well enough to meet their needs and expectations must focus on data. And to capture and process this information, technology offers several options that complement each other. Below we will mention some of them:

Big Data and advanced analytics.

Together, these technologies allow you to continuously obtain and process large volumes of information from different channels and devices. For example, think about the amount of data that Google receives daily, taking into account only the interaction of users with websites.

This information is processed in real-time to become statistics and later, the calculation will allow Google Analytics subscribers to make decisions to optimize the conversion rate of their websites.

Artificial Intelligence to know customers through their interactions

Chatbots are already common on websites, company chats on social networks, and apps or platforms for customer support. In addition, more people are interacting with voice assistants such as Siri and Alexa. Therefore, brands can take these tools to make their customer service processes more agile and efficient.

Internet of Things

The interconnection between devices in order to generate and receive data is also part of this mix of technological possibilities to get to know customers. To give you an idea, your smartwatch could be sending data to various companies, information that will come back to you in the form of purchase suggestions and offers. But it’s not just about wearables; in the retail and fashion sectors, for example, RFID tags, interactive touch screens, Near Field Communication and beacons are often integrated. These and other gadgets, connected to users’ mobile devices, are changing the shopping experience.

CRM as an option to know the customer

In short, CRM or Customer Relationship Management is a customer relationship management system. Basically, it is a program that helps to organize and analyze customer data to obtain relevant insights for decision-making. However, in broad terms, a CRM provides a 360° view of the customer. For this purpose, it uses data from sales, marketing actions, interaction with contact points, and support service.

Among the CRMs in the cloud and SaaS modalities available on the market, Salesforce solutions stand out due to their versatility and capacity. The integrated resources of this CRM allow you to establish personalized customer journeys, automate marketing actions and offer a customer support platform.

Nuvolar helps you to successfully implement Salesforce CRM to know your customer

Knowing your customers will be more productive and exciting if you use Salesforce CRM tools in your company. At Nuvolar we are specialists in the implementation of these resources because, in addition to being certified partners of the brand, we have been developing our applications on its platform for more than twelve years.

Contact us and you will receive advice from a multidisciplinary team with the latest web and mobile technologies in the market. From Nuvolar we can customize the Salesforce CRM to adapt it to the characteristics and needs of your business. What are you waiting for? Take advantage of the full potential of these technological solutions to better understand your customers, improve their experience with your brand, build customer loyalty and achieve more sales!

How can a cloud solution improve business workflow?

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How can a cloud solution improve business workflow?

As an executive or manager, you probably have a constant concern about how to improve workflow to streamline and make your company’s processes more efficient. Perhaps you already have an established workflow that works, but you want or need it to be faster to take advantage of more business opportunities. For this reason, it may be time to think about cloud solutions that allow you to automate routine tasks, integrate various auxiliary tools, and maintain interaction between departments.

To improve workflow, you need to understand it

It could be the case that you are implementing a workflow in your company but you are not adapting it to the nature and reality of the business. In order to find out if you are implementing it properly, we will remind you of some tips.

Firstly, the workflow is a series of procedures that lead you to the achievement of a specific objective. The success in the performance of the work teams you lead will depend directly on the organization of the sequence of tasks. But this flow will also influence the quality of products and services, as well as the customer experience. For this reason, organizations need to improve workflow and track its effectiveness on an ongoing basis.

Workflows are usually based on a hierarchy of tasks and procedures aligned with business objectives and organizational structure. In this sense, managers or directors establish in advance the order of processes and delegate responsibilities among area leaders and other collaborators. At the same time, they take stock of the technological tools and IT solutions available to calculate execution and goal achievement times.

In this way, it is easier to detect when the distribution of tasks is not suitable in a particular department or the entire organization. Locating in which area of the company the problem is, allows to take immediate decisions to reorganize the workflow and introduce cloud solutions to automate repetitive processes, among other things.

How cloud solutions help to improve your company’s workflow

It is clear that software for the automation and organization of business processes has evolved continuously. From the classic on-premise format to the current cloud computing resources (SaaS, PaaS, IaaS, etc.) that save infrastructure and space investment.

In essence, this evolution of cloud solutions remains focused on offering maximum performance to the automation of procedures as well as full control of the entire value chain. During the workflow, data and tasks flow between collaborators through a predefined policy. So if you are deciding to resume or accelerate your business’s digital transformation, it is important to remember how cloud solutions can improve your company’s workflow.

Automating tasks, vital for improving workflow

As we said, cloud solutions allow you to automate repetitive tasks, so that your employees’ efforts can be redirected to more creative and productive activities. Moreover, they schedule and execute processes while facilitating the tracking of the management sequence of all departments. In fact, digital solutions available today would be able to automate about 45% of the tasks in organizations. To this, you must add a higher performance and profitability in the processes.

Integration of digital tools

Indeed, the solutions we are dealing with allow integration between different programs. For example, a CRM as a base can be integrated with an Enterprise Resource Planning System (ERP), as well as with various applications, databases, and collaborative work platforms. This allows the interrelation between different processes and departments of your business.

Faster data access and processing

In today’s business environment, fast data access and processing, as well as its availability to different work areas, is a priority. Data comes in different formats and from different sources, which makes it difficult to capture and process data depending on its use in the processes.

Thanks to integrated and customized cloud solutions, it is possible to reduce data capture and processing time to streamline the workflow.

Improve customer experience

Integrated and tailored resources in the cloud make it easy to monitor your omnichannel strategy and assess user interactions, all in real-time. As a result, you will make timely decisions consistent with your customers’ needs and expectations regarding products, offers, after-sales support, and social responsibility. This improvement in the customer experience is manifested not only in an increase in sales but also in strengthening engagement.

With Nuvolar’s cloud solutions you can improve your company’s workflow

Let’s say you are an executive or manager of a retail chain that wants to promote an omnichannel strategy to improve your customers’ experience. On the other hand, you also set yourself the goal of increasing sales through your e-commerce portal, with the option of picking up orders in physical stores. Then you decide to contact our team at Nuvolar to replace your generic CRM with a customized CRM. You also ask them to create an app for online shopping and loyalty programs.

Using agile methodologies such as Agile and Lean, our specialists will implement a custom CRM, using the Salesforce platform. This tool will be integrated with physical points of sale, e-commerce, the app, and social networks. On the other hand, the application will have an intuitive interface, usable and attractive for the customer, designed under UX and UI criteria.

In this way, the departments involved will obtain data on the frequency and preferred shopping hours, most requested products, proximity to physical stores, among others. Also, they will know the opinions of customers on social networks regarding service, prices, added values, and level of satisfaction, among others.

Streamline workflow with Nuvolar

As a result, the workflow of each department of your company will be more agile and communication between different areas will be more effective with Nuvolar’s cloud solutions.

We have twelve years of experience in custom software and app design, product development and implementation management, and UX and UI design. Besides, we are certified Salesforce partners, which guarantees a correct adaptation of customized technology solutions, and if that were not enough e, our consulting services, and support after the implementation of each project are unbeatable.

Contact us and you can improve your company’s workflow with our solutions!

Digital transformation, beyond technology and closer to business strategy

Posted on by dev_nuvolar

Digital transformation, beyond technology and closer to business strategy

Digital transformation is high on the agenda of many organizations. While some have a well-structured implementation plan with defined objectives, others limit this conversion to a very specific goal. These specific objectives are often disconnected from both the strategy and the overall business model; in the latter case, we could not consider it as a complete technology conversion strategy.

Actually, reaching and staying at the top of digitization in any industry is very difficult. It is complicated, even for large corporations, to adapt to the dizzying pace at which new concepts and tools emerge. In order to change this situation, companies must accelerate the incorporation of customized and new digital solutions to their business. This is the only way to remain competitive in this constantly evolving production environment.

In fact, technological changes manifest themselves in the market practically after their introduction in any business area. Customers are quick to notice, and this increases their expectations and demands on the brands they consume. As a result, companies have no choice but to adapt to trends and evolve towards best practices. This renewal will allow them to offer avant-garde and innovative offers that will keep them in the market.

Digital transformation, what for?

Your company’s digital transformation needs to have clear and relevant objectives. Moreover, it must be directly linked to your business strategy. Indeed, the digitization process combines the company’s strategy and operations with available technological advances and data analytics. As well as the design of new products (or the rethinking of current ones), with the aim of providing tangible benefits such as increasing productivity and improving the value chain, processes optimization, automating routine tasks, improving communication, or reducing costs and increasing sales, among others.

Customer-centric

Although the technological conversion is immediately evident in the processes of your organization, it is important to assume that its first beneficiaries must be your customers. Nowadays, consumers are more capable of seeking personalized products and services tailored to their preferences. For this reason, it is important that you know how to adapt your offer to the pace at which customer needs and expectations evolve.

Likewise, it is a priority that you ensure unique and rewarding experiences while they interact with your brand. By achieving both objectives, you can build customer loyalty and extend the customer lifecycle.

It is likely that after reading all the benefits that customer-centric can bring you, you want to redefine your business strategy and focus it on the customer. To carry it out you should take into account the following aspects:

  • Most relevant trends and drivers in each sector.
  • How do technologies impact operating and business models?
  • Compare the organizational perspective with the evolving perspective of customer requirements.

Business processes

As we have said before, the digitization of the supply chain is key to meeting the objective of adding value to the offer. In fact, this is a comprehensive process in which it is not enough to improve only the customer experience (front office). It is also important to optimize the middle and back office.

Business models

Undoubtedly, when implementing digital transformation in your company you are looking for your business model to fit with the new trends. In order to do this, you should consider incorporating new digital services and products that will increase your portfolio and integrate conventional channels such as physical stores, combined with digital channels.

In this regard, it is advisable to consider the impact that this digital conversion will have on your business ecosystems. In particular, among customers, suppliers, competitors, public administration, and other stakeholders, but also, in the technology ecosystem. To do this, you should make an objective assessment with the intention of integrating and/or modifying these ecosystems.

Digital transformation is not about technology, it’s about people

Paradoxical as it may seem to you, although technological tools play a predominant role in the digital transformation process, people have a lot to do with it! It may seem contradictory that people are at the heart of digitization, and at the same time also the main factor of resistance to change. When you tackle your digital conversion project, you will have to assume a change in the corporate culture of your company.

The idea is that through this evolution of the corporate culture, all team members feel comfortable and are aware of the need for change. So that they can easily integrate into the creation and introduction of new digital products and services. Or, to the restructuring of the current value chain to adapt it to the challenges of today’s market.

An agile methodology for implementing digitization

When you think about digitalization, think strategy! It is important that you project the implementation of digital resources through a plan with concrete objectives, well-structured and scalable objectives. In this way, you will be able to evaluate the difference between the current situation and the desired one.

In this sense, to implement your digitalization plan you could apply an agile and iterative methodology such as the ones we use in Nuvolar for our projects. These working methods allow you to enable and maximize the delivery of digital value through “short-term achievements”. This way you will be able to increase learning during the incorporation of technological innovations. For this purpose we propose you some simple steps that you will repeat according to your situation:

  • Understanding and visualizing the problem.
  • Conceptualization and design of the solution.
  • Implementation and follow-up.
  • Evaluation of results and learning.

What level of digital transformation is your company at?

Today, you can already see cases of companies of any size that have initiated, are implementing, or have already consolidated a digital transformation process. We can classify them into four levels, according to their progress and characteristics in digitization and business management:

Digital novices:

  • They implement isolated digital solutions in each department.
  • Digitalization is more focused on the product and not so much on the customer.
  • They may have an online presence (web, apps, social networks), but lack integration with physical channels.
  • Digitalization is not visible.

Vertical integrators:

  • They obtain data in real-time and their distribution channels are integrated.
  • They use data analytics for the purpose of personalizing products and services.
  • There is a collaboration between different areas, but it requires organization.
  • They address defined digital challenges but do not do so comprehensively.

Horizontal collaborators:

  • They offer integrated online solutions for the customer.
  • They manage data intensively.