How the Agile Software Development Methodology could be leveraged to Improve B2B Customer Service

Jett Howe
ILLUMINATION
Published in
3 min readJul 1, 2020
Image by Dirk Wouters from Pixabay

The Agile methodology is a process that helps development teams provide fast responses to unpredictable feedback suggestions received on a project. It builds opportunities in accessing the direction of the project during development and letting teams assess project in regular meetings as well, referred commonly as Sprints.

Organizations that are deploying the agile approach to developing software to accelerate and boost development are growing in leaps and bounds. Many software development companies offers professional and expert agile software development services. As one of the hottest management trends in the world today across various industries, the agile approach considerably helps in boosting B2B customer service.

The platform encourages responsiveness, collaboration and ownership has helped and continue to help transform different parts of a company as well as generated considerable performance enhancements. In simple terms, the agile method removes the inflexibility of traditional project management processes. With agile practices, development teams could zero in on more immediate, smaller goals, which help minimize time spent considerably and focus on better results delivery.

AGILE COMPONENTS TO HELP BOOST B2B CUSTOMER SERVICE

The Agile framework typically has been considered as designed exclusively for the Information Technology industry. In recent years however, it’s been increasingly used in other departments and industries, providing development teams with a flexible and adaptable process, while supporting overnight customer demands and fast-paced changes. To apply the framework to sales processes in the most effective way, it’s important to determine the key components and how they could re-shape sales across the industry.

PEOPLE

Whether it’s the millennial or generation Z, the workforce is and would continue to change. With it, the approach to sales naturally would change as well. More and more, teams are tech-savvy and thus the same old tactics that’s been used for years would have to adapt as well.

PROCESS

With the changing workforce, selling processes and the way consumers purchase has changed too. Around 64 percent of consumers state that they likely research on the web before deciding to buy. A whopping 94 percent state that an online review convinced them to avoid a product or a business. Thus, sales persons should deliver consultative, high-value and unique experience to all the prospects via account-based targeted selling.

Selling that’s account-based is an extremely personalized customer engagement strategy. The aim is to manage every account or client as scalable and independent revenue stream, treating each account as well as the internal decision makers as a market of one.

PLATFORM

To manage and maintain control, one should regularly and efficiently review data. Everything, from the outbound messages effectiveness, to dashboards and reports, through reviews of the monthly performance feedback and reviews. The same as with a marketing funnel, a B2B or a business-to-business sales funnel has to be measured and optimized on a regular basis.

Having a platform that allows you to collate all of that data and review your processes and actions performed against each other, whilst allowing room for adaptable change makes for an ideal sales solution.

A software development company could employ the agile framework to ensure success in the achievement of company goals, enabling teams to accurately and distinctly measure if the company is achieving its objectives. People, process and platform impact and influence one another.

AGILE THROUGH EVERY DEPARTMENT

The methodology must not be limited to the teams alone, but should be scaled all throughout the organization as well, in order for it to function and operate in the most agile way. While this may mean more resources and time spent, the results surely would be fabulous. Agile helps build credibility, with results percolating across the marketing department. Teams could be guided with test results that in turn would be provided to the marketing department, together with a set of business rules that should be established to incorporate test results.

The systematic approach of the framework would help new teams to get massive support. Furthermore, business leaders would be able to manage as well as keep tabs of each team better. Thus, the resources would be well-aligned as well. Also, this would help business organizations to cut the red tape and gather team capabilities to rapidly generate better outcomes in the most efficient and effective manner.

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Jett Howe
ILLUMINATION

Coffeeholic | Geeky | Entrepreneur | Business, Programming & Futuristic Technology Writer | For any queries reach out to me on: jett.howe86@gmail.com