According to the GSMA 2021 report, by the end of 2020, 5.2 billion people were subscribed to mobile services, representing 67% of the global population with 4 billion mobile internet users (51% of the world population). The rate of mobile penetration and internet adoption is higher in the under-penetrated markets in Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa.
The internet is the fastest growing media platform on earth, including Uganda. According to the, We Are Social, October 2021 report published by We Are Social, a leading United Kingdom Digital Agency, in Association with HootSuite, a global social media management agency, more than two-thirds of the world’s population use a mobile phone today, with global users increasing by almost 100 million (+1.9 per cent) over the past 12 months to reach 5.29 billion in October 2021.
Internet users reached 4.88 billion- an equivalent of almost 62 per cent of the world’s population (7.89 billion at the start of October 2021). In the past 12 months alone, global internet user numbers increased by more than 220 million (+4.8 per cent) while social media users increased by more than 400 million (+9.9 per cent) to reach 4.55 billion in October 2021.
In Uganda, according to the Uganda Communications Commission (UCC), between April and June 2021 fixed and mobile phone subscriptions grew by more than 600,000 new connections, to reach 28,986,019 phone users. This represents a year on year growth of 14% or 3.5 million new phone users, from June 2020. This is a national telephone penetration of almost 7 lines for every 10 Ugandans. Broadband internet connections grew by 3 million new users to reach 21,916,318 users. The total number of smartphone/internet-enabled gadgets connected to the networks stands at 9.7 million gadgets while the count of feature phones and basic phones connected to the network had grown to 22.4 million at the end of June 2021.
These technological shifts in mobile adoption and internet penetration coupled with changing demographics have changed tremendously the customer experience and customer success landscape. What this means for businesses, is that you have the world at your fingertips— 24/7. The internet has smashed physical boundaries and times and so can your business.
However, the unlimited opportunities, presented by the internet also present unlimited challenges. Just like the internet is opening up a world of opportunities to you, it is also doing the same for your competition. The 24/7 nature of e-commerce also means that customers expect more 24/7.
So, how ready are you to compete?
Service Cops is spearheading the artificial intelligence innovations in Uganda and beyond, by specifically developing and deploying services over conversational platforms like WhatsApp and WeChat to enable your business to match the demands of the always-on world.
Artificial Intelligence is making business processes and systems less stressful and more seamless. AI is about making computers act more like humans. Chatbots, for example, are software programs infused in your apps or websites, unlike command-based codes. They use machine learning technology to reply to messages for example and get smarter with time as the more they answer questions, the more they learn from their past experiences.
The integration of your services to conversational platforms is critical for businesses as customer demands and preferences keep changing. Customers are continually seeking to be served immediately and within their comfort at the same service cost. Adapting to these self-service interventions increases efficiency and consequently reduces the cost of service.
Why should businesses be concerned about these technologies?
So why should you invest in this new technology? The first reason is to save time and money. According to a survey led by Salesforce, approximately 65% of customer service centres around the world, already use chatbots to answer simple and recurring questions. While the chatbots answer the easy questions, the service agents have now more time to solve complex problems and answer difficult questions. In the end, your team will be more efficient, and your business can save time and money while being more efficient with customer queries.
The second use case is about generating more qualified leads and higher revenues. For example, a chatbot on your website can easily interact with site visitors and easily show them around the site and help them find their queries faster. This helps improve the user experience and increase the time that visitors spend on your site. The more time people spend on your site, the more likely they are to buy something
The bot can also prompt them to leave behind their contacts, so the human sales team can follow up on such quality leads. Again, in the end, your sales team is more focused and yields higher revenues.
Airtel Africa and SpaceX Announce Strategic Partnership to Launch Starlink Direct to Cell Connectivity Across AfricaAnd the last use case is about aftersales support. With the world becoming one global village and business service clients from all corners of the world, it is becoming more and more important for businesses to be 24/7. Clients expect 24-hour customer support service. By deploying chatbots, you can comfortably decrease the average time of responses and course build a more satisfied client base.
How can Service Cops add value?
Service Cops has developed and integrated Services over WhatsApp for payments, customer service and banking. This has enabled customers to be served without going out of the WhatsApp interface.
The Service Cops business and technology teams upon understanding your business services will help develop the processes and guide on how it can be integrated into WhatsApp. The team shall provide the full-scale solution from development, testing, acquisition and set up of a Facebook account, live production as well as monthly support.
The services range from insurance, banking, customer care, loan origination platforms and any other customer-facing solutions.
What other customer success tools does Service Cops Limited have?
Service Cops owns a state-of-the-art Contact Center in upscale Kololo with fully-fledged technical infrastructure and technology to deliver a first-class service. The facility has an enterprise Automatic Call Management system with an IVR Suite, Agent Monitoring and KPIs manager, a robust CRM among others.
Besides the technology, Service Cops has wide experience in developing, deploying and managing outsourced services in customer experience strategies across the major verticals; banking, insurance and commerce. Service Cops delivers its service under International Standards (ISO 9001 and ISO 27001).
Service Cops’ approach to outsourcing is creating value addition, rather than merely becoming a cost centre. We pride ourselves in innovative revenue-generating projects for our customers such that outsourcing becomes a worthwhile commercial consideration.
Contact us:
Plot 1-3, Coral Crescent, Lower Kololo Terrace, Uganda Kampala.
Email: info@servicecops.com; Tel: +256 414 597 599
