How Collaboration Eliminates Data Gaps in Delivering Customer-centric Products

In a recent survey we conducted at Propel, 75% of business leaders reported that their product and commercial teams do not collaborate effectively. That is a staggering statistic that points to a wide and growing chasm of communication across business units.

With a robust amount of data circulating daily in any given company, it is easy for vital product information to become lost, go unused, or get misinterpreted. When siloed business processes are called upon to address today’s fast-paced market needs, the solution is typically too little, too late. 

How can product companies transform the way they work to respond faster and work smarter, to compete effectively?     

Companies that are using old methods of data management are falling behind. Too often the marketing and sales teams are the last to receive information that the product team is developing in real time. So, while designers and engineers are tweaking products to make them cost-effective and consumer-friendly, the marketing team is often blissfully unaware of key decisions being made to elevate the product quality and decrease the overall price. By not having proper communication between departments businesses could see costly delays in delivering products to market, inhibiting their ability to maximize value, and increase customer satisfaction. 

Using a platform where departments can work in tandem with each other can close these costly gaps, creating opportunities for concurrent work streams across the entire value chain. Technology that delivers frictionless processes and leverages real-time insights can make your business highly responsive to ever-changing market conditions. Here’s how end-to-end product data visibility can elevate your company’s ability to compete more effectively. 

Improving the quality of product development

Product and commercial teams need to collaborate using a streamlined and unified platform to work efficiently and effectively. Businesses must step out of their siloed ways of thinking and communicate across all departments. This collaboration is fundamental to success and allows for better management of a product’s lifecycle.

This continuous and open dialogue allows product teams to improve the quality of product design and development. They will be able to more easily track which products, subassemblies, or individual suppliers have quality problems—and identify issues earlier in the design process so that problems can be addressed swiftly and appropriately - saving time and money. 

This is a huge advantage for companies where speed to market is key. 

Identifying the origin of problems faster

Companies with deeply-rooted isolated thinking will have a difficult time pinpointing problems when they arise. Harnessing the power of modern cloud technology, businesses can work together to identify and fix the root cause of a problem. Collaboration between the product, service, and quality teams enables companies to conduct more detailed searches and pinpoint quality issues. 

For example, let’s look at a quality assurance issue with a component on a piece of equipment. The manufacturer would initially learn of the issue through a customer complaint. Customer feedback and quality assurance checks can be resolved more smoothly when a proper structure is put in place from the start. In a closed-loop workflow, a product company could receive the complaint, identify the component that needs to be replaced, determine where it’s used, resolve the issue, update the product information, and communicate the changes to the field – collaborating on one platform. This solves the issue much faster than if the departments operated independently. Faster issue resolution builds stronger customer satisfaction. 

Track sustainability efforts in one place

Efforts to prioritize sustainability are becoming increasingly important. Companies must be able to track their data in one place with regard to their environmental, social, and governance (ESG) efforts. ESG is not just a buzzword - it is becoming an integral part of business models in the modern era. It is a focus for executives internally, as well as looking beyond their four walls to closely monitor efforts their suppliers are making as well, to honor commitments made to consumers. 

However, with this enhanced spotlight put on a company’s ESG efforts, businesses are faced with new challenges. It can become difficult to search for this type of information when audited, not to mention having it on hand in the everyday product record. Companies that integrate ESG data into their product record from the start will remove the need for costly search missions when audits take place.

Use automation to integrate with commercial teams

Delays are bound to happen in business, and rigid, inflexible platforms don’t stand a chance. Whether it’s a supply chain interruption that pushes back product delivery dates or a quality issue that leads to a costly merchandise recall, delays are unavoidable and a simple fact of doing business. 

However, technology can help ease the pain and help prevent blind spots. How? When you link the commercial and product teams into one integrated system, communication can be more open and therefore, minimize the impact of a delay. When there is one system in place you are able to see the whole product perspective, not just a linear problem. 

Automation is key when you need to deliver messages to customers regarding delays or disruptions. This communication can be instantaneously delivered to customer-facing teams so they can inform users of new delivery dates as soon as possible. Likewise, automation can help put shipments on hold if a subassembly or component with a quality issue has been identified. 

Tying it all together

The longer a business holds on to a siloed technology system unfit to address today’s market disruption, the slower it becomes at addressing customer and market demands. Companies that leverage automation to streamline processes have a better chance of staying organized when issues arise. A simplified system allows for faster identification and resolution of problems, and can therefore keep a business on track and moving forward without delay.

The old way of thinking about data management can be costly for business. To be an effective leader you must acknowledge when it is time to make a change. Moving forward with a technology-driven, streamlined model will yield operational clarity and close the gaps that could be damaging to business today and in the future.

About the Author 

Tom Shoemaker is the VP of Product Marketing at Propel Software. He is responsible for product messaging and positioning, sales enablement, and voice of customer programs. Prior to Propel, Shoemaker was Chief Marketing Officer of itslearning, a Scandinavian-based edtech provider, where he led the company’s marketing and business development efforts. During his time there, the company expanded its U.S. presence and grew to over $40 million in revenue, becoming Europe’s largest provider of educational Learning Management Systems.

Before its learning, he held numerous leadership positions at PTC, including pre-sales, R&D, and marketing. Most recently, he was VP Enterprise Marketing. Over the two decades he has been in the industry, Shoemaker was responsible for the go-to-market strategy and product launch of PTC’s primary solutions, including Windchill and Creo. During his time at PTC, the company grew from $85M in revenue to $1.3B.