Modern customers in the media and entertainment industry want personally curated content that they can consume anywhere, anytime. That means media and entertainment companies are on the hook to essentially identify and predict what every customer will want, when they’re going to want it, and what is driving them to want it. Unfortunately, most media and entertainment companies haven’t focused on unifying and integrating their technology infrastructure to be able to generate these rich, data-driven insights about their customers. In fact, a single customer transaction on average crosses a whopping 35 technology systems, and only one-third of that data is integrated, according to industry research from MuleSoft. Without the ability to collect and analyze customer data in unified, integrated ways, media and entertainment companies end up with customer experiences that feel disconnected, impersonal, and unintelligent.

One of the most strategically important ways that media and entertainment companies can improve the all-important customer experience is by eliminating data silos around the revenue lifecycle. Sales, finance, accounting, marketing, legal, operations, IT, and channel partners are able to all collaborate together to manage the revenue lifecycle. When the revenue lifecycle is optimized, the overall customer experience also becomes optimized. It’s for this reason that Salesforce developed Revenue Cloud, a single, integrated ecosystem through which various teams across the company collaboratively and comprehensively manage the revenue lifecycle. Using Salesforce’s Revenue Cloud, media and entertainment companies are able to collaborate, collect, and analyze the data they need to drive improvements to the customer experience. Let’s explore four essential things to know about how Revenue Cloud can improve the customer experience in the media and entertainment industry:

Revenue Cloud enables more customized selling experiences

Customers in the media and entertainment industry know what they like, but they don’t necessarily know how to translate what they like into the purchase of a specific product or subscription. Meanwhile, media and entertainment companies often struggle to meet customers where they’re at—because they might not fully understand their customers’ wants and priorities, nor where they are along their buyer journey. Revenue Cloud provides these insights by continuously analyzing customer data from commerce systems, ERP (enterprise resource planning) systems, and billing systems. By serving up sales intelligence, Revenue Cloud generates rich portraits of the wants, preferences, and sensibilities of the company’s customers. Media and entertainment companies can then take advantage of these insights to create more customized selling experiences that resonate with what customers want and where they’re at along their buyer journey.

Revenue Cloud streamlines the sales cycle

Consumers of media and entertainment want to be able to access their content effortlessly and at any time. They hate lengthy transactional and processing steps, and they expect to be granted access instantly, without any delays or technical glitches. To enable this instant access, media and entertainment companies must architect a smooth, seamless sales cycle behind the scenes. Revenue Cloud enables these activities. Using Revenue Cloud, media and entertainment companies are able to streamline traditionally cumbersome steps of the sales lifecycle—from internal approval processes for quotes to financial data reconciliation processes. When these internal processes are optimized and executed quickly, customers perceive the sales process as frictionless and effortless.

Revenue Cloud provides visibility into sales trends

Consumers of media and entertainment are notoriously fickle; their tastes and expectations can change at the drop of a hat. That makes sales forecasting incredibly challenging for the media and entertainment industry. Companies must be able to spot signs of changing consumer behaviors at the earliest possible stage, so they have time to pivot and adjust their sales and marketing strategies—and even rethink their product lineups—accordingly. By connecting all revenue-related activities across an organization under a single unified ecosystem, Revenue Cloud enables media and entertainment companies to comprehensively monitor sales and generate comprehensive sales forecasts. Companies can use these insights to respond and adapt instantly, maximizing their chances of maintaining revenue stability.

Revenue Cloud promotes collaboration among disparate teams

One of the toughest aspects of optimizing the customer experience is creating internal cohesion and trust among employees and teams. When teams don’t collaborate and work together, positive change moves slowly—if at all. Revenue Cloud’s core value proposition is that it puts in place the infrastructure necessary to enable collaboration and trust-building across the organization. Teams are able to readily share data across CPQ, billing, customer lifecycle management, and ERP systems, and then collaboratively discuss and analyze data to improve the revenue lifecycle. When teams that can be at odds with one another—like sales and finance—start working together to optimize revenue-related processes, the entire organization benefits. In turn, consumers benefit from more optimized, frictionless customer experiences.

Now more than ever before consumers are seeking out media and entertainment content that they can control and manage effortlessly. To deliver these modern customer experiences, media and entertainment companies can take advantage of Salesforce Revenue Cloud to inject customization and intelligence into the selling experience, streamline every aspect of the sales lifecycle, provide visibility into sales data and trends, and promote enhanced collaboration among teams that traditionally have strained or distant relationships with one another.

Simplus specializes in partnering with media and entertainment companies to build unified Revenue Cloud ecosystems that can help optimize the customer experience. To learn more about how Revenue Cloud can benefit your organization, please reach out to Simplus today. We look forward to working with you to create the seamless, frictionless customer experiences that modern consumers expect.