In the world of communications technology, stagnation can be your enemy. The cloud has enabled an unprecedented pace of innovation, and solution providers are enhancing their offerings with new features, capabilities, and user experiences at a dizzying rate. This is certainly the case at 8x8, where our product teams are always taking advantage of the latest and greatest innovations, such as artificial intelligence and machine learning, to make the 8x8 platform even more beneficial to our customers.

For busy IT teams, keeping up with their vendors’ new products and platform updates can be challenging. However, it’s critical to do so — staying at the forefront of innovation helps your business stay agile, improve efficiency, and maintain that competitive edge.

“The greatest technology in the world has not replaced the ultimate relationship- building tool between a customer and a business:, the human touch.” - Shep Hyken

But with 8x8, you’re not alone in the race to stay current—our high-level Professional Services team is here to help. Our consultants add the “human touch” to our technology as they help you design and implement the right solution for your business. For example, we work with existing customers to conduct yearly health checks and ensure that they’re staying relevant when engaging with their customers based on new communications channels and changing preferences.

So, how do we work with our customers? In this article, we’ll introduce the 8x8 prescriptive consulting approach and explore how we’d use it to help you define solutions that take advantage of today’s best technologies and meet your communications goals.

What is prescriptive consulting?

The term “prescriptive” is heard a lot in the communications industry, and we often use it here at 8x8. But what does it mean to apply a prescriptive approach as a principle in your day-to-day operations?

For 8x8 Professional Services, this means taking the time to conduct listening sessions with your team, and then merging them with product capabilities and your experience to build a full picture of your current communications setup. Our world-class consultants can then address any unmet needs as well as new opportunities available to your business through the 8x8 platform. At the end of this prescriptive process, we’ll recommend a direct and defined solution.

As an example, take this scenario: you meet with your doctor who knows your history, listens to your current symptoms, and sends you out to do lab work. When it comes time to prescribe the right medicine for you, the doctor doesn’t offer four options and ask you to choose between them. Your doctor is your trusted advisor, and you expect them to recommend the best course of action for you.

The core principle behind 8x8 prescriptive consulting

Our prescriptive consulting approach is not bound by predictions. We dive deep into your business DNA, pulling insights from your current call volumes and flows to provide the type of solution that addresses bottlenecks and flow inefficiencies. One of our many team values is the principle of “Think FAAST,” which consists of five core traits that our consultants must exhibit throughout our engagement with you. These include:

  • Focus
  • Attention to detail
  • Accountability
  • Skilled
  • Trustworthy

The Think FAAST principle also enables our consultants to identify the right way to handle unexpected situations, helping us stay agile and responsive to meet changing client needs.

The benefits of 8x8 prescriptive consulting

With 8x8 Professional Services, we don’t just work for you, we work with you. We partner with you to succeed, whether you’re transitioning from a previous communications platform to 8x8, or you’re optimizing your existing 8x8 implementation. In our recent article Customer Experience Is Key to Growth for PayTech Companies, we discuss how the key to market differentiation boils down to customer experience. When you engage our team, you’ll enjoy a highly customized consulting experience that feels like a true partnership with everyone focused on delivering shared success.

Some of the benefits of prescriptive consulting are:

  • Personalized preparation: We’ll carefully review your Statement of Work (SOW) and research your business background, so that our team can ask the right questions
  • Tracking tools: You’ll be able to track our progress through the design session preparation materials (for example, our Pre-Project Kick Off document)
  • Thorough discovery process: Our team will focus on listening and strategically addressing key focus areas with you that will eventually lead to a final solution
  • Goal and metric setting: The right success criteria is collected through the SMART method (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic, Timely), which helps us achieve an effective deployment
  • Trusted advisors: You will be heard, valued, and guided throughout the entire process, to the point where we have earned your full trust and confidence that your new solution will be well-executed

Your prescription for success

With our unique blend of cutting-edge technology, data-driven insights, and industry expertise, the 8x8 Professional Services team will curate and deliver a tailored solution that is sustainable for your admins and engaging for your users and customers alike. And you’ll have an enjoyable consulting experience that gives you personalized advice and support every step of the way.

Now that you’re familiar with our prescriptive consulting approach, how can you get started with 8x8 Professional Services? Go to our Professional Services page, which includes the full range of services.