How digital data intake can boost top KPIs in your business

Digital transformation has become a buzzword for companies, from large enterprises to local businesses. But it’s a big term, encompassing many sub-categories, all of which are critical to achieving a comprehensive transformation and realizing the full potential of the process. 

One key element of digital transformation that is often overlooked or not emphasized enough is digital data intake.

Contrary to popular perception, digital data intake isn’t just a technicality—it’s a foundation of digital transformation, especially in companies that need to collect a lot of customer data and signatures. 

Benefits of digital data intake

One of the main reasons that digital data is so significant is because of the major limitations of the alternative—manual data intake. Digital data intake helps to overcome those barriers and offers several significant benefits, including but not limited to: 

Eliminating inaccuracies and errors

Any type of data intake that includes manual touchpoints is bound to have errors. Errors can be caused by typos, misunderstanding the questions, or entering data in an incorrect format. Whatever the reason, errors can lead to mismatched data, delays while agents track down customers to fix forms, and an overall poor customer experience. 

Digital data intake includes inline validation, so data can’t be submitted with errors or in improper formats. That means that customers don’t experience the frustration of submitting a form only to have it rejected, and companies don’t have to waste costly resources reviewing forms and tracking customers down to correct errors after they happen.   

Better customer experience

Digital data intake is streamlined, easy, and interactive. Customers understand what they need to do and can complete the intake process on their own schedule and preferred device, whenever and wherever they want—no need to download and print forms, manually sign anything, provide the same information again and again, or wait for service agents to become available. 

Likewise, with digital data intake, anyone in a company can access customer data and gain a full view of their needs and preferences. The insight gained can help a company personalize products and services to meet customer needs, further enhancing the customer experience. 

Efficient use of resources

Human resources are costly, so they should always be utilized in tasks where they drive the most business value. Tedious, repetitive work like manual data entry or tracking down customers to correct errors is not the best use of staff time. With digital data intake, staff time is freed up from those tedious tasks, and can be invested in higher-level activity. 

Digital data intake also enables full utilization of new technologies and innovation. There are a lot of innovative third-party services and products available for almost every element of a business. When customer data is collected digitally, it is stored in a standard format making it easy to integrate with other systems and services that can improve your business in a variety of ways.  

KPIs that improve with digital data intake

There is no question that digital data intake is important. Now let's look at how that translates into numbers, and how smart digital data intake can boost some key performance indicators (KPIs) in your business.

Customer satisfaction score

We all know how important it is to make a good first impression, and the intake process is when customers determine their first impression of your company. If that initial process includes manual forms, clunky PDFs that need to be printed, signed, scanned, and uploaded, or forms that are repetitive, redundant, or hard to understand, that first impression won’t be a positive one. 

On the other hand, a streamlined, frictionless process that can be completed on any device, at any time, is a great way to make a good first impression. Companies who provide that using digital data intake are likely to see strong customer satisfaction scores. 

Churn rate

Satisfaction scores come from customers who stay. But what about customers who get frustrated or confused during intake and vote with their feet before they have a chance to rate their experience? A smooth, easy-to-understand intake process with excellent UI is important to keep them from jumping ship, which is why digital data intake can significantly lower churn rates. 

Retention rate

Sometimes the effects of a poor customer intake process are only felt later on down the line. For example, if there were errors in the intake process, they may only be discovered during a manual review. Likewise, if the intake process wasn’t clear, customers may feel that they didn’t get what they signed up for. When they begin to use the product or service, they may feel frustrated or angry and decide to look for an alternative provider. 

When customers have a positive first experience with a smooth digital data intake, they’re likely to stay put over time. It’s easier for them to understand exactly what your company offers, and prevent gaps in expectations. 

Customer lifetime value (CLV)

If you’re able to keep your customers happy and on board, they will continue to generate revenue for your company. Happy customers keep coming back again and again, and over time, are extremely valuable to organizations. Moreover, when you collect accurate, high-quality data during intake, you gain a better understanding of your customers' specific needs and preferences. That can help you offer them additional services and products that are personalized to their needs, increasing the chance that they will buy what you’re offering and further grow your revenue.  

Number of customer service calls

If your intake process is streamlined and easy to understand, customers won’t need to call the customer service line. If the process includes clunky elements like downloading and signing PDFs and doesn’t provide feedback in real time, you’ll see more calls from customers who need help or don’t understand something or have problems in the process. 

Digital data intake is interactive, making it easier for customers to understand what they need to do. Instead of overwhelming them with one lengthy form, they are presented with questions in easy-to-digest quantities, each section building on the section before to prevent frustration, abandonment, and unnecessary calls. 

Average call handle time

Another related KPI is average call handling time. No matter how good your process is, some calls will come in. However, if the process is clear and streamlined, any questions or issues that do arise will be easy to resolve. With digital data intake, you’ll often see your average call handle time drop significantly. 

First-call resolution rate

Continuing in that vein, multiple calls are also not a good indicator. With digital data intake, customers will have fewer reasons to call. When they do call, it will be easier to solve the issue in one conversation, saving valuable staff time and creating a better experience for the customer. 

Customer self-service usage rate

Automated processes are only effective if customers use them. With digital data intake, it’s easier for customers to complete processes without help. It also enables user-friendly capabilities like autofill and visual cues that further encourage customers to utilize self-service channels.  

Customer data quality score

Poor intake often leads to poor data, as seen by a high ratio of data to errors, high data transformation error rates, or large amounts of “dark” or unusable data. With inline validation, visual cues, and streamlined formats, digital data intake reduces errors and generates higher-quality data. 

It’s time to get started

Implementing digital data intake is easier than ever.  With no-code platforms like EasySend, you no longer need to make a major investment in hardware, software, or in-house technical expertise to start reaping the benefits.  So get started now and watch your KPIs take off.