How to Boost Your Speed to Market with CCM Software
Gina Armada and MHC Team 
January 4th, 2024
Being the first to market has always been a competitive advantage in business, and in the fast-paced world of modern commerce it’s become more crucial than ever. That’s why more businesses have begun attempting to enhance their speed to market by streamlining processes and investing in automation solutions such as customer communication management (CCM) software. Read on to learn more about the importance of managing your time to market and using CCM solutions to give your customers the exceptional experience they demand.
What Is Speed to Market and Why Is It Important?
In business terms, speed to market (STM) refers to the time it takes a company to move from having an idea to making a product or service available to consumers. Also referred to as time to market (TTM), it is used to estimate how quickly a business can foster a product or service from inception to being ready to launch. Many businesses and industry observers use speed to market as an indicator of how effective their strategies and processes are.
The steps considered in evaluating speed to market will vary depending on the business and the product, but should encompass the entire life cycle of a product, including:
A faster speed to market comes with many benefits for businesses, including establishing an advantage over competitors, building a reputation within the industry, and creating stronger brand recognition among consumers.
Why Is Speed to Market Crucial for Customer Communication Management?
Speed-to-market has a major impact on customer communication management, both for businesses and for customers. After all, being first to market doesn’t make nearly as much difference if your customers don’t know about it. There are four key areas of customer communications where time-to-market merits particular consideration.
Technology isn’t just for the tech-savvy these days. News spreads faster than ever, and customers are eager to have access to the latest and greatest. A business that can provide them with the latest innovations and advancements can earn repeat business and goodwill, while one that lags behind risks looking sluggish and outdated.
2. Competitive Advantage
A speedy, streamlined communication process allows your business to distribute personalized messages at a higher volume and a faster speed. That helps to boost customer engagement by reducing friction and providing communications that make them feel seen and heard. Conversely, a slow CCM process turns customers off quickly, and often permanently.
A speedy, automated CCM system makes it simple to integrate new tools, channels, and functionalities. For a customer base hungry for the latest, being able to adapt quickly to changing trends and tech keeps your business feeling relevant. As a bonus, the greater efficiency of automated CCM processes takes manual tasks off of your communication team’s plate, freeing them to focus on more engaging projects.
“ If your organization has multiple checks and balances regarding who should approve things, review and approval workflow capabilities are key. You can make sure that before your product actually gets distributed, it passes all reviews and approvals. You can track that with a history of those approvals, and better yet, you have version control. That lets you very easily see your communications and always see what was distributed when, and what was included. “
Why Speed to Market Should Not Come Above Quality
In business as in most walks of life, trying to move too quickly is often a recipe for avoidable errors. As important a consideration as speed to market is, it should never come at the expense of product quality, customer experience, or data security.
Implementing and integrating a new CCM system takes some time and strategy. Going too fast puts your business at risk of human error, compliance issues, and strained relationships with important customers. Before taking your new CCM solution to market, here are four key questions to consider.
An organization with a broad customer base, a high volume of communications, and/or a wide variety of products and services will likely require more planning and strategy than a business with less complicated needs.
If your business requires highly personalized messages for specific customers, specialized methods of delivery, or other unique communications needs, you should look for a solution that allows for maximum customization.
Does your business have the budget and IT expertise to implement, maintain, and make adjustments to your new CCM system? If not, a solution with a dedicated support system is likely your best option.
Protecting data privacy and customer information is an important consideration for every business, but organizations in fields that deal in sensitive or highly regulated data need to take extra caution to stay compliant.
“ Change is constant in the world of compliance and regulations. Some industries are impacted more than others, but that constant change requires focus and attention to make sure organizations can stay on top of what they need to do. “
8 Speed to Market Best Practices to Consider
As the examples above demonstrate, a speed to market strategy can be a delicate thing to balance. Businesses looking to get their goods and services in front of customers faster should consider these best practices before finalizing a time to market plan.
Before you can begin developing a speed to market plan, it’s essential to understand who your target market is and what business objectives can best help you communicate with them. Create a roadmap of the designs, materials, and workflows that will get your product or service to market most quickly.
Undertaking a time-sensitive project sometimes means that not all features and functions will be ready straight out of the box. Prioritizing your target customers’ core needs as you plan what to implement at launch will pay bigger dividends than attempting to get everything functioning right from the start.
Partnering up with the right providers can boost your time to market significantly, especially when it comes to customer communications (CCM). An automated CCM software solution like MHC’s can speed up development while ensuring that your message reaches the right audience at the right time.
Not only does automation make the process of testing and deploying your new solution move much faster than a manual testing system, it also eliminates much of the risk of human error, bottlenecks, and slowdowns that can get in the way of a successful launch.
Being first to market isn’t worth much if your customers don’t have a positive experience with your products or services. Letting user experience (UX) and user interface (UI) drive your launch efforts is a good way to ensure that you’re not just the first business to market, but also the best.
Your internal testing process is hugely important, but so is receiving feedback from the customers who will be purchasing products and using services. Make sure to not only solicit feedback from test audiences, but also to make plans to implement the suggestions and recommendations you get from them.
Agile development strategies make it easier to incorporate testing, feedback, and adaptive strategies into your process. These iterative approaches to development allows you to address product quality as you work, facilitating a faster and more efficient development cycle.
Boost Your Speed to Market with MHC NorthStar CCM
MHC specializes in software solutions that make your workflows and development processes as efficient and accurate as possible. That makes us an ideal partner for any business looking to improve speed to market. Our CCM software allows businesses to cut valuable time from their product development without sacrificing compliance or compromising quality. Contact us today to schedule a demonstration of our industry-leading workflow management solutions.
“ One of our business services clients was dealing with a lot of data sources to pull in and quickly share information. The pace of change was extremely high. They needed a systematic solution to manage, scale, and flex with the type and volume of changes coming in. With MHC, they were able to empower business users to drive results without relying on IT, to manage all of their inbound sources of compliance and regulation information, and to move their support to the cloud, which had additional benefits for them. “
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Gina Armada
Gina Armada was Chief Executive Officer of MHC until February 2026, bringing over 27 years of experience leveraging technology to deliver business solutions and customer value. Gina led MHC in consistently delivering intelligent workflow and content automation solutions that organizations can rely upon to streamline their operations, optimize productivity, and increase engagement with customers. Gina worked at Accenture until she joined MHC in 2008, serving in multiple roles until she was named CEO in 2019. When Gina isn’t piloting the growth of software solutions and services, she is active in coaching youth sports and loves spending free time with family and friends.
Team MHC
Team MHC consists of a multitude of roles, functions, and expertise within MHC. With extensive combined experience in accounts payable and customer communication management, Team MHC has a unique insight into how to empo wer people using solutions that streamline processes while enhancing customer communication. Working alongside field experts in various industries and company sizes, Team MHC has garnered impressive thought leadership knowledge that we are excited to share with our readers. Including Aragon’s 2022 Women in Tech winner Gina Armada, CTO Dan Ward, VPs of Finance and Customer Service, and other talent that runs the spectrum of technology ability, Team MHC offers a mastery of skills to benefit our customers and prospects alike.
