In the 21st century consumers have access to vast amounts of data. They are more powerful than ever because they have options. No longer are they tied to one provider of a specific product or service. If they don't like a certain organization they are a click away from finding an alternative. As such providing a great customer experience is crucial for any organization to attract new customers and retain existing ones. Below is a list of four categories any organization should invest in to improve their customer's experience:
Because of online channels, the balance of power between businesses and buyers has shifted significantly. Customers are more empowered and self-sufficient, and to get them to buy your products or services you need to fully understand who they are, what they like and dislike.
The more you know about your potential customers, the more successfully you will be able to develop meaningful relationships with them. Gathering as much customer data as possible will allow you to build a detailed profile of your customer’s needs, preferences and key characteristics.
The amount of data you can generate these days is huge and Investing in a proper analytics platform such as Qlik or PowerBI should help you in better building your customer's persona.
Email is the single most powerful channel you can use to communicate with and engage customers. It’s a direct and personal channel that allows you to foster a sense of customer loyalty and nurture relationships so much more quickly and easily than other digital channels. But as we mentioned before, customers in the 21st century are empowered and they know when someone is trying to sell to them or promote a product and the last thing they will entertain is being treated en mass.
Using a marketing automation platform like Exceeders | vbout will allow you to segment your customers into different groups based on the data you identified using your analytics and then send them individual and personalized emails, promotions and offers that resonate with their wants/needs and will rank high in converting them to paying customers.
People are social in nature, with nearly two thirds of customers in the region active on at least one social media channel. Which is an excellent free resource you can tap into to engage with these customers, understand what they like about your company, what they dislike, share your new products, services and promotions with them and potentially turn them into ambassadors that will promote your organization to their friends and family. Using tools like Facebook Messenger, Whatsapp, Exceeders | vbout, etc... will help you manage your social media presence at all times.
Providing a great experience to your customers is one way organizations can count on to increase their revenue. You do this by providing a superb experience to their existing and potential customers. What you don't want to happen is having a customer who bought your product/service leave you and spread negative comments about you because your support team didn't help them in the right way as an example. Examples in solutions such as Dynamics CRM to manage customer service problems and deploying a virtual Agent to support your customers will help you avoid such scenarios.
Not all people are the same. Some like to talk on the phone, some prefer email, others prefer live chat or social. You can't force customers to connect with you on your terms. Consider investing in various solutions such as a Virtual Agent for Livechat, Exceeders | vbout for email & social communication, create self service portals that customers can use to solve their problems themselves and a convenient IVR solution from one of the top telephony providers allowing you to engage with your customers and solve their issues using the tools they feel comfortable with.
The most important asset for any organization that is selling it's products or services is their customers. As such the relationship between them and their customers shouldn't be under estimated and any investments the organization can make should be made there. The formula is very simple, Happy customers spend money and the more money they spend the more revenue you will generate.