Managing customer experience is critical for every business. That’s why business stakeholders want IT to work on the latest technologies to enhance and improve the customer experience at all levels. IT evangelists believe that customer data will attract newer customers, just like price and product.
Customer experience will be the new brand differentiator in 2021. Customers will stick to brands that offer them the best customer experience. Businesses need to be on the forefront to offer hassle-free, easy, and personalized customer experience if they want to increase revenue and manage customer retention. Moreover, they should be readily available 24/7 and 365 days a year to provide quick and instant service – at customer’s comfort.
Customer experience (CX) technology can fill the gap in customer experience. More than before, customer service management involves some technology. Organizations that are already using CX technologies like apps, integrations, chatbots, are seeing better results and reducing customer wait time.
But it’s advisable to deep-dive into the advantages than the nature of the technology. Tech oriented initiatives can result in a solution to solve customer issues. Most customers are not tech-savvy still. Most customers don’t need an expensive gadget from their brand. Most customers aren’t disappointed that their brand is still using the traditional method to deal with customer experience. Customers want a replacement that will make their interaction easy with the brand. Apps can make it easy for people to make instant purchases; chatbots can make communication easier. If your company is still not into CX technologies, it’s high time to invest in them.
To deliver the best customer experience, identify existing technology that needs improvement, and replace those with the latest tools to address issues and concerns.
Social Media Network
Social media is not new anymore. Most of us and our customers are active on social media platforms throughout the day. The advance of technology has made social media an integral part of our lives. Social media adds up in customer experience for marketing, sales, and brand building. Through social media, you can know how people outside perceive your brand and how they perceive your competitors.
Social media also helps in tracking, monitoring posts and comments, and behavioral analysis. It helps to review comments on different review sites in the click of a button. For effective use, you need to tweak the process. Maybe for a press release, you need certain approvals, but for a post on Facebook, or Twitter, there should be no approval.
Omnichannel Experience
Customers want their brands to be available on all channels for support or purchase, just not for marketing. Companies should focus on delivering an omnichannel experience. An omnichannel experience reaches out to customers through multiple channels – be it stores, on their devices, social media, or anywhere else.
Customers can have an awesome omnichannel experience if phone support is connected to various digital channels. Combining all information to one single tool will give enough data to the customer support rep to drill down the issue and offer relevant help. It also keeps track of all the conversations and interactions between the customer and company, irrespective of the channel.
Mobile Apps
The development of mobile apps is in boom and it is the new interaction model. For companies who are into direct-to-consumer, mobile apps work wonders for them. For online commerce with customers, direct or in-direct, you need mobile apps. But even customers who are not your active users or frequently buy from you use mobile apps to explore augmented reality to experience the product, or before making a final purchase.
Even if you have a small business, don’t limit mobile apps to just text or voice protocols. Use image recognition where customers can upload images of the issues they are facing, or fill form or survey highlighting the problem they are facing. Mobile apps are easy to install & uninstall. It gives flexibility to consumers to use it as per their convenience.
Data Integration Tools
Most customer support is done over the phone or in-person face-to-face, and customers want their queries resolved in little time possible, and they will remember you for that. Transferring customers from one person to another, asking them to visit the store, putting them on hold for a longer period, getting them nowhere with their query, or asking them to contact you multiple times. All this makes for bad customer experience, makes customers turn to a competitor, and gives bad reviews to their friends and family.
Customers hate being transferred from one department to another and repeat the same thing several times. Companies should break down silos and provide easy access to customer interaction data across all channels. It means connecting all ERP, CRM, loyalty programs.
Link CX To Business Systems
Every business should invest in a robust CX technology platform that gives accurate data about their customers. Most of the time, CX professionals struggle to get the correct data because its either stuck between departments, or the concerned team didn’t send the right message to the customer at the right time. Due to team working in siloes, half of it is aren’t of what the other team is doing.
By leveraging advanced AI tools, companies can dig deeper into customer behavior, analyze results, and identify patterns that lead to customer conversion. Understanding customer journey mapping will help CX professionals to enhance their service for other customers. Training internal employees to an existing scenario also matter. To keep it to the point, you need to align all your internal business systems to CX technology.
Security and Privacy Tools
Customer identity is a major concern these days. No customer wants their data to be shared randomly, especially millennials and Gen-Z. They aren’t comfortable with brands having access to their data. As much as curious, you are to know your customers, and what they want, you also need to put extra effort to retain their information and prevent it from any mishap.
Even when customers call for personalization, they are also concern about their data being misused. Data theft is common, and assuring your customers about their data being safe and secure will improve customer experience. Many customers will show the utmost trust in you and eventually helps in customer retention.
Conclusion:
Customer Experience will be the new brand differentiator. More than product or service, customers will buy from you because of the after-sale-service, or how your representative was able to solve the customer’s query without much fuss. But if the customer experience isn’t clubbed to any technology, you will miss out on the latest technique and trends to deal with customers. Moreover, most customers are online, so it’s wise to hold their attention where they are best active.
