Whitepaper
Optimizing customer experience - adapt to changing expectations
Why improve customer experience?
Customer experience is about creating an experience for each
customer that is based upon knowledge of that individual,
delivering it across products and channels and analyzing outcomes
to guide ongoing refinements.
Customers no longer want to search store shelves, be told what
to buy and stand in queues. They comprehend a company's brand
promise by using their eyes, not their ears to hear what is being
said. 'Customer satisfaction' is directly related to 'loyalty',
something that cannot be achieved by being shortsighted.
A reopened complaint or multiple unanswered requests for a
service are now shared with a large number of acquaintances and
friends instantly through always-connected devices. For
organizations that treat this new norm lightly, the result will be
unexpectedly large customer churn.
In a nut shell, the quality of customer experience impacts
important customer behaviors - loyalty, advocacy, spending,
repurchase intent and desire to switch. The building blocks of
successful new relationships with customers is matching
theirexpectations and thereby improving their overall
experience - a critical competitive advantage.
Creating products and services with clever competitive pricing
is outdated and usually considered as being
'product-centric'. To gain competitive advantage today,
the key is to consistently deliver a superior
interaction with customers across channels, touch points,
communications platforms, social networks and transactional
environments.
Multi-channel customer communication
As businesses attempt to reach-out and increase their customer
base, they use multi-channel communication to include a
larger number of people - some use conventional channels, while
others use multiple portable and always-connected devices. Tracking
communication between front-line or back-end employees
and customers is crucial for ensuring they are delivering an
experience that is consistent and on-going
.
The most recent addition to the multi-channel
communication trend is social networking - a powerful
and popular tool for amplifying consent, descent, comments
and suggestions. Monitoring the accuracy, relevance
and soft-skills used for customer interactions through
multifold channels can be painstakingly difficult if not handled
effectively. Additionally, losing track of records
when faced with attrition can rapidly escalate churn - a
centralized database and solutions repository is essential for
keeping up with growth.
Building CRM strategies for customer experience
Implementing the correct CRM solution will facilitate a business
with the tools to integrate multiple systems and create
a holistic view of customers. The information collated from these
systems can be quickly analyzed to create marketing
strategies that inculcate the expectations of
customers on a daily basis. This information is especially
useful when using the cloud to distribute content and
messages which is contextual and location-based through mobile
devices, kiosks and digital signage.
Innovation attracts customers and they perceive the
organization is dynamic. Customers have much more influence
because they can openly share their insights, preferences and
experiences through online channels and social media outlets. Not
tracking these social exchanges can unexpectedly affect the
popularity of products and brands. Also, creating a social presence
and ignoring your customers' posts or queries can backfire, leading
to churn and lower lead conversion rates.
It's vital to analyze the most popular customer trends in
social networking, communication and region-wise shopping or
service requests to design an effective customer strategy.
More and more contact centres are now entrenching themselves in
social media to facilitate true 'customer self service portals'
that are easily accessible and secure. Offering products that are
eco-friendly, easy-to-use and cost-efficient are necessities to
gain a competitive advantage.
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