Your customers didn’t become customers by chance. Maybe it was your commitment to premium service that won them over. Maybe your product or service just fit their needs best. Or, maybe their decision was based on price. No matter the reason, customer engagement, at some point, played a part to help you win the sale.
Your customers have more options than ever before. Standing out means putting customer engagement at the forefront of your sales and marketing strategies. What does excellent customer engagement look like in 2016? Here’s a closer look at why customer experience is important and how small businesses can master the art of engagement:
Encourage good ‘ol fashioned word-of-mouth.
Keeping your customers happy and loyal will give your SMB a considerable competitive advantage. That’s because loyal customers are more likely to spread the good word about your business to their circle. Word-of-mouth will always be a key avenue for sales. Eighty-four percent of consumers say they either completely or somewhat trust recommendations from family, colleagues and friends about businesses, products and services, and 74 percent of consumers identify word-of-mouth as a key influencer in their purchasing decision. For these reasons, it’s important that your employees are in-tune with your customers, and if there’s a complaint, that it is taken care of quickly. Even if you can’t immediately address the issue, you shouldn’t leave them hanging without word or plan of action. Customers want to know someone is putting them first and working on their problem, so tell them that.
One way technology can support this is by centralizing customer data. This will help to ensure smooth customer engagement from every employee. For example, Union Mutual of Vermont, an insurance provider serving more than 130,000 policyholders, takes great pride in building and maintaining personal relationships with its clients. The company considers every touchpoint an opportunity to provide an excellent customer experience. To achieve this, they rely on their ability to find and access important customer data quickly, wherever they are. A team member fielding a call can’t wait – and keep their client waiting – while trying to find relevant details to address a question or problem.
By eliminating the amount of time you and your employees are spending trying to find key customer information, customer interactions will be smoother and result in a better overall experience.
Personalize, personalize, personalize.
So you’ve been listening to your customers, taking their requests into consideration and doing your best to solve problems. Now what? Take all that information and put it into action. For example, the last time you spoke with a particular customer, he asked to be contacted via phone between 5:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. Now, it’s up to you to accommodate his preference. And this personalization will pay off big time and give you a leg up on the competition. According to a CEI survey, 86 percent of customers said they are willing to pay more for a better customer experience, but only one percent of those surveyed feel that businesses consistently meet their expectations. By taking the extra step to personalize every experience, such as calling during certain hours, you are showing customers that you’re willing to go the distance and personalize every interaction, improving and building a solid customer relationship and delivering an above-average experience.
Embrace customer feedback.
You’re not likely to be able to get it right every time — we’re only human after all. When you do miss the mark, take it as a learning experience. Ask the customer for feedback so you can either make it right or learn from it so you can better serve your customers. Research has shown that simply asking customers for feedback increases customer retention. But, don’t just ask for feedback. Asking for customer feedback will help you understand what your existing customers need to avoid losing them down the road. Acting on that feedback will build customer loyalty and improve retention. And, since increasing customer retention by just five percent can lead to a 25 to 95 percent increase in profits, embracing customer feedback is time well spent.
Customer engagement is a broad concept. It encompasses every touchpoint you have with customers and must be a priority for the entire company. When your team puts customer experience and service at the top of their priority lists, loyalty will increase and business will boom.
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