Customers need to feel valued before they’re loyal to any brand. And to provide the value that customers seek, you need to offer personalized and unique interactions. Satisfy customer needs by creating a CX strategy that includes researching and identifying what avenues your customer uses.
Create a sense of familiarity in your communications to customers by providing offers that have “more meat and less filling.” In other words, gain customer loyalty by adding value to both the service and customer sides of your offer.
Open up the comms
The irony is that customers don’t care what channel they’re using to contact you … as long as you’re there to resolve their issues without friction. There are often certain feelings associated with different channels, so it’s up to you to make a seamless personalized interaction that satisfies customers’ needs. Here are some easy ways to score some “loyalty points” with customers:
#1 – Human interaction always wins
Basics are basics. No ifs, ands, or buts. Nothing beats human interaction. In our opinion, talking face-to-face is the most accurate way to gauge, maintain, and gain customer satisfaction. Think twice before you cut corners to eliminate the human component of your CX strategy.
#2 – Ditch the scripts
An affable one-on-one phone call can eliminate issues and improve customer satisfaction. Yet, call centers can pivot to impersonal service when their scripts are too generic or become overused. And if scripts are unavailable or scarce, you run the risk of uninformed representatives. No one needs to remember the countless times call centers got it wrong.
Instead, rely on your CRM to do the heavy lifting for you. Your call center representatives can use real-time customer data to better inform their conversations with customers, resolving many communication problems.
#3 – Market your website
Sometimes the cost of starting a website can be staggering. But don’t let lack of support or low web traffic spur you into feeling defeated. Give your customers a trustworthy image that eliminates the competition. (Check out Home Depot or YP’s websites for clear branding/communication examples.)
#4 – Don’t be afraid to automate emails
Email communications are cost-effective and can yield heavy pipeline and great profits. Look to MarketingProfs for some solid guidelines to grammar and etiquette through email. More importantly, with email automation, your workers can send email communication to all of your previous customers with the push of a button. This makes contacting customers easy-peasy, but you should still watch like a hawk for typos.
#5 – The live chat v. chatbot dilemma
Many small and moderately-sized companies may find that overhead costs and scheduling conflicts are not worth the live chat benefits. But larger businesses know there’s profit to every investment in live chat representatives. Take the chat route that best suits the size of your company.
#6 – Brand the hell out of your self-service kiosk
Did you know that 70 percent of customers want access to a self-service portal? Except, when your customers don’t see your company name, they won’t remember how the service you provided them felt. This effect can stunt the growth of your loyal customer base. Make sure you have your logo and branding top, front, and center of every self-service kiosk you own.
#7 – Put your brand values on social
As a relatively low-cost channel, social media has a lot to offer to both customers and businesses alike. For high engagement and meaningful ROI statistics, it’s important that you have a seamless CX across all social media channels. A stellar example of cohesive branding across social media is Yeti — check out their Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and even Spotify for an understanding of their values.
These channel tips and tricks go a long way to strengthening your capabilities and providing a transformative Customer Experience. Whatever channels you choose to be present on, make sure you’re there to treat customers well while providing instant support. Read more about how to provide your customers with a satisfying CX in our ebook, “Satisfied Customers: An Outcome of The Virtuous Cycle.”