The customer experience is king, and this is a standard repeated in any business. These days, you cannot simply rely on your products and services as a competitive advantage or differentiator.
Even companies like Apple, for the most part, are simply selling tech gadgets which are homogenized with substitutes readily available from other companies like Samsung and Google. But the one thing that really sets Apple apart is the customer experience. It’s not just about the phone or the MacBook. It’s the convenience, peace of mind and prestige of owning and using an Apple product. It’s the experience.
The same holds true in any industry. In the contact center world, 56% of customer experience professionals look to improve and personalize the customer experience. And is it any wonder why? Personalization drives between 5 and 15% revenue growth for companies in the retail, financial-services, entertainment, telecom, and travel industries. All of these are the most vital industries that require contact center support.
What exactly are the ways in which you can up your company’s personalization game?
Use the Customer’s Name
It’s been proven scientifically that hearing one’s own name has a powerful impact on a person. There is nothing quite as sweet as the sound of one’s own name, as it is said. In business terms, customers expect to be treated as individuals when it comes to dealing with a company. Remember a customer’s name and using it at the right times is key to winning over a person’s loyalty and business.
In fact, 33% of consumers abandoned a business relationship because there was a lack of personalization and a failure to be recognized as an individual. This is why you will see companies address customers by their name when they login to a website account, or begin any interaction with the customer through their names. Back in the 90’s, caller ID gave huge brownie points to call centers that started calls with, “Hello Customer’s Name, thank you for calling, what can we do for you today?”
Make Full Use of Software to Personalize the Experience
Today’s Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software can go even beyond making use of names. CRM software can build a profile of a customer just by tracking all your interactions with them from social media, email, phone, and your website. You can glean a lot of information, including their spending habits.
Keep Track of Your Most Important Customer’s Preferences
You can even improve the accuracy of the profiles by asking customers to fill in their own profiles. 63% of Millennials are more than happy to share their information and track their behavior, as long as it enhances their experience. Companies like Google, Amazon and Netflix take full advantage of this, offering personalized recommendations based on the user’s preferences.
All of this, of course, should be cleared up front with the customer. Customers give out their data out of trust. Make sure to set the correct standards and expectations as well as ensure that the data is not used for anything other than creating a better experience for the customer.
Create an Omnichannel Experience
Lastly, it’s important to tailor the experience with the customer’s preferred touch points. Modern contact centers can initiate and accommodate interactions with a customer through many channels, such as voice calls, emails, SMS, social media, and live chat. When users fill out their profile, you can check what their preferred method of contact is and interact with them through that channel accordingly.
Creating a perfect personalized customer experience takes a lot of legwork, but all that effort is well worth it. You will be rewarded with loyal customers who are engaged with your brand and who love your service over the competition. You can look to a lot of the technology giants in the market today who all command amazing market share, and it’s all thanks to personalized customer experiences. It’s never been easier than today, especially with all the powerful software tools at your disposal.
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