Great communication is at the core of great customer experience. Every company needs a customer-centric culture that drives repeat customers and customer loyalty. Here are “10 Commandments of Customer Experience” curated to facilitate the strongest customer-company connections.
- Customers must feel appreciated
Companies must find ways to make customers happy and valued. Little things like providing 24/7 support and prioritising customers’ problems can go a long way in transforming negative perceptions to positive.
A happy customer is a loyal customer, and will go out of the way to build a company’s reputation through word-of-mouth. Rewards or loyalty programs can make push both new and long-term returning customers to interact with a company more.
- Deliver customised experiences
When companies have repeated interactions with a customer, it is easy to build a user persona and understand trends in their interactions or purchases. This contextual data can be used in interactions to build a more customised experience. For example, many marketing automation tools can send customised communication tailored according to a customer’s past interactions with a company.
This will help facilitate smooth customer dialogue across every stage of the buying journey. Companies also leverage AI tools like predictive analysis and chatbots to create more effective customised experiences for customers.
- Anticipate customer behavior
Most CPaaS (Communication Platform as a Service) solutions store customer interaction data and provide well-designed analytical solutions for such data. These analytics from past customer behavior can help detect patterns in future customer behavior. Knowing individual consumer preferences will enable companies to forecast future interactions and send relevant trigger-based prompts or push notifications in advance.
- Send proactive messages
Companies do not have to keep waiting for customers to contact them first. Customer engagement is a two-way street, so companies must not be afraid to use multi-channel communication modes to the fullest and send your customers messages, emails, or notifications all the way through the buying journey. When companies fail to deliver a seamless experience, customers often prefer to switch companies.
- Listen to the customers
The best way for a company to become truly customer-centric is to listen to what the customers have to say about your company. Gauge what customers like and dislike through surveys, interviews and feedback forms. Use this customer data to optimise your business accordingly. Customers may change their viewpoints and behaviours over time, so companies must regularly run testing sessions to keep up with the changing perspectives.
- Provide seamless customer interaction services
Customers should be able to navigate through a business’s applications seamlessly without any difficulties. The lower effort customers put into interactions; the more satisfied customers will be. Customers respond more favourably to fuss-free solutioning, and quick service experiences. Companies must reduce the number of touchpoints in a customer’s journey to make the goal easier to reach.
- Provide personalised communication services
Communicating 1:1 with a customer is always more effective than sending automated bulk messages that are not tailored according to the customer’s behaviour. Gartner survey indicates that companies that have poor personalisation practices could lose 38% of their customers. Tailored messages that communicate in “first person” and include the customer’s name can improve response rates and facilitate strong customer relationships.
- Leverage Customer Experience Innovation
Innovation is an attention grabber. Customers prefer companies that deliver innovative services and stand out from the competition. To win in today’s competitive market, companies must adopt bold approaches that make customer interactions with a company memorable, entertaining and unique.
Many companies integrate emerging technologies like artificial intelligence, machine learning and blockchain to provide breakthrough innovative experiences that reel in customers. The first step to start the innovation journey is to assess different areas of opportunities through a CX innovation maturity model.
- Companies must provide value first and sell later
Most companies reach out to customers and pitch about their products and services. This makes a conversation one-sided and company-centric, rather than customer-centric. Instead, companies must first provide value to customers and deliver informative material like free templates, industry reports or market research that’s crafted to help customers in their buying journey.
Companies that publish thought-leadership content are perceived as experts in the industry. When companies have managed to build credibility, customers themselves generally tend to approach the company for more information, rather than the other way around.
- Ensure data security and build customer trust
Customer trust is everything. Companies must prioritise data security and adopt safe digital platforms that ensure customer information isn’t leaked to malicious third parties. According to survey results, more than three-quarters of consumers will stop engaging with a brand online following a data breach. With the complexity of the digital economy is growing faster than ever, the need for strong secure experiences will only grow.
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