“Always give people more than what they expect to get.”- Nelson Boswell
This simple yet powerful rule by the late American author implies that businesses—big or small—should deliver more than their customers ask for.
If you exceed their expectations, they will stick with your brand in the long haul. Besides, there’s a sporting chance they will market your brand with word-of-mouth recommendations. An investment in customer satisfaction is, therefore, a win-win decision for all businesses.
Customer satisfaction has become all the more crucial as the COVID-19 pandemic remodelled everything on an unprecedented scale making customer expectations higher than ever.
Businesses are pressed to go the extra mile to retain customers because acquiring new ones is harder than ever in the present scenario.
Satisfaction and retention are the cornerstones of the survival and growth of any organisation in the new normal, and so they must feel understood and valued—like they’re your only customer.
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Customer satisfaction in the new normal
Customer journey is no longer the same when you sell virtually. The touchpoint differs, and so do the expectations and trust factors. According to a recent report by Salesforce, 66% of customers expect brands to understand their needs.
Things have turned even more challenging in this era of virtual interactions when 78% of buyers believe that organisations should leverage innovation. At the same time, 88% expect them to adopt digital tools to go the extra mile with CX.
Though it sounds challenging, brands must take tangible steps to gain an in-depth understanding of the customer journey in a virtual setup.
These insights can go a long way in helping companies take actionable measures to deliver higher levels of customer satisfaction. The effort is worthwhile because satisfaction boosts sales and drives loyalty and retention in the long run.
Here are some surefire ways that can help you with the mission.
Build customer relationships first
The buying journey differs for each customer, so you cannot take a cookie-cutter approach to understand it.
Moreover, it is different when all the interactions happen virtually, as they are happening now. It is essential to build individual customer relationships and keep them in the long run. It is important to support your customers from start to end because some might get confused and abandon midway.
Try chatbots—they are the go-to solution to all your customer queries. Integrating chatbots into your website and app is one of the best ways to build relationships and stay connected.
Automation also keeps you a step ahead, and so does embracing omnichannel communication solutions that ensure availability across all touchpoints.
Speaking with a live support rep may not be the best way to engage with the buyers as it elevates the risk of long wait times. You may end up queuing them for nothing, which can impact the satisfaction rates.
Providing automated and live chat options is the safest way to match evolving customer expectations.
Engage to make them feel valued
The growing competition and sky-high consumer expectations make it crucial to deliver exceptional experiences. Making the journey more engaging and interactive is the key.
Humanise your brand—engage with your customers in every way possible!
Leverage rich media elements like photo cards, carousels, and quick reply buttons to make CX enjoyable. Opt for channels that facilitate the use of rich media so that you can create the most compelling experiences.
Think beyond addressing complex concepts by meeting in person or speaking over the phone.
Rather, look for a virtual interaction that lets you share documents, brochures, and catalogues. Whether an entrepreneur or an enterprise—respond to your customer’s needs promptly. Hire an affordable virtual assistant to do the needful.
While the overall experience is more engaging and interactive, you benefit from having all the resources in a single place. Agents can pull them at any time to answer questions or as a reference for handling another customer.
Personalise, personalise, and personalise
Making a great first impression is non-negotiable as buyers prioritise brands that make conscious efforts to be better than the rest.
Modern customers want to be heard, understood, and valued, so personalisation is the way to go. Collecting consumer data and creating buyer personas is vital. It can help you tailor the customer journey and customise every interaction with your brand.
Focus on gathering in-depth customer insights by following them closely. It enables you to fine-tune their profiles with a clear idea of factors like demographics, preferences, and buying behaviour.
Fortunately, you have options to track information, such as a CRM tool and ticketing system. Agents know what customers expect even before the initial interaction. So they can get attention and drive satisfaction by bringing in an element of personalisation.
Make customer satisfaction a team goal
Empower agents to focus on customer satisfaction—go beyond the services and support they provide to customers. These are the people who hold the fort when it comes to customer service, so their performance determines a customer’s level of satisfaction and affinity to your brand. Investing in a cloud contact centre is the first step to empower your agents. Ensure that it has omnichannel capabilities such as CRM integration, chatbots, videos, and more.
When agents have the right platform, they can do the best and address queries with greater agility and efficiency. Invest in the digital transformation of your customer service and support operation right now if you want a leg up on your competition. The more you embrace technology, the better you get at customer satisfaction.
Deliver a seamless customer experience
The final piece of advice is to make customer experiences as frictionless as possible because it is an unwritten CX rule every business must follow.
Nurturing every customer to the best of your abilities is even more crucial today as people are already stressed and frustrated. The last thing they want is unresolved queries and unanswered calls across multiple communication channels. Keeping your communications in a single place enables you to maintain the conversation and boost the CX on all fronts.
Yet again, the cloud has got you covered! You can rely on the cloud contact centre to hold conversations on a channel chosen by the customer.
The cloud can easily switch between tabs and tools to get relevant information and deliver a seamless experience. The latter need not share details time and again with different representatives, making things a lot easier for them.
Final thoughts
Customer satisfaction matters more than anything else in the era of remote and virtual interactions. It keeps your buyer base secure and thriving. Fortunately, achieving it isn’t as challenging as it sounds. Just follow these simple measures, and you can deliver the highest level of customer satisfaction.
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