There is a common misconception that delivering a great customer experience relies on complex software systems, endless resources, and call centers. Although these tools can be helpful in ensuring large corporations stay connected to their customers, there are still other important factors to consider. Making your customers feel valued, appreciated, and understood does not have to be time-consuming or costly. With some simple and effective strategies, which focus on human interaction and response, you can make a difference to how your customers feel when engaging with your brand. Within this article, you will find nine best practices to go the extra mile and demonstrate your commitment as an organization.
Optimize Your Onboarding System
If customers don’t know how to use your product, they can easily become overwhelmed and confused with the process. This is why, it is crucial to develop a comprehensive customer onboarding plan, which will introduce your audience to your offer. Moreover, consumers who have had a positive onboarding experience are less likely to choose a different product. Pulpstream can help you transform your business operations by creating an effective customer onboarding solution. This can help reduce your churn rate and ensure an onboarding flow, which will be enjoyable and useful to your customers. Your audience will feel empowered and motivated to learn more about your service.
Respond To Enquiries Quickly
While responding to customer enquiries is considered an obvious choice for many companies, there are still some useful techniques you can implement to optimize this process. Aiming to reply within 24 hours may be a timely response, but it will not be viewed as a pleasant surprise by your customers. Instead, you can prioritize some of your customer enquiries and treat them as time-sensitive messages. Sending rapid replies to your customers from time to time will ensure an unforgettable experience for them. For instance, it might be helpful to send some of your customer emails to your personal inbox and place them among your most pressing concerns for the day.
Update Your Audience On Industry Trends
Sending customers an occasional update on the latest industry trends can have a positive influence on your relationship with them. Firstly, this is a great way to establish your brand as a knowledgeable resource and industry leader, who can be trusted to deliver accurate and relevant information. This way, you provide value to your customers and ensure they stay on top of news and trends. Secondly, this strategy is a non-invasive method to demonstrate the importance of your products or services. You can inform your customers about the growth in your sector or any notable increase in customer demand.
Send Special Gifts To Thank Them
If you want to gain customer loyalty, it is important to thank your customers for choosing your brand. One simple strategy to show your gratitude can be to offer them a special gift every now and then. Many businesses provide discounts or upgrades with customers’ first purchase or during the holiday season. Nevertheless, you can truly delight your audience by offering something unexpected. For example, you can send them discounted coupons or vouchers on less celebrated holidays or other special days, such as their birthdays or anniversaries.
Listen To Feedback Carefully
Collecting feedback from various customers will allow you to understand what they like and dislike about your products and services. Listening to their ideas can also help you implement changes, which will appeal to your customers’ tastes and increase sales. This will make them feel valued and understood, as they can see that their suggestions for improvement have been taken onboard. You can also use this opportunity to let them know when certain products will become available and how you can offer additional value to them. Focus on looking for solutions, aimed at helping your customers resolve their issues.
Include Personalized Emails
Emails are an integral part of a marketing strategy, and personalization is another crucial factor to consider. Sending personalized emails to your customers can help you drive engagement, increase retention, and strengthen the connection to your audience. A good starting point for personalization is to collect the right data when subscribers sign up to your list. For example, it may be beneficial to ask about location, birthday, occupation, interests, and hobbies. You can then create special recommendations based on your customers’ activity. Instead of trying to reach all your customers with the same promotion, be sure to send it to those who have shown interest before.
Build A VIP List
It may be useful to create a VIP list of those customers who are very loyal to your brand. Then, you can arrange a sale exclusive to them and open your business outside of normal working hours for a special event. Nevertheless, you will still want to focus on delivering exceptional customer service to all of your customers. This approach will simply acknowledge the dedication some people have to your company and thank them for their time and patronage. Deciding who your VIP customers are will depend either on the amount someone has spent on your products or the number of times they have purchased from your brand.
Incorporate Handwritten Notes
The majority of companies rely on technology to communicate with their customers and send them any type of information. However, this strategy can sometimes be viewed as simple and impersonal. In comparison, sending a handwritten note can be a cost-effective gesture, which will amaze your customers. This can also be complemented by a fruit basket or other small present. Small tokens of appreciation sent directly to a customer’s address can create a unique and positive experience. Remember to address customers by their first names by writing a concise but authentic message using quality stationery.
Provide Proactive Support
Another important consideration is the options available to your audience to contact you, in case they need assistance. Cutting down the steps and time required in each query resolution will be essential to improving customer experience. You will also want to ensure that the language used by customer service agents is reassuring, friendly and empathetic. Customers expect thorough answers to their questions, but they also value their time. This means that every exchange needs to be relevant and clear, regardless of whether it is verbal or written.
