Customer satisfaction alone does not cut it anymore. Satisfaction is a given. So, what’s the next step to really create value and thereby increase customer loyalty? Customer engagement.
Here are the top five ways to engage your customers on a deep, personal level:
- Improve the customer experience at every possible touch point. Some customers will begin a buying process by researching on their mobile phones, move to their desktop computer to read reviews, visit a product in stores, and then finally make a purchase on their tablet. It’s crucial to keep them engaged across every channel in a seamless way.
- All departments throughout your organization should be on the same page. Consistency is key for customers, and engagement must be provided throughout the life cycle. This isn’t just a marketing campaign; engagement should be integrated throughout the company so that the customer trusts your brand. Also, systems for gathering metrics should be implemented and understood throughout your organization. In this case, customer engagement, satisfaction, and retention are more important metrics than measuring revenue.
- Your relationship with a customer should be high quality from beginning to end. Wooing people into buying your product or service shouldn’t end at the point of sale. Continuously impressing them and engaging them will keep them on board for the long-run.
- Customer engagement should be driven by customers’ individual preferences. This includes the actual message, timing, and frequency of contact. Multi-channel integration without preferences is multi-channel irritation. Figuring out a way to tell your customers you are listening, and then using that information in the right way, will provide you with solid, long-lasting relationships. Knowing your customers’ preferences leads to better personalization.
- Provide tangible and obvious personalization to your customers. True personalization is critical. Demographics only tell you what a customer might be interested in, whereas behavior tells you what a customer is interested in. Personalization should be a service, not a sales tool, and it should allow you to provide more value to your customers.
It is more important than ever to listen to what your customers have to say. You may think you know exactly what they want, but you won’t truly know until you ask them. Customers expect that they need to provide personal information to companies to reap the benefits of personalization, and the majority of consumers are willing to do that. The more personally engaging and trustworthy your brand is, the more critical information your customers will be willing to provide you and the more value you will provide to them.
