I am working in the Marketing industry and I am managing the Creative department for my company.
I need a reality check how well prepared is my business to deliver on increased personalization of any product or service offering? And what does this imply for my underlying business model?
Hi Lilli:
In today’s market, customer service is a huge differentiator. When done right, personalized customer service can do wonders for customer retention and for your bottom line.
Today, customer service is carried out over multiple channels and platforms and is more important to customers’ perception of your brand than ever. Personalized customer service can make your business stand out.
Personalized customer service builds loyalty
If a customer walks away from an interaction with your business dissatisfied at worst or indifferent at best, then you’ve wasted an opportunity to win their loyalty.
Customer loyalty is an indicator of success and customer perception
Customer loyalty should be a foremost objective for any business. [removed] , and more often than first-timers. When a customer repeatedly chooses to do business with you, it’s because your product adds value to their professional or personal lives, and because your customer service left them satisfied and cared-for.
Moreover, loyal customers tend to tell the people around them about their fantastic experience with a given business, thus becoming [removed] . Earning the loyalty of ambassadors is invaluable: their genuine endorsement rings more true than any ad campaign, and it does wonders for your brand.
What is personalized customer service?
In order to earn this kind of loyalty, your business needs to deliver personalized customer service. This means more than merely satisfying their needs. A gas station sandwich will fill a hungry stomach, but it’s not about to win the stomach’s loyalty the way a home-cooked meal would. And if that gas station sandwich isn’t even palatable, then that stomach — and the customer — will churn.
Personalized customer service goes above and beyond satisfying customers’ needs: it gives them a reason other than your product and their hunger to patron your brand. It represents the difference between a customer completing a transaction, then forgetting about you and becoming a loyal life-long customer.
Delivering truly personalized customer service is quite a feat. It entails making the customer feel like they are dealing with a company that treats them humanely, which caters to them by adding value to their life of which they might not be consciously aware of. Personal customer service means making the effort of tailoring service to a customer’s specific expectations and underlying aspirations. A tall order indeed.
Many companies already boast excellent and personalized customer service. However, customers themselves beg to differ. Here are actionable ways to make your customer service more personalized, and earn your customers’ loyalty.
Delivering personalized customer service means getting personal
It’s notoriously infuriating to have to deal with an uninvested, disinterested, robotic customer service representative. It gives customers a negative perception of your company and its involvement in the success and happiness of their patrons. Delivering personalized customer service means adding a familiar, human touch to every interaction.
Show your human side
Regardless of the channel they choose or of the stage of their customer journey, anyone who contacts your business should be treated humanely and pleasantly by your team. That’s the bare minimum, the gas station sandwich which keeps your customers from starving.
In order to foster an atmosphere of respect and cordiality beyond mere utilitarianism, your agents must display a personal touch.
Know your customers’ history
When a customer contacts your business, their interlocutor should be on top of who they are, and have a good idea of why they’re calling. Much like the patron in line at their favorite sandwich shop who is asked, “The usual?”, your customers will appreciate not having to detail their information and past history every time they contact you.
Use Voice of the Customer (VoC) techniques. Listen to what the customer has to say about your company and your product. This will improve your product and please your customer.