If you work in sales or marketing, finding ways to increase profit is always on the top of your agenda. Today providing a great customer experience is most likely a key part of your competitive advantage. If you think about it, it makes sense. Customers tend to purchase more if they are happy with their previous experience. A survey by HBR found that customers who had great past experiences spent a staggering 140% more compared to those who didn’t.
Sadly many organizations are so busy acquiring new clients, they fail to provide the required customer experience to their existing ones. Another survey found that while many companies increased their budget for customer acquisition, they also decreased their investment in customer retention.
There are many reasons why companies fail to focus on customer retention. Often companies think that if they offer a great product or service, it builds loyalty by itself. Other times, they fail to equip their employees with enough knowledge to provide customers with a truly personalized experience. Either way, if your customers feel like you don’t care about them, sooner or later, they will leave.
Investing in the right technology can help you retain and gain new customers. Here are 6 ways Customer Service Management (CSM) tools can help you increase profitability.
1) Preventing A Customer From Leaving
If you’re paying attention, you can see the tell-tale signs of a customer that is getting ready to leave. By monitoring key variables such as purchase history, product usage history, and support calls you are able to identify customers that are just waiting for their license to expire. If you can catch the signals early enough by using robust customer service software, you may be able to stop them from leaving for one of your competitors.
2) Targeted Marketing
Another advantage of using data from customer service technologies is that you can identify the kind of customers you have and what they spend money on. You can then tailor your approach to each individual. If someone is just browsing, you can send them a personalized email asking about what they are looking for. For others you can send personalized offers to increase brand loyalty.
3) Personalizing Your Follow-Ups
The thing about a great customer service experience is that it goes well beyond the initial sale. CSM software can help you personalize your follow-ups which lets your customers see that you value them as a person and not just a number. The effects of personalization are profound and something as simple as wishing a client happy birthday, can go a long way to increasing customer retention.
4) Create An Omni-Channel Strategy
How do you sell? Via a Website? Physical stores? Social? In 2018, it’s not enough to sell via only one or two of these channels. You have to be ready to sell, whenever, wherever your customer is ready to buy. Using CSM software, you can incorporate various modes of selling from one centralized system.
5) Cross-Selling And Extensions
Every successful company has phenomenal repeat business numbers. Take a look at Apple, for example. Apple has built an empire on loyalty, and cross-sells at every opportunity. If your customers know, that even if something goes wrong, your company will go all-out to fix it, they will return. Empowering your front-line employees with information such as when the customer contract is up, what they’re missing, what they’re looking for, etc. via a customer support system can help you cross-sell and extend customer relationships as well.
6) Turning Negative Feedback Into Positive
Nobody likes being criticized. But, the truth is, every company gets some flack. It is how you deal with it which makes or breaks you. The popularity of social media sites like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc. has made companies wary of ‘bad publicity’. They know how much it can hurt their revenue. However, using the advanced analytics of customer service tools like ServiceNow CSM you can pinpoint the issue, and resolve it to turn negative feedback into positive feedback. It is all about showing the customer that you care.
Are you facing issues aligning your customer service with your business goals? If so, give us a call at ProV to learn about how improving your customer service can increase your profitability. We help companies all over the world create happier customers through dedicated Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Virtual Support Management (VSM) and Customer Service Management (CSM) services that bridge the gap between customer expectations and reality. For anything else, drop a comment below or contact us today.