Customer service is not a cakewalk. It is a difficult job and serves as the backbone of businesses. A balance between offering a great product and providing exceptional service is the sweet spot that allows a brand to grow, and earn the best return on investment (ROI).
A lot of effort is undertaken by companies to deliver the best possible experience to customers. The idea is to create or provide an environment for the customer where they feel at home, or the customer is pulled by the brand with pleasing thoughts, or when they are made to feel special. Happy customers mean more business, that's the thought.
Marketing is fine. But why should businesses strategize their marketing efforts?
Let’s start with the basics first. If you are a business owner, you are trying to tell the world what you have to offer (your product) and how it will benefit people. Marketing attracts potential clients, and if they like what you have to offer, they eventually pay you to own/use your product — thus becoming your customers.
Data is a priceless asset for businesses. It has always been around, but perhaps people realized its overwhelming significance in the last decade. Researchers, data analysts, and scientists — in fact, anybody who works with data unanimously agrees that procuring and using accurate data is not easy. But that does not deter people from using it.
In every aspect of our lives, we give and take a lot of information. We work with data when going about our duties, performing tasks, or doing any activity. We may not realize it, but a lot of information exchange occurs. Human beings work with data on a macro as well as micro-level. It is no surprise that data is referred to as the oil of the 21st century. Companies that do not use data and analytics will not be able to survive.
Entrepreneurs and business owners are well aware of the tenet that customers are important for business. But how and where the customers are placed in the entire organization’s structure can tell us a lot about its future. Irrespective of past and present performance, if a company is not customer centric, it doesn’t have a future.
What is the meaning of being Customer Centric?
The term customer centric means keeping clients at the focal point of your venture. If you look at the structure of an atom, it has a nucleus, and electrons revolve around it. The nucleus, in this case, is the client and all business functions including support are the electrons. This is the ideal structure of an organization. Creating a customer centric business pays rich dividends.
Predicting the future is no longer considered out of the world, or automating mission-critical tasks does not appear like magic. The new-age boom called Artificial Intelligence (AI) is doing wonders by executing the functions and helping businesses engage with customers better.
The power of artificial intelligence is such, that service managers are now forced to implement this futuristic technology to drive sustainable and exponential growth. This is because, at every stage of the customer journey, AI helps deliver stellar customer experiences.
The relentless onslaught of the Covid-19 pandemic on the global economy over the last two years has taken the wind out of the sails of many businesses. Even as lockdowns and restrictions on economic activities — to curb the spread of the virus hurt organizations, fear of new restrictions remain. No one can predict for sure that the virus will not mutate and pose a more unknown and serious threat to humans.
Every company is under immense pressure to reduce expenditure and increase savings during these unprecedented times. Providing customers service and resolving their issues is a business necessity, but it does not make the process a cakewalk, nor is it inexpensive.
"Cut costs while improving customer experience" has become the survival mantra for organizations. But how is that possible?
Creating the best experience for customers may sound like a tall order to some, but that’s not really the case. When planned and executed well, a good customer experience (CX) adds value to your brand, increases your customer base, promotes loyalty, thus increasing customer lifetime value (CLV), and with it your businesses’ turnover.
