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).
Companies exert a great deal of effort to deliver the best possible experience to customers. The idea is to create or provide an environment where customers feel at home, where they are pulled by the brand with pleasing thoughts, or where 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 that customers are important for business. But how and where 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.
Customer service is the lifeline of most businesses worldwide. It also plays a vital role in engaging and retaining customers. Contact centers are so important that many customers have stopped doing business with brands that have been found wanting in their customer interactions.
Every company is under immense pressure to reduce expenditures and increase savings. Providing customers with service and resolving their issues is a business necessity, but it does not make the process a cakewalk or inexpensive.
"Cut costs while improving customer experience" has become an organization's survival mantra. But how is that possible?
Creating the best customer experience may sound like a tall order to some, but that’s not the case. When planned and executed well, a good customer experience (CX) adds value to your brand, increases your customer base, and promotes loyalty, thus increasing customer lifetime value (CLV) and, with it, your business’ turnover.
