Regardless of the size of your business or organization, your ultimate goal is to give your customers a positive experience and a great product. Without these two things, sales drop and your business can’t be profitable. Whether you are selling clothing at a small retail store or running a large corporation, the basic goals of the business are the same.
Companies are constantly looking for ways to improve the customer experience in order to create and maintain a brand that customers trust. While few stop to think of software programs when it comes to customer service, these applications can be vital in identifying who your target customers are, finding out what they really want, and determining where and when they are most likely to look for it.
An Enterprise Approach to Software
Enterprise or business software solutions are used by an organization to streamline processes that can be difficult to maintain across a host of servers and different users. One of the biggest benefits of enterprise software is the ability these packages give every organization to customize program that works for them. Basically, your company doesn’t pay for things it doesn’t need. As communication is improved, data is easier to access, and analytics are faster to run, your final goal is achieved – creating a great customer experience.
Improving Customer Experience
There are many facets of customer experience, and every business faces different obstacles when it comes to getting products into the hands of customers in a pleasing way. With the right software tools in place, businesses of all sizes enjoy:
-
Lower operating costs
Faster growth
Increased sales
Better customer retention
An enterprise software system, such as one used by Infor CEO Charles Phillips, includes the applications and approaches necessary to bring these benefits to any business. There are four key tools that are used to improve the customer experience, and your business’s software package should include them all.
Social Media
Social media has created the ideal environment for all customers to share their experiences – good and bad – with their friends, family member, neighbors or acquaintances. Unfortunately, they may also share bad news with your prospective customers, or those businesses you are in direct competition with. The delay between customer opinion and company response can spell doom for any company in a competitive market.
Companies relieve manual work on social media with a customer service platform that includes a built in social media support application. This allows you to monitor customer comments and posts across all social media channels. Some may even focus on analysis functionality in order to categorize a customer comment based on the language used in it, as a complaint or compliment. This allows your company to prioritize a response and get to the problem areas first.
Mobile Customer Service
The Pew Research Center reports that the mobile phone has been adopted by consumers faster than any other technology created. According to the same study, a mobile phone is owned by over 90% of adults in the United States. This illustrates the desire customers have for a positive mobile shopping experience.
Even more shocking than those statistics is the fact that over 60% of customers use their mobile phones to search for product and customer support. What does that say for every business? That they must have a mobile customer service platform in order to ensure that consumers get the help and support they need when and WHERE they want it.
Common complaints consumers lodge on mobile phones are slow load time, unsearchable sites, unhelpful search results, or difficulty to navigate a website. As many companies designed websites to be viewed on a laptop or desktop, the reality is that sites must now be converted to be mobile-friendly. Enterprise software solutions should include specific mobile support capabilities in order to give customers a better experience.
Live Chat
Customers want an instant response to their comments or complaints. While this may not seem feasible to a company that is developing and selling products on a large level, live chat meets the instant gratification needs of today’s consumers. Software programs with a live chat option allow companies to tailor their packages to respond to customers quickly.
Live chat functions may also help your business more directly. Data gleaned from these sessions can give the live chat agent an idea of what the customer is looking for and where they have looked to get it. Agents may also be able to access previous live chat sessions located in CRM software.
Self-Service Options
While customers may have a problem or question about your products, they may not have the desire to call or email an actual person. Studies show that customers prefer the following means of communication, in order:
-
Online search
Live chat
Call
Self-service management options in a business software package allow consumers to search your site for common problems in order to fix themselves. This not only saves time and improves the customer service experience, but also decreases the time employees spend on the phone or computer in direct contact with customers.
Happy Customers, Profitable Business
No company can survive if customers constantly report a negative customer experience. Your brand is damaged, your products aren’t trusted, and your customers are unhappy. An enterprise software solution can help to fight these problems while increasing efficiency and productivity.
