The beginning of every new financial quarter comes with infinite possibilities and numerous challenges. And the odds of failure are generally stacked high for the Retail Sector. In a fiercely competitive environment where new players enter the market constantly, brands with a competitor-centric approach to improve their services, have more often than not witnessed a downfall. On the other hand, companies that focus on customer needs and their preferences have withstood this test of time and successfully driven profitability.
To gain the competitive edge over your competitors, it is imperative to turn customers into loyal evangelists. And that is something that not necessarily happens overnight! Brands with a superior product, renowned reputation, high market shares and even profound marketing have failed to gain CUSTOMER LOYALTY. What’s missing in today’s retail scenario is the element EMOTION. Brands must consistently look to address customer needs and queries with empathy. With the market being open to endless possibilities and choices for a customer, excellent Customer Experience is the only differentiating factor that can set a brand a class apart from the others.
Don’t know where to begin? Startled about the idea of incorporating emotion into a customer journey? In that case, look no further than these four steps that help you reinforce your business strategies and Ultimately win back the trust of your most loyal assets, YOUR CUSTOMERS!
1. EMPOWER YOUR CONTACT CENTRES
“Statistics reveal that over 56% of Contact Centre Employees are ill-equipped to handle customer queries that are complex in nature. Over 60% of these employees cite the organization to be responsible for this mishap” – reveals a study conducted by global news wire.
When customer reaches your Contact Centre, the reason can either be query, a complaint or even a compliment. You never really know! Irrespective of the ‘reason or rhyme’ brands must treat the interaction as an opportunity to imbibe empathy into the customer’s journey. Because at a Contact Centre, you could use your most-skilled frontline staff and quickly resolve the problems of the customer. Customers expect a hassle-free and pleasant experience when they are trying to voice their problems. As the general in chief of your brand’s mission, the foremost task would be to step up the quality of your contact centres, with the right technology, manpower and customer-centric strategies.
2. DELIVER QUICK AND SEAMLESS EXPERIENCES
“Over 60% shoppers expect a same day delivery promise” (Source)
The expectations of customers are always on the rise, especially when it comes to retail. Like it or not, average shoppers have more than 800 possible paths to purchase an item. The market is fierce, highly competitive and promises phenomenal returns for brands that succeed and constantly surpass the expectations of the customers. Engage with your customers at the retail store through well-trained sales staff who can transform an ordinary shopper experience into a memorable one. Brands can initiate feedback requests while customers wait for proceedings at the counter, this could help brands action unpleasant feedback immediately and make amends!
3. SOME EXTRA-PERKS AND PERSONALIZATION COULD DO THE TRICK!
Customers are everywhere, and they are always on the move! They seek for instant and feasible solutions on the go. To reach all customers, a brand must have a proficient omni-channel strategy in place. Statistics reveal that mobile purchase is expected to go up by 27% in year to come. Personalize experiences for different customer groups by dissecting customer feedback data effortlessly. Brands could give away some discounts for customers, who use a particular bank’s account or credit card for transaction. Introduce loyalty programs and educate consumers on utilizing different schemes as means of nurturing customer loyalty.
4. INVEST IN ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND MACHINE LEARNING
The most recent studies by Gartner indicate that by 2020, Brands would manage over 85% of their customer relationships without deploying any manpower.
Yes, the rise of machines is finally here. And they’re intelligent enough to help transform the complete buyer-seller journey in the years to come. Artificial Intelligence is expanding and evolving at an unimaginable pace nowadays. Investing in a CX strategy, retail brands arm their contact centres with a wealth of feedback data. This feedback data forms the backbone of the company’s Artificial Intelligence architecture. With extensive research being invested into this mechanism, brands can deploy AI to resolve customer queries more effectively. AI can help your brand substitute manpower with transformational technology, thereby helping your customers to resolve their complaints and issue faster at the same time help brands run processes more seamlessly.
What stood out to me is the “seamless customer experience.” It HAS to be rock solid from start to finish. I recently had two customer experiences with two competitors. One from Home Depot, one from Lowes. I ordered products from there at the exact same time and Lowed delivered my product in 2 days, had everything set up, and it was AWESOME! Home Depot on the other hand took 3 weeks to deliver my product, then delivered the wrong product, then we had to re-order my products, then they missed the shipment 3 times (which took 3 days out of work for me because I had to be home for the delivery), and much more. But overall, the experience was awful. I have never been a lowes guy, but because of my seamless customer experience there, I’ll probably never go back to Home Depot. They understand what it means to take care of a client.
Great article. Thank you for sharing this!