COVID-19 has wrecked businesses and left traditional organizations vulnerable to disruption led by tech start-ups. Both formal and informal sectors have suffered and there’s no sight of return to normalcy. While the people are accommodating and getting used to the remote working setup, businesses are having a tough time.
Often organizations are expected to go beyond and cater to customer requests but during such times, customer delight is not just tough but heavy on pockets too. The cash-starved markets are looking at newer and innovative ways of delighting customers. Some are evaluating the advantages of outsourcing to cut costs and focus on core processes too.
Why Customer Delight is Important?
In the pre-COVID era, every industry from Fintech to E-commerce to Retail was leaving no stone unturned to delight customers and retain them. We will try to share examples of customer delight during COVID from varied industries to help every reader of Customer Think.
Customer Delight is important because it gives customers a sense that they are important. Personalized experiences validate the fact that businesses are going beyond their means to make customers feel warm and welcomed. In the pre-COVID world, a unique combination of online and offline channels was making it easier to delight customers but in contemporary times, where safe distance is important, online seems a potential channel for delighting customers.
Every business should continue engaging customers through delight because some of the biggest organizations with a billion-dollar valuation are not backing down. The pandemic has offered them an opportunity to take over other businesses by spending their reserve cash. If other enterprises stop working in close sync with customers, these giants are likely to take over the entire world.
Customer Delight Ideas to Use During COVID-19
Well, varied countries from around the globe have started with vaccination drive, India and the USA are among the two countries with the fastest immunization program but the rest of the world is yet to catch up. As experts have reiterated multiple times, we will have to learn to live with COVID-19.
Focus on Little Things
Varied bootstrapped e-commerce stores are sending sanitizer sachet and free masks with every order they receive. Not a big thing but it makes customers feel that people on the other end of the transaction want them to be safe. It may seem small but such acts go a long way and assists in building a loyal customer base.
Similarly, food aggregators have informed their delivery agents to sanitize their hands before delivering the ordered food. Valets are now asking customers to wait a minute, while they sanitize their hands before delivering their food, which is kept in sanitized bags.
Leverage Innovative Collaborations
A good number of people are spending their leisure time at home surfing through Over the Top entertainment platforms like Netflix and Disney+. Schools are closed, retired people can’t go to the park and middle-aged people are relying on these platforms to cope up with the increasing stress because of working from home.
In varied countries, organizations are taking the Amazon Prime route where you pay for free delivery and get access to quality movies for free. Telecom organizations are asking users to subscribe for their 3 months or 6-month pack and get Netflix for free.
There are credit card companies that offering access to Spotify-like apps for free on new card approvals and limit increases. Such collaborations are doing two things:
1. Keeping Users Engaged: Organizations can bring a smile to the face of their customers during these tough times by offering them access to quality music and movies for free.
2. Brand Loyalty Improvement: Budget is a big concern during COVID-19, customers are willing to save every penny possible. For organizations that are offering such packages, they have hit the right cords. Customers are going to stick with these organizations for a long time.
Start Offering Essential Services
Today, customers are facing multiple challenges, they are concerned about receiving essential services and products at the right time but they are also unable to trust new players. If your organization has a reputation and customers rely on you for their daily requirements, you must expand and start offering essential services, at least for the time being COVID is around.
In varied countries like India and Japan, food aggregators and e-commerce players collaborated with the government and assisted them in delivering essentials like grocery and medicine to the remotest corners of the country during the lockdown. While a lot of organizations have resumed their regular operations, some are still working in close ties with the government to offer essentials to everyone in need.
Also, governments from countries like India, Israel, and Singapore are focusing on building a network that is effective and efficient during times like pandemic. This is also a great opportunity of creating brand value and driving brand reputation.
Final Thoughts on Customer Delight Ideas
The world is focusing more on vaccination than on lockdown, which is positive news for businesses. With more and more people getting vaccinated, businesses will go back to normal, the volumes will increase and the global economy will recover. With the current rate of vaccination drive, it will take at least 5-10 years to immunize every people on the plant. The governments are looking forward to developing herd immunity, which stops the spread and allows everyone to be safe. Till things go back to normal, businesses will have to take extra steps and ensure that customers are engaged throughout.
A lot of perception and habits of customers are changing and a lot of these habits are likely to remain forever, so every organization must invest in keeping customers engaged and happy. These customer delight ideas can help companies retain customers effectively.
