Customer experience has dipped for the first time since 2017 according to a KPMG’s Customer Experience Excellence report out last week, despite rising momentarily during the height of the pandemic last year.
So as shoppers take advantage of online black Friday deals in their droves and in the following weeks up to the big day, digital customer experience expert and CEO of Lokulus, Alister Harris, talks about what brands can do to give the best online customer experience yet and make sure they’re with you for the long haul.
1 - Humanise the experience - Speak to customers how they’d want to be spoken to, not like a robot. Whilst deflection and bots have their place, its important to intercept when these are not working in real time and and pass to an a team member to interact humanely according to your brand persona and train your customer contact centre and social media teams to do the same.
Every interaction is an opportunity to create an emotional and loyal connection with your business. And don’t just take my word for it, the KPMG report also highlights that the brands that came out with the highest c/ex score, made their digital connections feel human and emotional towards the brand.
2 - Don’t act like a shop - Yes your physical shop might shut at 8pm or 10pm but your online one doesn’t, so make sure you have a bank of your digital team to interact in real time so you don’t miss the opportunity to engage your customer. And during your busy times, supercharge your teams so you have enough people manning your digital channels. With 56% of brand interactions now taking place on technology (up from 50% in 2019), there’s a clear commercial reason why it’s imperative to be digital first.
3 - Make it easy for customers to find what they want - Not all customers want to interact you, they just want the answers to their questions. Be in a position to provide easy to access contextual FAQs so they can find the information important to them, and try to do this without them navigating them away from the buying journey to access them.
4 - Automation stations - Make sure your technology is working for you and your digital customer teams. Ensure your rules are set up to optimise the customer journey and manage your workflow with customer journeys mapped out to enhance the experience and behave in a relevant and brand appropriate way.
5 - Explain your social value - 68% of customers under the age of 34 say they will pay more for goods from companies who demonstrate a strong commitment to environmental and sustainability principles, compared to just 37 per cent of over 55’s. Social value has never been more important to both customers and businesses alike, so make sure you’re transparent and tell your customers what you and your teams are doing for the greater good. They want to know if you’re offsetting your carbon footprint or working in your local community so explain it.
With over 20 years working with some of the UK’s biggest brands to revolutionise their customer service, Lokulus are firmly reputed as industry experts. They have recently created a small business solution, Pulse, to take the hassle out of customer service businesses that want to be known for exemplary service.
For more insights into how you can engage your digital customers and make the most of your customer experience technology, visit www.lokulus.com or for their small business solution visit contact us @teamlokulus
