Achieving success amidst unprecedented times
I had a fun chat with my book editor, Mary Poppen, CCO at Glint. In this quick interview, we talk about managing customer expectations. How do we support customers amid this global pandemic and the lessons it teaches us?
Opportunity in this pandemic
The current situation allows the business to personalize and humanize their relationship, business interaction, and service performance. It opens the door, more than ever before, to its customers.
From a business standpoint, they want to ensure that products meet customers’ needs and challenges. At the same time, enabling them in fulfilling their work responsibilities while working at home.
As it turns out, we can virtually visit our customers' homes, and they ours, while communicating, meeting, collaborating, and sharing ideas through video conferencing apps. We have even had a chance to meet their family members!
As remote working has become common for many during this pandemic, it has opened the door to deeper relationships because we can now get to know our customers on a more personal level. Companies must recognize this and continue building these relationships with customers moving forward.
Key things that businesses need to consider: (1) How can they consistently deliver personalized experiences to their customers, not a blanket strategy? (2) How can they ensure that customers get the value they think should be provided?
With these changes and challenges customers are going through, it is prudent to look at it from their perspective. Doing so enables the business to provide the services they need. It also aligns with the business value they want to deliver and engage to achieve.
How do we scale and still deliver a personal experience?
One of the first reactions to meeting customers’ needs is to put more people on the customer account. The truth is, there are many solutions to solving customer issues or adding more value. Organizations can:
- Set the foundation within the system to deliver an efficient customer experience.
- Automate messages without sacrificing business value and losing the human or personal touch.
- Leverage or use AI to target customer communication or point customers to resources like KB articles or support documentation.
- Keep your employee’s time and resources for more strategic aspects—like active listening and value planning. It includes understanding the customer's needs or figuring out the appropriate service level for different customer segments.
What matters to customers today?
Everybody in the business knows how valuable brand value and good experiences are to having meaningful relationships. There's no benefit in talking about the value of the brand without improving the brand experience.
Often what we consider a necessity or priority, to customers is not. Therefore, we should not leave their perspectives out or take them for granted.
Customer experience can be improved or enhanced by orchestrating or implementing the right strategy. However, if the product itself drives inconsistencies in the customer experience, it is difficult to redo or undo it.
Customers want to achieve both: they want the brand to deliver or provide a reliable experience and consistent business value.
Challenges CS is solving
When there's a silo (i.e., mindset, function, or strategy), it makes the customer's journey disjointed. Organizations' functions/roles need to come together to deliver a unified and seamless experience for customers.
If the roles and responsibilities are not clear, accountability is not there. It causes disorientation and confusion among employees. The organization needs to realize that the convoluted customer journey leads to untimely cancellation of signed service and value reduction. It lowers the engagement of both customers and employees.
To improve and enhance business capability and to deliver a coherent customer journey, CS can:
- Optimize your product and service to meet customers' business needs and transform their business process to reach their goals and improve their bottom line.
- Promote and deliver value, retain customers, create champions or referrals, and provide efficient and measurable business advantages.
If you increase customer value and meet their expectations, the remaining internal goals or business objectives will follow. Businesses must provide services that customers value, trust, and appreciate. Achieving customer success in these trying times is the cornerstone of the relationship our customers expect from us. Without it, how can we ensure the success of our customers?
Suppose you are looking for new ideas about transforming your CS organizations into a brand that customers think is right and appropriate for them. This book delves into understanding customers’ behavior and how a service-based organization’s mindset can position the brand value and relationship to meet customer needs.
I share a new concept, which I call The Service-Based Paradigm Mindset! This framework will show you how to succeed and become a growing and profitable business with happy and loyal customers. This book is now available on Amazon.
