A cohesive customer journey can be very challenging to achieve especially today when most businesses operate digitally. However, it is one of the most important tools that we must have as marketers.
The majority of Americans are said to cancel purchases because of a below-average customer service experience and it is found out that one-third of buyers would consider switching brands after just one bad experience. Not only that but as they leave one-star reviews on your website, it creates a ripple of negativity across other potential customers!
So when this happens, our initial instinct is to improve our service.
Selling was easier yesterday.
If we are talking about traditional in-store selling, resolving customer issues isn’t that challenging. If buyers complain about the shop’s complicated and confusing layout, the owner can easily change it. There’s always room for improvement, whether it is changing the lighting or interior design, organizing a more attractive window display, advising staff to be more friendly and attentive to clients, or asking for customer feedback before they leave the store.
However, selling and marketing nowadays is different. There are no business hours as people will just try to connect with you whenever they feel like it. You can’t see if they are pleased or disappointed since there’s no face to face interactions and with the world at their fingertips, it’s easy to find other alternatives.
Know who your customers are.
The first step in solving every problem is to know what you are dealing with – the same concept applies to marketing and sales. You can’t really provide them with personalized content if you don’t know what their preferences are.
91% of buyers are said to shop with brands that can provide them with relevant offers and recommendations. Similarly, 90% of U.S. consumers find marketing personalization very or somewhat appealing as 49% of consumers have made impulse purchases after receiving a more personalized experience.
This step is similar to a store staff asking a customer who just walked in what he’s looking for and why he needs it. Because we can’t do this online, the best thing to do is to know the demographics of the majority of your audience – their age, gender, estimated income, social media platforms they are hanging out on, and what their wants and needs are.
Doing this provides businesses a more targeted approach making it easier to determine what their common variables are, what can pique their interests, and what will give them a more personalized experience.
Respond to leads as soon as possible.
If you are to buy a product in a store, are you willing to wait for a day before they respond to your queries? Absolutely not, right? Unless it’s a very unique and rare item, you will most likely leave the store and find another one.
With this scenario in mind, isn’t it reasonable that today’s buyers will also expect the same urgency when interacting with online businesses?
Speed to lead is something that you should prioritize – 78% of buyers purchase from the first responder and sales conversions are 391% higher when prospects are contacted within one minute. Imagine how high your chances are when you can interact with them immediately!
If you are not familiar with speed to lead, here’s a blog post that explains why it is crucial for lead conversion.
Adapt, improve, and optimize.
Our preferences and needs will always change over time so businesses are left with no choice but to adapt. If your business strategies are effective today, are you sure they will work tomorrow?
Your company should be open to feedback and suggestions from customers. What needs improvement? What do they like best? Is your way of marketing effective? Are you able to focus on their needs? Will they recommend you to others?
We sometimes get too caught up with improving our products or lowering the price that we forget that assisting our customers should also be prioritized. This may be why 92% of organizations do not track key performance indicators and why only 20% of them review their strategies monthly.
It’s important to keep track of how well your prospects are taken care of – only then can you properly provide them with a much better customer journey.
If selling is hard, buying is harder.
We often believe that the emergence of the Internet and smartphones will only make it hard for businesses to survive. We seldom consider how challenging it can be for buyers to choose from countless brands, weigh their options, and decide which one’s the best.
Providing a cohesive customer journey means that we should be able to see things from their perspective and respond to their needs rather than just aggressively selling. This in turn can help us establish a healthy relationship with our prospects, increase the chances of repeat customers, positive reviews and recommendations, and an overall increased number in sales.
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