During the pandemic, Zappos once again shot to the top of the customer experience (CX) leaderboard. Instead of pulling back on its historic support amid dropping sales, the company doubled down on its customer commitment. Zappos representatives were encouraged to chat with buyers as if they were buddies — and the scheme worked. Zappos hung on to its top position and received lots of media kudos in the process.
The point isn’t just that Zappos zigged while its competitors zagged. It’s that Zappos realized that cutting off customer lifelines is a bad idea, especially during times of economic turmoil. Customer trust is tough enough to engender. Why take away the support that can foster, fuel, and nurture it?
Yet that’s exactly what too many companies are considering doing today. There’s no doubt that the world is mired in a mix of shrinkflation, stagflation, inflation, and other serious ‘-tion’ words. In response, countless businesses are taking extreme measures including laying off their personnel. And your company may be ready to follow suit. Just think twice before pulling the plug on your customer service because you might be pulling the plug on your ability to scale.
You see, every positive CX adds a bit to your customers ‘trust piggy banks’. The more trust they have in your brand, the less likely they’ll be to shop elsewhere. A full 75% of consumers say that they stick with trusted companies, even when their prices are higher. Consequently, investing in your CX simply makes financial sense, no matter what the economic tailwinds do.
Ready to do more for your buyers and buck the ‘right-sizing’ trend? Try these strategies to keep your costs down while still serving up exceptional CX.
1. Make it a breeze for customers to problem-solve solo.
We live in an era where shoppers frequently try to find answers to their problems before contacting live customer service agents. This is good for your company and its budget. The more customers who can self-serve, the more time your representatives can spend on other customers with complex, higher-level concerns.
An economical way to encourage self-service is by adding AI-powered tools into your CX mix. Many respectable startups have grown by prioritizing things like this. One of my favorite advanced solutions is AI chatbot technology. Chatbots can solve baseline buyer questions quite efficiently. A chatbot can rapidly direct customers to videos, how-to articles, instructional manuals, and do more. At the end of the day, empowered customers who can take care of their business will take care of your business as well.
2. Offer free resources and educational opportunities to customers.
Your brand goal shouldn’t just be to sell merchandise or provide services. Ideally, your company should become synonymous with your industry. One way to make this happen is by telling your customers what you know. By sharing your expertise freely, you’re making them more informed consumers. At the same time, you’re cementing your business as ‘the’ place to go in your field.
This doesn’t mean creating gated whitepapers and calling it a day. To truly give away your knowledge, you have to think broader and with less of an immediate lead generation focus. For example, you may want to offer webinars to talk about innovative ways to use your products. Or you might start a YouTube channel, or even launch a podcast. Some of the biggest corporations are trying to capture the millions-strong podcast listener market. A podcast doesn’t have to break the bank but can assist you in breaking out as a go-to brand.
3. Encourage customers to become members of your brand.
Do your customers feel like they’re part of an exclusive group? You can make them feel that way by setting up a membership or branded community system. For instance, you might want to offer customers the chance to join a special club. The club would give them access to exclusive ‘sneak peaks’, discounts, coupons, and other valuable add-ons in exchange for their personal data.
When laying out your membership group, think about what makes sense given your customer base. Oh, and be sure to begin small and free. You can always expand your program later to include premium or paid membership options. Right now, though, you just want to design a community experience that rewards your customers for choosing you over your competition.
4. Set up customer feedback mechanisms — and make changes accordingly.
You can’t wow your customers if you’re not listening to what they need. A fast way to find out what they want is by eliciting feedback. Plenty of companies set up automatic surveys to deploy after a customer makes a purchase. The survey captures the customer’s mood, satisfaction, and experience in real-time. The result is a better handle on how customers are feeling and what they would like to see during future engagements with your brand.
Of course, asking for customer feedback implies that you’re going to do something with the answers. You can’t always encourage people to fill out surveys without making improvements or changes. The upside to making changes is that your customers will have fewer negative interactions.
You can’t stay in business if you don’t have customers. Before agreeing to shave your customer service and support funding, rethink your plans. Improving and enhancing your CX isn’t just another cost. It’s an investment in the future growth of your company courtesy of a loyal, trusting cadre of buyers.
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