A good CRM can be a game-changer. Check out how it can help you delight your customers while saving you a lot of time.
Recently, there’s been a major shift in the way consumers behave. They now have more resources than ever and they can access information with just a few clicks.
Your product, service, or pricing is no longer the major reason someone does business with you. In a world where high-quality products and services are available everywhere, you’ve got to come up with something else.
It’s all about the customer experience now.
It’s not enough to meet your customer’s expectations these days. You have to go above and beyond to impress your customers.
According to a recent study, 86% of buyers said that they’d be willing to pay more for great customer experience. That number should motivate you to work on improving your customer experience. It’s the only way to stay competitive nowadays.
What customers appreciate most is good service and quick response. But as your business starts growing, that can be very difficult to deliver unless you have a good CRM platform.
A high-quality CRM enables you to keep up with customer demands and needs. It allows you to provide a more personalised experience. Of course, your CRM also helps you stay in touch with customers. Above all, it can save you lots of precious time.
Let’s see how a CRM platform can help you improve customer experience.
Eight Ways a CRM Platform Improves Customer Experience
There are so many ways that a high-quality CRM platform can help you. Here are only the major benefits.
Learning More About the Customer
When you first started your business, you could remember every single detail about the customers you interacted with. It came to you naturally because you don’t have a lot of customers yet and you wanted to offer great customer experience through personal interactions.
You will find it hard to stay on top of all the information as the business grows. With so many things going on, it’s impossible to do so unless you have a CRM platform to store and organise data for you.
For a start, CRM stores data on products that someone bought from you. You can also see everything that the customer browsed on your website. When you know what interests that person, you’ll be able to come up with better offers for them.
Knowing your customer is the key. Since many companies fail to do so, it’s so easy to get ahead if you know everything about your customers.
The simple act of sending them an email about an offer that matches their preferences can go a long way. It feels personal and it makes a customer feel special.
Ensuring Consistency
As a serious business owner, you don’t want to make compromises when it comes to consistency. You can’t offer excellent customer service for a period and then put it aside. Today’s consumers will not tolerate that.
A good CRM system will ensure that your customers receive constant support from your company. Remember that you should be there throughout the whole customer journey.
Your CRM is much better than a virtual assistant who can forget to send welcoming emails or miss an important date. Because with a good CRM, those mistakes simply don’t happen – you don’t have to leave anything to chance.
Your customers will get the same level of service at any time of day and wherever you are. You can be relaxing anywhere in the world, safe in the knowledge that your CRM is doing all the work for you.
Consistency is one of the keys to building loyalty. Customers who are happy with how they’re treated will never leave you for a competitor.
Anticipating Customer Needs
It’s no longer enough to keep up with customer needs and react quickly. More or less, that’s what all businesses are doing today. That’s no way to stand out.
If you want to stand out, you need to go one step further. You need to analyse customer behaviour with the goal of anticipating their needs.
With an advanced CRM system, you’ll know what your customers need even before they share it with you. You’ll be able to tailor interesting offers that meet their current goals and needs.
So, how does a CRM allow you to do that?
First, by storing and analysing an enormous quantity of data. Second, by analysing customer reactions to various products and campaigns.
But is there a better way to know what your customers want than to ask them? With your CRM, you can develop a system that continuously sends queries and asks for feedback in a friendly fashion.
Personalising Communication
Generic messages that companies send to every customer have long ago become too boring. What today’s consumers want is a company that cares enough to make communication personal.
If you could change only one thing in your marketing strategy, what should that be?
We’d say that you should focus on personalising your marketing communication.
Does a customer use more than one channel to contact you? Maybe they’ll send you an email, call you, and for good measure, send you messages on social media.
A capable CRM platform can capture all of these conversations on all channels. So the next time a customer references something they told you two years ago, for instance, you’ll know exactly where to find it.
Without a CRM system, you’d have to scroll through all of your messages and data history. Not to mention that people use different usernames and it can be hard to track them all.
The best thing about personalised communication is that the customer feels special. Your messages are talking directly to them, not some imaginary buyer persona, which anyone can appreciate.
Providing Effective Support
What does customer experience actually mean?
If you ask a crowd of marketers, you’ll get a variety of definitions. But if you ask your customers, chances are they’ll all say the same thing.
Excellent customer experience is all about getting help and support whenever they need it – and getting it quickly.
That’s why you can’t permit yourself the luxury of not responding to customer requests at night. But that doesn’t mean that you have to hire someone to stay awake the whole night, as your CRM will do the job just as well.
Even if the system can’t help a customer immediately, it will at least send them a confirmation. Your customer can rest assured that you’ve received their complaint and that you’ll get back to them. This can only make them trust you more.
Your CRM system could also send an email that contains useful resources or FAQs. The point is to let your customer know that you’re there for them, even if a live person can’t get back to them immediately. This gives them a much better impression of your company.
Managing Feedback
Successful businesses pay attention to feedback. Good or bad, your customer feedback is your friend. How else will you be able to improve your service if not with the help of customer feedback?
However, as the number of customers goes up, it can be challenging to handle feedback manually. A CRM system can automatically organise the feedback that you receive by a host of categories.
You can then use the feedback to analyse your strengths and weaknesses. Your CRM can even help you organise brainstorming sessions for resolving customer complaints.
Staying in Touch with Customers
The secret to building lasting relationships is staying in touch with your customers. Even if you’re not offering anything, it’s nice to say hi every now and then and remind them that you’re still there.
Of course, you shouldn’t send a newsletter just for the sake of it. You still must populate it with relevant and useful information for your customers.
If you can’t handle it yourself, let someone else take the reigns. Besides newsletters, Automation Agency can help you create beautiful eBooks, charts, and PDFs for use as a lead magnet. Just send a task to our Concierge Service with your specifications.
Keep in mind that if you have multiple customer groups with different interests, you have to keep track of them. And the best way to do it is with a CRM platform that has automation functionality.
You can schedule special emails for birthdays and other important events. Or, you could surprise a customer with little gifts or an exclusive discount code just for their birthday. The ideas are literally endless.
To delight your customers is to build lasting relationships with them.
Handling Social Media Requests
Did you know that more than 65% of consumers use social media for customer support? You probably did if your inbox is always full of messages and requests.
The worst part is that customers want to get their answer immediately. Even the best community manager won’t be able to handle a great number of requests in a limited period of time.
That’s where a CRM system comes into play.
Your CRM can collect all requests and notifications in one database. You’ll be able to see everything on your computer without having to handle multiple social media accounts at the same time.
This approach makes it easier to sort all your requests and answer them quickly and efficiently. In doing so, your CRM also helps save time and labour for your company. Everyone wins!
Automate, Not Delegate
A few years ago, everyone was talking about delegating. One person can’t do everything, which is true enough. These days, however, there’s something more powerful than delegating tasks to somebody who may or may not be of help.
Instead of delegating, why not think about automating your marketing and customer experience?
This approach gives you time flexibility, while at the same time, it makes sure your customers receive quick and effective support.
If you’d like to automate your marketing communication, but you’re not sure where to start, Automation Agency can help. Send a task to our Concierge Service and we’ll help you get started with a CRM system that fits your needs.
But if you’re not a member yet, take our Right Fit quiz to see if Automation Agency is a good match for your business.
