Customers want to be more than a number. They want companies to quickly recognize who they are, anticipate what they want, and solve their problems quickly. And they want this recognition to extend across any interaction they have with a business—whether it’s phone, email, chat, SMS, or social media.
Fortunately, they’ve also grown increasingly comfortable with companies collecting their personal data, as long as it’s used to improve their experience. And 75% of customers are willing to spend more to buy from companies that give them a good customer experience, according to a recent Zendesk report.
Customer service is the current competitive arena. Happy customers will lead to trust, loyalty, and increased revenue. The secret to winning? Personalized experiences. Here are the steps you should take to create personalized experiences.
This may seem basic, but too often, a customer must run through a laundry list of information to identify themselves to customer service agents. And if they’ve been transferred to more than one agent, the potentially worst words for them to hear are, “How may I help you?” That’s because most likely, the customer has already gone through the process of explaining who they are and what they need, whether that be via an interaction into the contact center or time spent on the company website — a frustrating and time-consuming endeavor.
A better way? Implement voice, facial or fingerprint recognition technology to automatically know which customer is calling, why they are calling, and where they have already navigated in a particular transaction. If they are transferred or are looking for agent assistance, their identity and current data go with that transfer. This way, you’re treating people not as the next number in line, but as real people.
Once a customer has been identified, it’s important to know what a person wants — whether that’s derived from various customer data points or based on a person’s perusing a particular topic on your website. This can feel somewhat Big Brother-ish, but if done correctly and with privacy in mind, companies can build a dynamically unique experience just for that customer. This is far better than forcing a customer to wade through an IVR menu with endless prompts to get help for a certain problem.