Did you know over half of American consumers (54%) think customer service is an afterthought rather than a priority to companies? How about the fact that 70% of buyers would gladly spend more money on businesses that offer personalized customer experiences?
As an entrepreneur, your brand’s survival in the increasingly competitive online market depends on how fast you adapt your strategies. Do you provide exceptional and tailor-made experiences? If not, your business may drown instead of rising above a sea of competitors. But no need to panic. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems are here to throw you a lifebuoy.
CRM systems combine strategies, practices, and technologies to organize, manage, and analyze customer data, interactions, insights, and almost everything else in between. Their features and integrations help build strong brand-consumer relationships by understanding preferences and anticipating needs, leading to increased customer retention, loyalty, and satisfaction. Zoho, in particular, is a powerful CRM system that can improve customer experiences (CX) and more.
Zoho-Supported Personalization Tips for Improved Customer Experiences
To help you level up your CX efforts, PrimeView has compiled the following tips for delivering personalized customer experiences:
Visualize and Chart the Customer Journey
A Customer Journey Map (CJM) is a visual representation of the ways your customers engage with your business across various stages. From external touchpoints like ads and social media to internal touchpoints like landing pages, chatbots, web forms, call-to-action (CTAs), and other onboarding processes – a CJM lays it out for you. Having an effective mapping process lets you put on and walk in your customers’ shoes, challenging your assumptions about how a customer may respond to your efforts.
Zoho CRM offers real-time insights into customer preferences via PathFinder. This tool discovers your customers’ journeys throughout different touchpoints and channels. You can use the information to understand your customers on a deeper level, develop killer marketing strategies, and craft more meaningful customer journeys. Learn more about PathFinder here.
Always Be Ready to Help
By “be ready to help,” we don’t mean hounding customers like salespeople do in physical stores (because most people actually hate that). Customers appreciate receiving personalized service when they ask for assistance. It sends a clear message that your business is always prepared to provide support and address concerns, building trust and reliability. In fact, 90 percent of consumers want immediate service (within 10 minutes or less), and 60 percent have purchased from one brand over a competitor based on the service they received.
Don’t lose your audience to your business rivals. Here are ways to offer personalized CX:
- Use a help desk software: Zoho Desk – awarded in several categories for Best Software 2020 by G2 – can help you support your customers whenever, wherever, through a single interface. It can record all interactions emerging on various channels, meaning whenever a customer has an issue, your team has all the context and references they need to offer an immediate solution. Also, remember to converse with your customers like you would with a friend, as 64% of consumers want AI bots to provide the same level of service and empathy as humans. Be nice and seize every chance to turn even the most challenging conversations into positive interactions.
- Establish a FAQs page: A FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions) page is where customers can find answers to questions and concerns. For example, for all stores, a walkthrough of the ordering process, accepted payment methods, return or exchange policy, and expected delivery timeline is necessary. Providing this information prevents repetitive inquiries from customers who can easily access the answers on your FAQs page.
Send Engaging and Personalized Emails
Up to 40% of consumers say they have approximately 50 unchecked emails in their inboxes, and the ones you sent out could be among them.
If your newsletters always end up in the spam folder, remain unread, or never lead to an action, a lack of personalization may be the culprit. Nothing turns off a prospect quicker than the feeling of receiving a generic mass email. As it happens, message personalization is 72% effective as a strategy for email marketing campaigns.
Mailchimp is a robust marketing automation platform for creating, sending, and analyzing marketing communications, including emails. You can integrate Mailchimp with Zoho CRM to streamline the process and deliver tailored content through newsletters. However, keep in mind that email frequency plays a crucial role in your unsubscribe rate. Sending too many newsletters can seem like you’re overloading users’ inboxes with spam messages. So, collaborate with your marketing team to establish a well-thought-out schedule for sharing personalized emails.
Running personalized, heavy email marketing campaigns will capture your customers’ attention. You might open your inbox one day and realize you’re flooded with responses! Fortunately, Mailchimp is an all-in-one marketing platform that allows you to manage and talk to clients and customers with ease.
Ask Customers for Their Opinion
Remember, aside from your efforts and your employees’ commitment to excellence; you have your customers to thank for your position in the market.
To provide the best possible customer experience, continue to identify gaps in your service. For example, you can ask your customers directly about how you can do better and improve their experience. Customers may surprise you with their valuable insights and shed light on business aspects (customer service, website speed, quality of content, etc.) that need improvement.
Here are some ways to reach out to your customers:
- Use Zoho Survey to get in touch with your audience on every device and review results in real-time.
- Utilize Zoho CRM’s SalesSignals feature to receive real-time notifications whenever a lead, prospect, customer, or contact opens an email, visits your website, or interacts with your business. SalesSignals allows you to respond promptly, engage, or follow up with them while their interest is high from one central hub, your Zoho CRM account.
- Connect your social media accounts to Zoho CRM to monitor engagement and connect with customers on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, and other platforms. You can initiate contact or respond to comments and direct messages from the CRM.
- Zoho CRM integrates with multiple SMS and phone services. It enables sending and receiving text messages, as well as making calls, to anyone in your contacts. This feature helps you stay connected with customers through different channels.
If you need help getting started with Zoho, PrimeView provides top-notch CRM solutions and digital marketing services. Contact us at +1-480-970-4688 to speak with a Zoho CRM consultant and get a free quote.
The Bottom Line: Get Personal With Your Customers
Personalizing customer experiences is a fundamental element of success for any business–big or small. By going the extra mile to understand your customers and offering custom solutions to meet their needs (and make them feel like the valuable customer they are), in time, you will have a loyal customer base that will keep supporting your business.