Finding ways to improve your customer journey is more important than ever in 2022. With millions of interconnected businesses across the globe capable of fulfilling customer needs with a swipe of the smartphone, businesses must take extensive efforts to ensure excellence along all steps of the customer journey. As it can take up to 12 positive experiences to offset a single bad customer experience, consider the following 5 tips to help improve your customer journey and maximize profits for your company.
1. Outsource Effectively
One traditional school of thought for successful business is to focus on your core competencies and outsource everything else. By channeling efforts toward what they are good at, 59% of businesses felt like they were better able to save time and control costs, both key factors that can positively impact profit margin.
While there are numerous ways to outsource in 2022, the bad news is that it is not always easy to guarantee that service standards are up to company expectations when dealing with gig workers, contractors, and couriers.
This has led many businesses to consider the benefits of third-party logistics companies to provide solutions to shipping problems that cannot be handled in-house. This helps ensure quality and consistent performance when tackling difficult last mile delivery scenarios from distribution centers to final customers.
2. Respond Quickly
Modern customers are notorious for being fickle and impatient. And in a competitive landscape in which they are just a click away from taking their business elsewhere, it is vital that companies respond quickly to inquiries if they have any hope of capturing a lead.
Some 77% of customers say that businesses who value their time is the single most important factor in ensuring a quality customer service experience. With customers no longer willing to be put on hold, use a variety of channels–email, SMS message, social media–to acknowledge inquiries and concerns as you buy time to piece together high-quality solutions. These steps are vital to helping improve your customer journey.
3. Empower Customers to Find Answers
Customers who grew up in the information era take pride in being able to figure things out on their own. While there are still 44% of customers who say that having questions answered by a live person when making a purchase decision is highly important, there are many customers who want to skip the small talk and figure out what they need for themselves.
Therefore, make sure your online store is equipped with a multitude of outlets for customers to find the solution of their choice when shopping for a product. Sure, have your live chat and call-in options, but also post curated product reviews and links to social media pages so shoppers can evaluate the social capital of your business. In addition, have robust FAQ, blog, and video instructions readily available for customers who like to do their own research and come to their own conclusions.
4. Acknowledge Customer Milestones
Understanding customer psychology is a powerful tool for business owners. One creative way to use customer psychology in your business is to make customers feel like they are a part of the business’ success. By acknowledging and celebrating customer milestones, companies are more likely to convert leads into sales and turn sales into repeat business. In fact, SuperOffice reports that 68% of customers are turned away by businesses that they perceive to be indifferent, so it is critical that you make customers feel connected.
There are a number of ways that businesses can acknowledge customer milestones and demonstrate appreciation. Some examples include:
- Referral programs in which customers receive rewards for recruiting new clients to make a purchase
- Early access to newly launched products
- Special discounts to on demand delivery service once customers reach a certain spending threshold
5. Solicit Feedback
In the world of ecommerce, your social capital is one of the most important assets a business can have. If your company is consistently coming in as a top entry on Internet searches and on review platforms, you have the majority of your retail marketing concerns under wraps. Statistics show that over 90% of customers consider online reviews when making purchase decisions, so it is vital that you find ways to receive feedback. Some creative ideas to encourage feedback are to offer coupon codes or loyalty points as incentives for taking the time to leave a review.
Not only does feedback help improve your customer journey with your company, but it can help strengthen your ongoing relationship with existing customers. Research shows that customers who leave reviews are more likely to feel an emotional connection with a business, with emotionally connected customers bringing in 23% more revenue than non-connected clients. This helps demonstrate the mutually beneficial power of feedback on the customer journey.
Improve Your Customer Journey and Earn More Profits
Ensuring customer satisfaction is more important than ever in the interconnected ecommerce climate of 2021. By considering the tips listed above, you can help improve your customer journey and increase profits for your business.