Over the years, brands have spent billions of dollars trying to understand their customers. For some reason, many brands don't make the same investment in providing a good customer experience.
Even well-known brands in the telecommunications industry tend to provide a subpar customer experience.
"Customer satisfaction with the Information sector is improving, but none of these industries score higher than the national average," Claes Fornell, the founder and chairman of the American Customer Satisfaction Index reported in 2013 . "Limited competition combined with high consumer expectations for information services are a formula for relatively weak buyer satisfaction, despite the gains."
These companies include established brands like Verizon and T-Mobile. These companies are lucky enough that they can rely on their brand name along. Small business owners don't have that luxury. They need to provide an excellent customer experience or perish.
Companies that make CX a priority tend to have more sustainable business models.
New technology has made providing a great customer experience easier than ever. However, these tools are only useful if you know about them and use them to their full potential.
Take a look at some of the ways brands are using digital technology to better serve their customers.
Benefits of Personalization
JavaScript, HTML5 and other dynamic programming tools have made it possible for companies to provide a unique online experience for every user. This new phenomenon is called web personalization.
Personalization has opened new doors for brands in every sector. Initially, they used personalization to improve the click through rates of their ads. Adverting platforms like Adwords, Bing and Plenty of Fish allow advertisers to use dynamic tokens to create custom ads for people in different regions.
While personalized ads are effective, creating a personalized experience on your own site can be even better.
However, it's important to be strategic with personalization. According to CMO.com, nearly two-thirds of online users want to know why the website is displaying customized content.
"More than 60% of online users wanted to know why, what, and how Web sites select content personalized for them. Control is critical to consumer acceptance of personalization, be it a little control (29% of consumers) or a lot (41% of consumers)."
Many Software as a Service providers (SaaS) have personalization tools that align with these users' needs.
They provide personalized recommendations based on previous purchases and let people know about upcoming promotions at brick-and-mortar locations in their area. These services are welcomed by customers, because they actually provide value.
Make Platforms More Accessible
People are very impatient online these days, especially when using the Internet. They don't want to spend half an hour looking for information on your website.
Many brands are improving the customer experience by providing tools that make it easier for customers to find the information they need. These tools include:
- Hadoop
- IBM InfoSphere
- DataStage
- Microsfot SSIS
- Adeptia ETL suite
These tools allow customers to find information on a brand's website with minimal effort.
Improved planning with predictive analytics
Creating a great customer experience requires planning and preparation. You need to staff your business and stock inventory according to customer needs.
Many new predictive analytics tools have reached the market in recent years. These tools are great for helping brands plan for the near future.