Smarter customers with increased expectations are here to stay. The strategic priority for business has shifted to concentrate on how to deliver a differentiated customer-centric service or experience. While increasing customer satisfaction has the power to create happy and loyal customers, an important part in building brand recognition, it can also directly impact the bottom line.
Customer loyalty is something that needs to be earned. This is best achieved through understanding your customer and breeding a company culture that is dedicated to delivering to the customer. Customers no longer compare their experience to any service, but to the best service that have ever received. Some common technology trends that are being quickly adopted within the service industry are:
*Convenience
Customers want convenience, they want to be able to contact or connect with your business when and how they want. The battle for business is to make this as easy as possible. Whether they want to book an appointment, pay for a service or get feedback on something, they want to be able to communicate using the method that is easiest and most convenient for them. The easier you make this experience for them the more likely you are to win them over. Instant gratification is something that is common among younger generations due to their exposure to technology. How is your business catering for your customers out of business hours is also very important to consider. Some interesting statistics to consider:
90% of all customers want to book appointments through digital channels
45% of all bookings are made out of office hours
40% will switch to a business that offers the same online convenience provided
Companies need to constantly review how they can make this experience as frictionless as possible.
*Transparency and visibility
We live in a world where people want transparency and visibility over the goods and services they order. Tech transparency and visiblilty can be seen leading industry in transport, logistics, accomodation, health, security and services. If we look at the Uber example, why does the customer love this experience so much? It is largely due to the comfort that people get from the transparency and convenience of the experience. Uber continually look to improve the information and service that they provide their customers, namely:
-Price transparency
-ETA of driver
-ETA of trip
-Ratings and reviews of drivers
-Full visibility of trips can be viewed by customer, business and driver
-Convenience of reporting any issues
These characteristics go far in delivering a level of customer confidence. It is this confidence that quickly develops a trustful relationship between customer, business and drivers.
Other examples of this can be seen across industry where business prioritise service delivery and customer experience seriously. It is a trend that will continue to grow and will improve relationships between customer, business and service professionals.
*Reporting and feedback
In order for business to improve they need to engage with their customer and constantly look to improve their offering. Businesses are living entities, they need to evolve in order to remain relevant. Ratings and reviews are an important mechanism to capture what your customer thinks of your business offering but require intelligent use of the data to make sure improvements are being made. Data in a vacuum is data in a vacuum, so often this is the case with companies, their focus lies in getting feedback from customers but the information is not constructively used.
It is just as important for business to look at putting in place measures to review their performance, whether it be AI analysis of service professionals conversations with customers that picks-up tone; or reviewing the average time spent completing a service; or ensuring compliance through a task list that needs to be completed. Metrics are there to drive operational efficiency and performance which ultimately drives your bottom-line.
In closing it is clear the role technology is playing in our lives, whether it be alerting a customer that our order has arrived or sending a Statement of Work through to a service professional, or sending photos and videos of an install or repair that has been completed. We live in such exciting times where technology is there to enable business to provide the best service possible for the customer. There is no excuse for business to not be looking to improve and adopt technology to better deliver results. The reality is that the choice not to use technology to better serve your customer is ultimately going to lead to your business failure.
If you would like to discuss how technology can best serve your business please feel free to reach out to JCurve Solutions.
