The customers is king. In today’s day and age, it is important for your brand and business to create a positive space in the minds of the customer. What your customer thinks about you will determine how often and for how long he does business with you and if or not he will recommend you to others. Failure to live up to customer expectations can result in huge losses for any business. The flipside is that if you do meet their expectations and keep them happy and satisfied, they will do more business with you, they will recommend you to others and they will even agree to pay a premium for your services, just because they are loyal to you. It is vital to remember that the market is extremely cluttered and there are multiple other brands waiting to take your position in the minds of the customer. One slip and the position is lost, once lost it cannot easily be gained again as customers are ruthless when it comes to judging businesses. They expect every business to have a strong knowledge base in what makes them happy and what does not.
As a business owner, your primary aim should be to provide the best shopping experience for your customers. Let us look at 5 data-backed reasons that result in customers switching to other brands.
-
Your customers do not feel an emotional connection with you
Customers like to feel emotionally connected to any brand or service that they engage with. If they have a positive emotional experience with a business, they are more likely to stick to it. In a recent survey done 86% of the customers agreed that they are more likely to shop with the brans with which they feel an emotional connect. Another survey said that 7 out of every 10 customers today are not emotionally satisfied after shopping and they consider this reason enough to switch to a more emotionally fulfilling experience.
-
You are not addressing the main pain points of the customers
Customers expect you to be available when they want you to and solve their problems at the earliest. Not being accessible, having to wait in line for a long time, a rude customer support executive – all this and more make customers extremely disgruntled. In the past 2 years, the percentage of customers who switched brands because they were not satisfied with the support offered, has gone up from 49 percent to 67 percent.
If you do not address the main pain points of the customers, they will most definitely spread negative feedback about you in the market. Customers today have no tolerance for wishy-washy and shoddy customer support programs. For a business to gain a competitive edge, customer service should be the number one goal that every department should work towards. Your business should have a strong knowledge base of potential customer problems and their solutions.
-
You are not user-friendly
Today is a world of technology. Even with artificial intelligence like chatbots, helpdesk software and self-service kiosks coming into the picture, almost 32 percent of the customers still believe that businesses are not giving them an easy way to solve their issues. What is dangerous is that not only will the customers shun your business, they also resort to voicing out their opinions or asking for solutions to their issues on open forums. Most people today check reviews online before making a purchase. Comments on open forums are there for all to see and this can result in negative publicity for your business.
-
Your customer service does not have the human connect
Almost 56% of the customers prefer using a phone call to resolve their problems. Only 7% chose the website. When it comes to problems that are complex in nature, the customer still prefer to speak to someone else for the solution. If your website does not offer them the requisite information, or if they feel confused after interacting with your help desk software, it is only natural for them to rely on you human agents. If your human agents are not available for them, or if they speak rudely; it results in customer frustration which again is not a good sign for any business. Hence it is important to ensure that there is a well-trained customer service representative always within reach of your customers.
-
Your multi-channel experience is not seamless and consistent
Consumers today want to connect seamless experiences as they move forward in their journey with your business. They do not like to give you the same details again and again. Hence it is important for businesses to keep track of the conversations that take place with customers across different channels. 43 percent of customers said that they feel emotionally connected to a business/brand if they are able to easily contact them via any channel of their preference and get a seamless experience there. Hence it is vital for businesses to have a multi-channel solution that provides the customers with the same seamless experience at every touch point.
To conclude, the core of solving all the above issues lies in setting up a multi-channel customer support system. A CRM can help your business to track and evaluate customer interactions across all levels and channels. This can also help your agents have access to the knowledge base required for them to personalize each interaction. This in turn can help create a positive, emotional connection with the consumer and ensure that he stays happy and satisfied with you.
