According to a study by Brain & Company, organisations with a customer experience mindset drive a revenue of 4-8% higher than the rest in their respective industries. Having a customer-centric approach is therefore vital for businesses operating in the digital age. Here, data is a key element in driving business operations.
This, specifically when taking into consideration the need for quality data as we continue to see advancements in technology, including artificial intelligence (AI), cloud and machine learning. Companies should embrace customer-centric approaches that leverage these technological advancements as it allows for insights into customer behaviour and preference.
Consequently, the requirement for such an approach has developed the need for customer relationship management (CRM) platforms or applications that provide an end-to-end seamless digital cross-channel experience to end-user customers.
Customer expectation meets digital transformation
The business needs to look at five key pillars when optimising customer journeys through CRM platforms. These include, marketing automation, marketing analytics, cross-channel customer lifecycle management, customer journey and lifecycle optimisation in addition to integrated digital experience ecosystem.
Once these pillars are taken into consideration, organisations have to become more aware of their digital footprint so that they are able to leverage off of data analytics. This will ultimately help improve the customer’s journey and effectively push products.
When looking at this modification from a technological point of view, humans and technology should both have the capability to assist customers in the same manner.
An example of this would be a customer interacting with an agent or a self-service portal, both are points of contacts. If both are adequate it means the customer should be able to get at least the basics of what they expect from that service. Modern customers feel entitled to a seamless experience across multiple channels when interacting with their brands.
In short, all businesses, including small and medium companies, will have to rethink their digital marketing strategies to stay relevant. This means staying abreast of digital transformation trends and implementing the five pillars of personalisation and customer experience when implementing a CRM platforming.
CRM platforms need to be shaped for your individual clients
In order to develop an unmatched customer experience that aligns with customer personalisation, best practice needs to be applied on the basis of two fundamental elements being customers and their behaviour.
To get this right, companies need to apply marketing automation and customer intelligence analytics technologies within their context and that of their customers. This means companies need to understand their business so they can recognise how to cater to their customer’s needs based on who they are and how they interact with the company’s brand.
Moreover, companies need to consider being more proactive than reactive. Adopting predictive approaches to the extent where they can influence a customer’s decision and guide them to what they need will not only benefit the customer but the business as well, regarding revenue and reliability. Many businesses that focus on trying to sell as many products or services as possible and this approach is no longer successful.
Those companies that are still product-centric are at a competitive disadvantage. Customers need to have a seamless digital experience with the company for them to have confidence that their needs will be met. Being two steps ahead of your customer’s expectations of your business also allows you to foresee opportunities to provide a better service or product.
There are various vendors that provide CRM platforms and services, as well as enterprise applications that are focused on customer service, marketing automation, data analytics, and application development. Preference needs to be given to vendors that can provide a personalised end-to-end customer journey.
Customers should have a seamless experience through an integrated digital customer experience ecosystem. This can be an environment that also offers multiple contact channels from which you can communicate with consumers, allowing you to offer cross-channel ecosystems for customers.
• Singh, is director of application development at In2IT
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