New emerging technologies, products, and services, and increased awareness of business ethics all affect the way customers view the brand. Forming strong customer relationships is the key to success for any brand and it is important to prioritize building engaging customer experiences with loyal customers. Investing in new customers is between 5 and 25 times more expensive than retaining existing ones.
Brands are being challenged to rethink their strategies as empathetic customer experiences and as our physical and digital worlds continue to blend, it is imperative that brands deliver connected experiences that drive loyalty for customers.
To be successful in this modern retail environment, you need to put the customer at the center of everything you do and consider how customers will engage with your brand.
Here are the 3 most effective ways to build trustworthy customer relationships:
1. Leverage new technologies.
In this digital world, it is imperative brands leverage new technologies that are innovative and effective with a focus on humanizing the customer’s experience.
AI/VR, chatbots, clienteling platforms, and other new emerging technologies can present many new opportunities and challenges. To adapt to the changing needs and expectations of today’s modern customers, brands need to adjust their technology capabilities to keep up the pace of innovation to thrive in today’s retail environment.
2. Empower your customers and employees.
To ensure a full-circle experience, it is important that brands empower both their customers and employees.
“If we take care of our employees, they will take care of our customers,” explained Southwest Airlines Vice President of Customer Support and Services James Ashworth during a discussion about the new age of human-centric service. He continued to discuss Southwest Airlines’s new approach to customer centricity, “It is about humans delivering service to humans.”
Taking care of your employees, aligning your teams, and emphasizing a healthy work culture will ensure a full-circle experience that is connected and unified in creating a positive experience for the customer that drives loyalty.
3. Be reachable.
When a customer reaches out with a question, it is in the brand's interest to address the customer as soon as possible. Customers need to know and feel that they matter. Not only is ensuring that there is always someone or a system in place to address customer concerns important, but it is also important that the help the customer is receiving is thorough, thoughtful, patient, and respectful.
Providing customers with service beyond the initial purchase will show them that you value them more than just a transaction. If customers understand you care, they will be more likely to trust and stay with your brand. 78% of customers will do business with a brand even after a mistake has been made.
Today, brands are struggling to provide great quality customer experience at scale, often sacrificing the touch of personalization. How can brands achieve the best of both worlds? By leveraging the BSPK solution, the first innovative clienteling and service platform focused on innovating the customer journey with connected and personalized experiences.