7 Ways to Make Every Customer Interaction Count

“Make every interaction count, even the small ones. They are all relevant.” – Shep Hyken

So, you probably have a stellar product or service that speaks for itself, but customers in this day and age are looking for more than just a product or service, they’re looking for brands to go an extra mile to deliver better and smooth experiences.

You need to make every customer interaction meaningful because each interaction should be used as an opportunity to ‘really know’ your customers.

Let’s understand how you can make every interaction with customers worthwhile.

The Importance of Customer Interaction

With meaningful and memorable customer interactions each time, your customers are positively influenced to engage with you and not just that, meaningful interactions can also:

• Help you learn more about your customers
• Build better customer relationships
• Boost customer loyalty
• Improve your chances to retain customers
• Increase referrals
• Enhance profitability

7 Ways to Ace Interactions With Customers

In a world of ever-growing competition, the way you interact with your customers is a key differentiator. Let’s talk about how you can make your interactions with customers count.

1. Make Meaningful and Personalized Interactions

It is key to make every customer interaction meaningful and address every interaction as unique because when customers seek an interaction, they expect their problem or issue to be treated as important. According to a report, 80% of consumers stated that they are more likely to do business with a company if it offers personalized experiences. So, it’s important to understand their concerns, share speedy and effective solutions with them, and go the extra mile to provide valuable insights that could help prevent future problems of a similar nature.

2. Be Transparent and Empathetic

When you communicate with your customers, whether it’s over social media platforms, your webpage, or anything else, you need to be transparent especially if it’s about any mistake or error caused at your end. Use clear and concise communication practices so that the customer knows the process. Handle every customer interaction with care and empathy. If you do this with every interaction, you’d have a better chance of creating engagement and loyalty with your customers.

3. Humanize the Experience

Place yourself in your customer’s shoes and treat them accordingly. The importance of empathy and gratitude can go a long way in making the customer feel valued. For instance, if they have a complaint about your service, acknowledge their feelings, and share the next course of action that you or your team would be taking to resolve their complaint/issue. Be sure to express gratitude in every situation.

4. Delight Your Customers

Think of unique ways to delight your customers. Maybe add a voucher with a discount code or, depending on the type of your customers, you can provide them with some high-value content like webinars or eBooks, start a loyalty program with special prizes, send personalized gift cards, or even something as simple as a ‘thank you’ note.

5. Be Where Your Customers Are

Long gone are the days when it was enough to provide customers with a support line and maybe some online content for self-help. Customers want to interact in different ways and more than anything, they want immediate actions. Make it a priority to get your customers the answers they need to use your product or service. To do that, you should have an omnichannel plan in place to provide service across a variety of channels where your customers typically reach out to you. Remember to respond to customer requests and issues on the same platform where they originally reached out.

6. Use Customer Feedback

Customer feedback is a goldmine to improve your marketing strategy. Regularly ask for customer feedback to identify potential problems that could cause your customers to churn. Surveys also provide customers with an avenue to voice their thoughts and opinions on your product or service in a way that makes them feel truly valued. Feedback can give you the opportunity to better hone your processes, service, or product.

7. Balance AI and Human Power

Artificial intelligence can help improve customer experience by delivering consistent experiences across channels and quickly answering questions. Use a dash of your manual customer service and AI-assisted interactions to deliver the best solution to customers in every interaction.

Every interaction is an opportunity to grow your business and make your customers happy. After all, a happy customer is a loyal customer and that is what can make your business successful.

Want to make every interaction with your customers worthwhile? Talk to us!