How to make it easier for your customers to connect with you
Customer proximity is more than a buzzword. How do I establish a relationship through communication and make the moment uniquely valuable for both sides?
Customers don't want to go back to a pre-COVID time. Customer experience is conversational. Gone are the days of fleeting interactions. This means implementing technologies and processes that enable continuous conversations with customers, whether in support, sales or simply by sharing messages on social media. It is about active dialogue. Therefore, it is important to educate everyone in the team about the new role of communication as well.
Alongside delivery and pick-up services, virtual services and the increase in health and safety awareness, the factor of authentic communication is a key to success. Customer experience is conversational. That's what it's all about. How do you get it right? On the one hand, you will learn what the most important criteria of communication are today in times of a pandemic, and on the other hand, I will show you some examples of no-go's that you should consciously watch out for. The questions at the end will show you how to successfully implement lively communication in your company. And also how you can turn every customer contact into a living snapshot.
Even though we are coming into less and less contact with real people - forced by the pandemic and the rise of online business - one need of customers has become more and more apparent in recent months: Customers want human contact when they interact with brands. Customers will crave personalised, but also individualised communication even more after COVID. Customers are people and they want to be seen. As a human being.
How do you bring your customer communication back to life? Should your staff just nod silently, roll their eyes, grumble or grunt in agreement when talking to customers? Or should they be at eye level, friendly, proactive - in line with your brand message?
We are all customers, guests, clients ourselves. We chat. We read blogposts. We talk on the phone. We talk to employees. We move around on platforms of all kinds. Post-pandemic trend: increasing.
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Four practical examples of customer communication
Let's look in detail.
Unfortunately, how does a client meeting proceed in most cases?
First example:
We enter a shop. We, the customers, first vie for attention. First with our presence, then with sharp glances, and when nothing more works, with a: "Excuse me, I have a question".
Embarrassingly disturbed, the employee answers curtly. And then, at the latest, turns directly to his colleague, or in the worst case, to a private conversation. We as customers turn on our heels, are disappointed to the max and think: "What a waste of time. All right, then I'll just order online." And this is not the exception, but often the rule.
Now, when the same customer goes to a second shop and by chance meets this professional and emphatic salesperson who just does everything right, this is what happens:
Second example:
The customer is immediately greeted in a friendly manner at the entrance. The salesperson observes the customer, is emphatic in his manner, lets him look for himself first and asks at the perfect