Many components must be carefully orchestrated for business success, none of which is more critical than Customer Service. Customer care has evolved over the last couple of years primarily due to digital advancements. To set yourself apart, you need to incorporate the 4C’s, which stand for customer experience, conversation, content, and collaboration. Look at them as pillars that hold your client service together.
Working on these components in unison and actively managing them will transform your business. Let us examine these four elements and the ways you can use them as a competitive advantage.
Customer Experience
Customer experience is the product of interaction between a customer and an organization over the duration of the relationship. It reflects how the customer feels about the company and its products.
Customer experiences are conversation starters because customers will talk about your products and the customer service they receive from you. If they are happy, they will talk positively about you and thus, build your business. If they are dissatisfied, they do not talk about it, and when they do, it will damage your business. Therefore, giving your customers great experiences is an investment to the company.
To transform your business, generate positives conversations with customers by offering superior products and excellent customer service. Bring the same offerings you are giving offline to your online platforms. Social media is a powerful tool for reaching all your customers at once. Drive positive conversations with your customers by managing their customer experiences.
Happy and satisfied customers grow from being loyal to becoming brand advocates.
Conversation
Conversation is the exchange of ideas between people. Customers have discussions with employees via the various platforms from phone to social media. Conversations build on customer experiences and go the extra mile observing, facilitating and participating in the discussions.
Real and meaningful conversations take place when the employees are helpful to the customers. They seek to understand better their issues as well as offering them solutions. Actively participating in discussions on social media brings you closer to the customers and gives you a human face.
Begin by listening to your customers – what are they asking? What tone are they using? What matters more to them? – And respond appropriately. Following these conversations will help you understand customers better and thus direct your product development and content strategy.
Content
Content is the information and communication you present to your customers. It should be relevant, fresh, reliable and accurate. You can orchestrate your content to generate conversations in the direction you want it to go. You cannot afford to leave the course of conversations with your customers; create a content sharing strategy.
The content you share determines customer perception towards your organization. Do you position yourself as an expert in your field? Does your content help customers understand you and your products? Does it create value? Your content should accomplish these tasks and much more.
Have a dedicated team to develop and implement a content sharing strategy. They should monitor social media conversation 24/7, and answer customers in a timely and relevant way. Remember, great content will grow your reach.
Collaborations
Collaboration is working together to achieve a common business objective. The goal, in this case, it exceptional customer service thus the company and customers should work together.
When you loop in customers, they will freely offer their assistance to grow your business. The involvement helps them feel important, valued and appreciated, which will increase their commitment to the organization. A customer will be proud to be associated with a great company and will spread the positive word around as well as defend you where necessary.
Create communities on social media and let customers interact with each other in a safe and controlled environment. That sense of belonging will go a long way to transforming your business into a success story.
In summary, these four components – customer experience, conversation, content, and collaboration – intertwine to utilize the power of the people and social media. You cannot have one without the other. Follow these Best Practices today and avoid gaps in your customer service strategy.
Dilip Barot
Dilip Barot is the Founder and Chairman of Etech.In this role, Mr. Barot uses his vast experience as an entrepreneur to establish the strategic direction of the company and prioritize business imperatives. Mr. Barot’s “out of the box” thinking has led Etech to developing proven processes in the areas of quality assurance, application development, Integrated Customer Engagement (ICE) and offshore expansion.
As an expert in customer service and business strategy, I bring a wealth of firsthand experience and a deep understanding of the key components that contribute to business success. With a track record in establishing and prioritizing business imperatives, my expertise has been instrumental in developing proven processes in quality assurance, application development, Integrated Customer Engagement (ICE), and offshore expansion.
Now, let's delve into the concepts discussed in the provided article:
Customer Experience (CX): Customer experience is highlighted as a critical factor in business success. It is defined as the product of the interaction between a customer and an organization over the relationship's duration. Positive customer experiences lead to positive conversations, while negative experiences can damage a business. The article emphasizes that investing in providing great customer experiences is an investment in the company.
Conversation: The article defines conversation as the exchange of ideas between people, particularly between customers and employees across various platforms such as phone and social media. Real and meaningful conversations are emphasized, where employees actively listen to customers, seek to understand their issues, and offer appropriate solutions. Engaging in discussions on social media is seen as a way to bring a human face to the business.
Content: Content is portrayed as the information and communication presented to customers. Relevant, fresh, reliable, and accurate content is crucial. The article suggests orchestrating content to guide conversations in the desired direction. A content sharing strategy is recommended, with a dedicated team monitoring social media conversations and responding in a timely and relevant manner. Great content is seen as a tool to grow reach and shape customer perception.
Collaboration: Collaboration is defined as working together to achieve a common business objective, with the goal of exceptional customer service. Customers are encouraged to be actively involved, offering assistance and contributing to the organization's growth. Creating communities on social media is suggested to provide a safe and controlled environment for customer interaction, fostering a sense of belonging.
In conclusion, the article emphasizes that customer experience, conversation, content, and collaboration are interconnected components essential for leveraging the power of people and social media. The integration of these elements is presented as crucial for a comprehensive customer service strategy, and following best practices in each area is recommended for business success.
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