According to global marketing intelligence experts IDC, European spending on customer experience is forecasted to top $128 billion by 2022. As customers increasingly discover the positives of technological innovation, the market is wide open for businesses to thrive by meeting and exceeding their expectations. However, despite increased investment from the manufacturing sector, customer experience has traditionally remained the poor relation of marketing.
Step forward the omni-experience! This multi-channel strategy is designed to transform your customer relations and keep your business at the forefront of the competition.
Put simply, omni-experience is the term used to describe a process of sensing and responding to customer needs more effectively by utilising emerging technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT), and personalisation. Pathfinders, like Amazon, have pioneered these technologies to break new ground in online retail. Companies that don’t respond to their challenge risk customer attrition, revenue decline, and slower growth. Not only that, but they’re missing a great opportunity to get to know their customer base better. They will struggle to provide an all-round more bespoke experience that will reap rich rewards in the longer term.
Focus on the end user
The secret of successful customer engagement lies in adopting a Business-to-Individual (B2I) approach that offers a reliable and consistent experience in real time. Today’s switched-on customers are all too familiar with the benefits that new technology can bring – they want it all, and they want it now!
The following points will guide you towards devising and deploying an omni-experience strategy for your own company that puts the focus firmly on the end user.
Rethink your business process
Make it your mission to be predictive, not reactive. Around 30% of manufacturers surveyed by IDC already have plans in place to improve their product customisation, personalisation, and configuration capabilities as part of their service life cycle. The remaining 70% need to think speedily about following their lead or be left trailing in their wake, as more and more customers come to expect these services as standard.
Review your technology infrastructure
Don’t underestimate the key role that data analytics can play in optimising customer engagement. From understanding the outcomes of service events to identifying best offerings for improved customer loyalty and tailoring price structures across a range of products and services, data gathered from your existing customer base is an invaluable resource for current and future strategic planning.
Get interactive
Salesforce’s Customer 360 Platform is the ideal place to kickstart your interactive journey. This comprehensive facility helps you to build custom-branded mobile apps, create online experiences, and share data across trusted networks, providing an infinite variety of interactive possibilities between customers, partners, employees, and connected products.
Technology can also unlock the potential for expansion by reaching out to new customers through digitised and personalised marketing that complements traditional advertising media.
Transform your approach to customer service by creating your own customer omni-experience and discover more about its implication for business by downloading the IDC report.
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