In the world of robust business competition and fight for the customer base – the term ‘customer engagement’ or ‘customer experience’ pops up every single time.
With more price ranges and migration costs marginalized, ‘customer satisfaction’ is the determining factor for any business. Looking at the sheer size of the loyal customer base of Apple and Starbucks, we can safely assume that they do things differently from others.
The answer lies in customer engagement – they have focused their b2b business ideas metrics more into what their customer wants. According to independent research, nine out of ten Americans are willing to buy premium subscriptions for better customer experience.
To follow, here are seven reasons for how customer engagement will help improve your business.
- Expanding Loyal Customer Base
Right transactions are hallmarks of a great sale, but when the customer engagement is correct, you get a loyal customer. When you ignore their voices, they are most likely to switch over to other competitors.
Loyal customers are priceless when it comes to sustaining business. They stick with your brand despite tons of alternatives available on the market.
Loyalty programs, rewards, and discounts are building factors of a loyal customer base, yet they are not stable options in the long run. The factor that plays a vital role is customer engagement, where customers form an emotional connection with your business. They believe they are treated right with excellent services, which lets them stay for more extended periods.
- Word-of-Mouth Marketing
When customers are delighted with the experience your business has provided, they are more likely to talk about it with their families, friends, and social media, creating a positive response for your brand.
The notion that your brand is making them feel good about the purchase and services; they are going to talk about it more than ever! Such a process leads to indirect marketing.
Nielsen, in their customer survey, found that 82% of customers ask or seek recommendations from their friends or close ones to make any purchase. This activity has an impact on the referral programs, which works excellently in such conditions.
If the customer can spread the right word about your brand – you will see a surge in numbers of active customers. You need to find the right tools like the SaaS engagement score to keep track of your business to customer engagement.
- Ease-up on Customer Service Costs
There are three factors when it comes to service costs – a) Most of the brands try to avoid expenditure on service operations; b) Avoidance of expenses leads to poor execution of service; c) Resulting in recurring services and their costs. And in the end, most of the customers expect that businesses won’t charge them on services.
Excellent customer engagement includes reducing the amount of after-sale grievances and expenses. Dissatisfaction arises due to customers thinking that they are not in control of the money they spent.
You can put clear content on the websites, which will help to create more conversions and reduce customer support costs. Personalizing user experiences is one way to do it.
So customers find it easy to discover what they need quickly. For example, Amazon creates personal recommendations on what customers’ buying history and also allows reordering easily without any hassle.
So the point is, customer engagement will save operational costs in the long-run.
- Maintaining Customer Values is Profitable
Retaining customers is easy when there is customer engagement involved. Customers feel secure with the brand as they trust and believe in the whole transaction process.
Not only it helps to maintain customers, but it also forms brand loyalty. Due to the vast experience, customers are willing to reorder and buy more on the same platform.
One source says that 70% of customers maintain local businesses with brands – due to the empathic approach and attentive approach of business with customers, which can lead to profit jumps.
You should understand customers’ values experience and engagement more than pricing, discounting, and offers. So they won’t switch to competitors easily – it’s all about how you treat and make them feel about your brand.
- Creating a Translucent Chain of Communication
Reaching out to your customers is essential in building trust. You can create a converse with your customer base using channels like chat support.
Many times customers want to reach out to you for feedback or complaints, but businesses create unnecessary blocks in line with communication.
The result is that 96% of customers don’t file a claim, and 91% among them may not return to your brand. The aftermath is a series of consequential losses.
Your business needs to create a line of contact, which is easily reachable to customers. Ease of communication will create high customer engagement, which leads to brand loyalty and customer retention.
- Feedbacks are Crucial
With more people on social media – reviews and feedback can make or break your brand. Most of the feedback on social media is indeed negative. The number of negative feedbacks always shadows the positive ones.
It becomes imperative that you react on both feedbacks and reach out even more to the customers with negative feedback. Ignorance of this feedbacks will be the harbinger of losses to your brand.
Responding will create a follow up of belief, that a brand is trying best to engage the customers on a personal level. And, 51% of customers will react positively after such an engagement.
You can even motivate loyal customers to voice their positive feedback on social media to create more brand awareness and presence.
- Ability to Use Data
Adding channels like emails and survey tabs on your website will create one to one engagement with your customers. Listening and acting on feedback and providing solutions will help retain customers.
Also, it will play an advantage card on your competitors in providing exceptional service.
All the data collected through the feedback channels will lead to finding holes and gaps in your business – where you can improvise your brand further. Using such data will help you get success in the long term.
Conclusion
The bottom line is customer engagement is a vital segment for your business. In the end, customers are looking for an emotional connection and trust in your brand.
To get most of the profits and success for your business, you need to open up the channels and engage with your customers more than ever.
