Leading the Digital Engagement Transformation

Com·pla·cen·cy (kəmˈplāsənsē/): noun. The comforting but dangerous mindset that what got you here will get you there.

Complacency is not taking action when you know you should or when you can. Complacent is how a lot of companies can be described when it comes to the way they communicate with their customers.  If you’re one of the growing number of innovative leaders who are changing the way companies communicate with their customers, from the status quo of emails and phone calls, then we applaud your efforts.

Continuing to do things because “that’s how we’ve always done it” is the battle cry of companies that fail to meet the needs of a changing marketplace. Emails have become overrun with spam and phone calls don’t fit the lifestyle of today’s busy, mobile customer. The use of messaging, including web chat, are the trademarks of businesses that are vigilant about customer communication preferences.

Leading that change though can be tough. That’s why there’s an entire profession dedicated to Change Management. In this post we discuss ways in which you can get your entire organization, from executive leadership to front line employees, to adopt Business Messaging, the new method of communication with your customers.

Connecting Customer Experience to Value

While most leadership within an organization have a general sense for the benefits of delivering a great customer experience, it can be hard to commit to changes to the current modas operandi without properly quantifying the value the change has to the organization.

Delivering a great customer experience is more than just the feel good, right thing to do, it has direct implications on revenue, especially the kind of loyalty-driven revenue companies see from satisfied customers who keep coming back again and again. Research reports by McKinsey state that companies who offer exceptional customer experience can exceed their competitor’s gross margins by 26 percent, while making employees happier and simplifying operations throughout the organization.

Exceptional customer service means meeting customer expectations and meeting customer needs in a way that is seen as easy for the customer. Today’s consumer has the ability to find an abundance of service providers, products, and reviews with a swipe of a finger and they expect your responsiveness and attention to be just as simple. In fact, 75% of customers demand service within five minutes of online contact.

Messaging and web chat are quickly becoming the go-to weapons in the customer experience arsenal for many companies who want to satisfy the “right this instant” expectation of consumers. Just as web chat is the optimal way to engage website visitors who are browsing from a desktop, messaging allows mobile customers to engage with a company through text and social.

When trying to convince leaders who have one eye on profits and the other on what’s right for the customer, be sure to clearly state benefits:

• The economic benefits of messaging are substantial when compared to other channels like phone calls. Text messaging takes ~25% less work time versus phone calls or emails
• Customer satisfaction scores are 5-10 points higher over text messaging than any other channel
  Messaging is consumers preferred means of contact with 44% of online consumers view getting questions answered by a live person an essential feature for websites

Change leaders can rally support within the organization by sharing the positive impact messaging and chat can have throughout the entire profit and loss statement:

• Increased revenue by allowing customers another channel by which they can overcome hesitations to purchase
• Decreased cost to sales and service through more cost effective and efficient engagement channels
• Overall increased profitability

The Aberdeen Group reports that companies who use messaging see improvements in annual company revenue by as much as 25% over companies that do not use messaging. The research also shows that cross-sell and upsell revenue can increase by as much as 53%.

These are just a few of the benefits. This is the type of information that goes beyond “it’s the right thing to do for the customer” and delivers tangible benefits management can measure, monitor and make informed strategy decisions on.

Take it from the top

One key characteristic demonstrated by companies that are high performers in customer experience is the support of senior management.  Getting buy-in from executive leadership shows the entire company that customer experience transformation is a priority. If you’re an individual within a C-suite role, this is your opportunity to lead the charge within your organization and become a role model of customer-focused leadership in the digital age.

As stated in the multi-part article “The Messaging Mandate”, successful adoption of messaging or any communication channel across the company must align channel goals to business objectives. Clearly presenting how the channel can play a role in company objectives and ultimately deliver positive ROI is essential in gaining top level sponsorship.

Research shows that, “successful projects for optimizing the customer experience typically achieve revenue growth of 5 to 10 percent and cost reductions of 15 to 25 percent within just two or three years”. Quiq clients who have deployed messaging or chat as a means to optimize the customer experience have seen immediate cost savings as a result of higher productivity from agents who are now able to handle multiple messages at a time, as opposed to a single call.

Messaging and chat won’t feel like a change

While messaging and web chat can have profound positive impact throughout your company, implementation doesn’t have to disrupt current operations. The vast majority of customers and employees already use messaging and web chat in their personal lives. Responding to messages, attaching photos and videos and even using emojis are pretty commonplace so there’s really nothing new to learn.

Quiq Messaging makes the implementation of web chat and messaging even easier by providing employees a single place to read and respond to all messages, regardless of whether your customer chooses to contact you via SMS/text messaging, Facebook Messenger, or chat with you from their desktop. Our simple user interface can also integrate with the systems your agents already use, so agents can quickly access relevant information.

If you’re ready to implement web chat and messaging for your organization, contact Quiq today. Quiq Messaging is an easy to implement messaging software solution that enables companies to engage with customers on the channels they already feel most comfortable with.

About Quiq
Quiq makes it easy for customers to contact a business via Messaging, the preferred channel already in use with our friends and family.  With Quiq, customers can now engage with companies via SMS/text messaging, Facebook Messenger, Web Chat, In-App,and Kik for help with their pre-sales and post-sales questions. Learn more about Quiq today at quiq.com.