Tag: personalization

How To Be The Leader Of Personalized CX In Your Industry

Posted on Lauren Winder

Customer expectations are evolving alongside AI technology, at an unprecedented pace. People are more informed, connected, and demanding than ever before, and they expect nothing less than exceptional customer experiences (CX) from the brands they interact with.

This is where personalized customer experience comes in.

By tailoring CX to individual customers’ needs, preferences, and behaviors, businesses can create more meaningful connections, build loyalty, and drive revenue growth.
In this article, we will explore the power of personalized CX in industries and how it can help businesses stay ahead of the curve.

What is Personalized CX?

Personalized CX refers to the process of tailoring customer experiences to individual customers based on their unique needs, preferences, and behaviors. This involves using customer data and insights to create targeted and relevant interactions across multiple touchpoints, such as websites, mobile apps, social media, and customer service channels.

Personalization can take many forms, from simple tactics like using a customer’s name in a greeting to more complex strategies like recognizing that they are likely to be asking a question about the order that was delivered today. The goal is to create a seamless and consistent experience that makes customers feel valued and understood.

Why is Personalized CX Important?

Personalized CX has become increasingly important in industries for several reasons:

1. Rising Customer Expectations

Today’s customers expect personalized experiences across all industries, from retail and hospitality to finance and healthcare. In fact, according to a survey by Epsilon, 80% of consumers are more likely to do business with a company if it offers personalized experiences.

2. Increased Competition

As industries become more crowded and competitive, businesses need to find new ways to differentiate themselves. Personalized CX can help brands stand out by creating a unique and memorable experience that sets them apart from their competitors.

3. Improved Customer Loyalty and Retention

Personalized CX can help businesses build stronger relationships with their customers by creating a sense of loyalty and emotional connection. According to a survey by Accenture, 75% of consumers are more likely to buy from a company that recognizes them by name, recommends products based on past purchases, or knows their purchase history.

4. Increased Revenue

By providing personalized CX, businesses can also increase revenue by creating more opportunities for cross-selling and upselling. According to a study by McKinsey, personalized recommendations can drive 10-30% of revenue for e-commerce businesses.

Industries That Can Benefit From Personalized CX

Personalized CX can benefit almost any industry, but some industries are riper for personalization than others.

Here are some industries that can benefit the most from personalized CX:

1. Retail

Retail is one of the most obvious industries that can benefit from personalized CX. By using customer data and insights, retailers can create tailored product recommendations and personalized support based on products purchased and current order status.

2. Hospitality

In the hospitality industry, personalized CX can create a more memorable and enjoyable experience for guests. From personalized greetings to customized room amenities, hospitality businesses can use personalization to create a sense of luxury and exclusivity.

3. Healthcare

Personalized CX is also becoming increasingly important in healthcare. By tailoring healthcare experiences to individual patients’ needs and preferences, healthcare providers can create a more patient-centered approach that improves outcomes and satisfaction.

4. Finance

In the finance industry, personalized CX can help businesses create more targeted and relevant offers and services. By using customer data and insights, financial institutions can offer personalized recommendations for investments, loans, and insurance products.

Best Practices for Implementing Personalized CX in Industries

Implementing personalized CX requires a strategic approach and a deep understanding of customers’ preferences and behaviors.

Here are some best practices for implementing personalized CX in industries:

1. Collect and Use Customer Data Wisely

Collecting customer data is essential for personalized CX, but it’s important to do so in a way that respects customers’ privacy and preferences. Businesses should be transparent about the data they collect and how they use it, and give customers the ability to opt out of data collection.

2. Use Technology to Scale Personalization

Personalizing CX for every individual customer can be a daunting task, especially for large businesses. Using technology, such as machine learning algorithms and artificial intelligence (AI), can help businesses scale personalization efforts and make them more efficient.

3. Be Relevant and Timely

Personalized CX is only effective if it’s relevant and timely. Businesses should use customer data to create targeted and relevant offers, messages, and interactions that resonate with customers at the right time.

4. Focus on the Entire Customer Journey

Personalization shouldn’t be limited to a single touchpoint or interaction. To create a truly personalized CX, businesses should focus on the entire customer journey, from awareness to purchase and beyond.

5. Continuously Test and Optimize

Personalized CX is a continuous process that requires constant testing and optimization. Businesses should use data and analytics to track the effectiveness of their personalization efforts and make adjustments as needed.

Challenges of Implementing Personalized CX in Industries

While the benefits of personalized CX are clear, implementing it in industries can be challenging. Here are some of the challenges businesses may face:

1. Data Privacy and Security Concerns

Collecting and using customer data for personalization raises concerns about data privacy and security. Businesses must ensure they are following best practices for data collection, storage, and usage to protect their customers’ information.

2. Integration with Legacy Systems

Personalization requires a lot of data and advanced technology, which may not be compatible with legacy systems. Businesses may need to invest in new infrastructure and systems to support personalized CX.

3. Lack of Skilled Talent

Personalized CX requires a skilled team with expertise in data analytics, machine learning, and AI. Finding and retaining this talent can be a challenge for businesses, especially smaller ones.

4. Resistance to Change

Implementing personalized CX requires significant organizational change, which can be met with resistance from employees and stakeholders. Businesses must communicate the benefits of personalization and provide training and support to help employees adapt.

Personalized CX is no longer a nice-to-have; it’s a must-have for businesses that want to stay competitive in today’s digital age. By tailoring CX to individual customers’ needs, preferences, and behaviors, businesses can create more meaningful connections, build loyalty, and drive revenue growth. While implementing personalized CX in industries can be challenging, the benefits far outweigh the costs.

How Do You Balance Privacy with Personalization?

Posted on Lauren Winder

Consumers’ default expectations include personalized service when interacting with brands online. But they’re also increasingly concerned about data privacy. 

When it seems like every company is collecting data on them, consumers start to get worried.

So how do you deliver personalized customer service in the age of data privacy? It’s a delicate balance that depends on honesty, transparency, and thoughtfulness.

How important is personalization?

In a word: very. Personalization is table stakes these days, and customers make decisions based on how customized the shopping experience is to their preferences.

According to Salesforce’s State of the Connected Customer report, 73% of surveyed consumers expect companies to understand their unique needs and expectations. And even though privacy concerns have grown, customers’ preferences for personalization continue to grow. That number increased by 11% in the last two years. It makes sense—customer expectations have jumped since the pandemic. 

Plus, more than half of consumers (54%) expect offers to always be personalized.

That’s not all. According to a McKinsey report, 76% of customers get frustrated when personalization doesn’t happen. 

How to use personalization to influence buying behavior.

Personalization also influences purchasing decisions. Over three-quarters of consumers (76%) said that receiving personalized communications was a key factor in prompting their consideration of a brand, and 78% said such content made them more likely to repurchase.

McKinsey asked customers how important different types of personalization were to their first-time purchasing decisions. Here’s what they said.

How to Marry Data Privacy and Customer Personalization
Source: Next in Personalization 2021 Report, McKinsey

 

As seen in the above chart, the top five most important ways to personalize an interaction are

  • Navigating in-store and online: Customers want to get to what they like quickly, and they don’t want to scroll through too many options to find it.
  • Product and service recommendations: Much like a salesperson can suggest items based on the customer in front of them, your site should use the information you have to pull out items or services they might like.
  • Tailoring messaging: “Hi [First Name]!” is a great start, but how else can you talk to your customers like you know them? Can you segment based on life stage? Preferences? If you have the information, use it.
  • Sending targeted promotions: Is your customer overdue for a service? Send them a coupon to encourage another visit. 
  • Celebrating customer milestones: Celebrate milestones in your customer’s life, like birthdays, graduations, or their first home purchase—but don’t stop there. Celebrate their 100th purchase with you, their year anniversary, or the first time they buy from you. Make it personal so they don’t feel like a number.

“Players who are leaders in personalization achieve outcomes by tailoring offerings and outreach to the right individual at the right moment with the right experiences,” according to a McKinsey report.

The problem is when you compare these expectations with an increasing focus on information privacy. When it comes down to it, consumers know you have vast amounts of data on them already, so they want you to demonstrate that you know them on a personal level. They expect you to recreate in-person, intimate experiences at scale.

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Finding the balance between personalization and privacy.

Increased privacy concerns have made personalization a much more difficult task in 2023. Not only are there more laws and regulations around data collection, but customers are much warier about information-gathering tactics than they used to be.

Here are some best practices for gathering customer information in a privacy-centric way.

  • Always get permission from customers before gathering information. Data privacy laws have become more stringent, and third-party cookie bans have made collecting information more difficult. That means you have to get permission from customers, and eventually, it will be harder to track them at all. 
  • Start asking questions. As data tracking becomes more difficult, you’ll have to start getting that information directly from your customers. This means asking more questions in customer service and paying more attention to behaviors instead of demographics. 
  • Collect only what you need: Salesforce reports that 74% of consumers say companies collect more personal information than they need. It should go without saying, but don’t ask for things like their pet names when you’re booking a restaurant reservation. Customers might think you’re stealing their information for nefarious purposes (but we know you’re just being thorough). 
  • Explain why you’re asking for that information: According to Salesforce, 79% of customers say they’d more likely trust a company with their information if the company clearly explained its use. Be transparent about how you’re using the data, and customers are much more likely to give it to you.

How does AI factor into the privacy conversation?

Customer trust is hard won these days, so it’s worth paying attention to how you present the use of AI in customer service.

So how do you use AI in customer service without losing customer trust? 

Once again, transparency is the answer. 60% of customers would better trust AI if they had more control over how it’s used. 

Here’s what that looks like when you’re using AI-enhanced chatbots in customer service:

  • Have chatbots introduce themselves in the conversation. Customers should always know when they’re talking to a bot and when they’re talking to a human. No one benefits when you try to “surprise” customers—no matter how amazing the bot.

 

  • Provide chatbot guidance upfront: Have your chatbot explain what it can do and provide some quick directions. For example, explain that the chatbot can help answer simple questions or gather information, but more complex issues will require a human.

 

  • Give customers the option to connect directly with a human. Show customers, you respect them by giving them the option to chat with a human right away. Or if there’s no one available, let them know when a customer service agent can get back to them.

Win customer trust with honesty and great customer service.

If you take away one thing from this piece, it should be that customers will trust good service. Don’t collect endless data to sell, use for predatory practices, or just let it sit in a database waiting to be hacked. When you show customers you know who they are—and use it to their advantage—they’ll become customers for life.

7 Customer Experience (CX) Predictions for 2022

Posted on Lauren Winder

The last two years have been hard to predict. Actually, it’s been hard to predict what will happen in the next few weeks, let alone for the entire year.

While we may be sick of hearing about unprecedented times, we can’t deny that the last two years have turned multiple industries upside down. The pandemic forced many businesses online and accelerated digital transformation for countless others. 

Throughout it all, you’ve worked hard to maintain a seamless customer experience (CX)—rising to elevated expectations even while battling supply shortages, staffing challenges, and delayed delivery services.

Customer experience has become a higher priority for all types of businesses. 63% of CX managers say their company prioritized CX more than a year ago, according to Zendesk. And half of customers say that customer experience is more important to them than a year ago.

Last year’s priority shift has set the stage for a game-changing 2022. Here are our predictions for the CX industry.

1. Personalization will become table stakes.

For years, CX professionals have advocated for more personalized experiences—especially in the online space. While it used to be a differentiator, It’s now a must-have. 

According to a report from Segment, 70% of consumers wish brands knew more about them, particularly their style preferences and household needs. And 45% will actually take their business elsewhere if they don’t receive a personalized experience.

So what does this look like in practice? It’s more than remembering a customer’s name. Lean into a well-rounded omnichannel experience. Maintain customer conversations across media channels and devices, curate personalized collections, and always ensure user data is secure.

2. Customers will embrace social commerce.

Have you bought something directly from Instagram in the last year? What about Facebook?

About half of U.S. adult social media users have made a purchase via social media in the past year, according to a survey from Insider Intelligence. And we expect the trend to pick up steam in 2022.

Instead of sending customers from social platforms to your own website, customers can make purchases right within the platform. Between marketplaces, influencers, and your own brand presence, it’s often more effective to keep transactions within the platform’s ecosystem. 

As a result, expect to spend more money on social media sites like Instagram to increase purchases directly within the platform. 

Marketplaces have made it easier to display goods and services, and selling through direct messaging has grown in popularity, too. Customers can see a product, ask questions, and make a secure purchase without ever having to leave the platform.

With its increasing popularity, it might be easier to send traffic to these platforms over brand-owned websites. It’s certainly worth some testing in 2022.

3. Brands will face the same old customer issues.

Whether in the contact center or on the sales floor, customer conversations will continue to center around the same age-old questions:

  1. Where is my order? 
  2. When will it get delivered? 
  3. When will you have more available?

The supply chain woes and overburdened last-mile delivery services we all faced the last two years will still be a problem. Unfortunately, we can’t say goodbye to it just yet.

As a result, your contact center will continue to face these repetitive but easy-to-answer questions. You can lean on AI-driven chatbots to handle the influx or hire more agents to keep up with customer demand.

Bonus lesson: We’ve also learned over the last couple of years that current events can send customer inquiry volumes skyrocketing. With this knowledge, you can prepare your team whenever global issues trickle down to the customers

4. The talent shortage will shift contact centers’ tactics.

With unemployment low and the demand for talent high, staffing your contact center will continue to be a challenge. 

To continue delivering a stellar customer experience, brands need to focus on productivity solutions and conversational platforms that will streamline customer interactions. 

There will also be an emphasis on flexibility within the contact center. Brands will focus on solutions that quickly and easily scale up or down with customer needs. Because hiring challenges will continue, it’s likely this need will be filled with other options, including AI, chatbots, and self-service options.

5. Contact centers will focus on empathy.

Empathy was the big topic of 2021, and we expect to see brands taking action on it in 2022. Expect to see it play out on two levels: brand empathy for customer service agents and agent empathy for customers.

49% of people want customer support agents to be more empathetic, according to Zendesk.

The talent shortage will force brands to increase agents’ wages—and give them higher-value tasks as a result. The push to streamline customer service and create more self-service options means live agent interactions will be even more valuable as a result. Instead of answering “where’s my order” questions, agents will be available for more high-touch interactions at every step of the buying process. 

What does this mean for the customer service agents? Brands will be competing for talent, so perks like flexible working arrangements matter. Higher wages and higher-value tasks will lead to better engagement and hopefully more overall job satisfaction.

6. Adoption of digital payment platforms will accelerate.

pay to chat apple payMillennials and Gen Z will continue to expand their buying power, and as digital natives, they’re more likely to use digital payment platforms. No one wants to manually enter their credit card data anymore (we can relate).

Brands will need to adapt to the next generation’s buying habits. In 2021, 4 out of 10 smartphone users in the U.S. have made a contactless mobile payment at least once, according to Statista. And digital/mobile wallets are responsible for 29.3% of e-commerce transactions in the U.S

We expect to see these numbers grow as more people resist manual credit card entry and rely on mobile payment platforms, like Apple Pay or Paypal.

7. People will put down their phones. 

A crazy concept—we know. People have felt like they need to be available at all hours of the day, and the pandemic only increased this “always-on” mentality. It’s led to a rise in burnout and just an overwhelmed society. According to McKinsey & Company, 42% of women and 35% of men reported feeling burned out often or almost always in 2021.

We expect to see more customers silencing their email notifications and turning off their phones in 2022. What does it mean for the customer experience? A heavy reliance on asynchronous messaging.

Rather than dealing with customers through live messaging and voice conversations, expect customers to pop in and out of conversations as their day permits. In fact, this 2021 Gartner press release predicts that 80% of customer service organizations will abandon native mobile apps in favor of messaging by 2025.

For your CX team, this requires a different approach to conversations. They’ll need to juggle multiple requests across platforms and be able to pick up conversations where they left off. To give customers the best experience, lean on a conversational platform that helps your staff manage it all.

Strengthen Your Customer Experience in 2022

Even though the future is uncertain, brands have the ability to give customers a top-notch experience with every interaction. You can be the bright spot in a customer’s day, a moment of reprieve in an otherwise tumultuous week. 

Use these CX predictions to anticipate what’s to come in 2022 and plan ahead. And if you need help facilitating customer conversations, scaling, or meeting your customers where they are, Quiq can help.

Ready to take a deeper look at the power of a conversational platform and see what Quiq can do for your customer service team? Schedule a quiq demo