4 Ways To Use Automation To Improve Your Customer Experience

Pleasing customers and enhancing their interactions with your company all comes down to managing the customer experience. Most large companies have a goal that focuses on how to enhance customer experience, yet their efforts fall short for a variety of reasons. One of those reasons is the fact that there simply isn’t enough manpower or time in the workday to follow up with customers who’ve purchased or shown interest in your products or services.

While some might be hesitant to use automation due to its impersonal nature, when done well automated follow up can be both helpful and personal. Learn more about how automation can enhance customer experience management and help you reach company goals.

Methods for Using Automation and the Benefits to Customers

Use Automation to Follow Up

When a customer reaches out, regardless of the reason, timely response can make the experience more pleasant. Imagine having staff available to respond to customer needs or issues in the middle of the night or halfway around the world. With good automation, this can seem to be the case.

Two of the biggest benefits your company will enjoy with automation are the ability to respond to customers promptly, as well as the ability to reach out to far more people than you possibly could the old-fashioned way. Once the appropriate information is delivered to the customer (according to their need), your staff members can follow up with a more personal response to ensure there are no outstanding issues, and the customer is satisfied.

Personalize Automated Emails

Are you concerned that your customers might be turned off by the lack of personalization? Today’s automation allows you to personalize your contacts and responses in a variety of ways that let the customer know they’re valuable to you as an individual consumer and not just part of a faceless, nameless group.

Communication with customers can be personalized by including first names or full names in email contacts. Special coupons or discounts can be sent to individual customers in acknowledgement of a birthday, anniversary or other special day. Likewise, automation allows you to segment customers into different groups, so everyone does not receive the same response, discount or coupon code.

“The goal of your business in terms of its customer interactions is the generate loyalty. There’s no better way to do that than to offer quality products and services and to be responsive to your customers.” @Inc

Benefit from a Customer Scoring System

Identify happy vs. unhappy customers

An automated system like the NPS score will help your business identify those customers who are actively unhappy so you can respond in a timely, effective manner. This scoring system assists you in resolving individual customer problems, and it also identifies recurring problems among dissatisfied customers.

The ability to recognize recurrent problems sets your company in a position to correct issues that are negatively impacting the customer experience.

Likewise, a scoring system will also help you find customers who are actively enthusiastic about your products and services, as well as the experience they’ve had with you. These people can be effective leads for a referral program that helps increase your business through the positive experiences and testimonials of satisfied customers.

Convert Leads to Sales with Marketing Automation

A good lead is only worth something if there’s a hope of converting it to a sale. Similar to the way a timely, appropriate automated response is important with current customers, it’s also vital with potential customers.

Use your automated system to follow up with consumers who ask questions, express interest or sign up for your email newsletter. The initial contact a customer receives through automation can prompt them to act further, while giving your staff the opportunity to follow up in a more personal way.

The Evolution of Customer Experience Management

There was a time when a smiling salesperson, eye-appealing displays, blue light specials with creative presentations, and a snappy commercial were enough to attract consumers and cover you customer experience management needs. But, with the progression of technology, customers have become more informed and expectant of a consumer experience that includes valuable content and communication, as well as quality service and product. Online experience via email, social media and web content is the norm, and your ability to interact and respond well to customers is the key to enhancing their experiences.

High maintenance is the new normal for today’s customer, making attempts to deal with your entire customer base the old-fashioned way ineffective and frustrating. Automation is a key feature in an integrated customer experience management strategy.

Marketing automation points out those customers who are in need of assistance or correspondence. It then automatically responds to them in a prompt manner with the correct information from one of your channels. Automation systems free you up to concentrate on building your customer experience in other areas.

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