Small- to medium-sized businesses deal with different challenges, so technology is utilized by these establishments to keep their customers happy. The advanced tech is also used for convenience. Here are four ways technology is being utilized, especially by small- and medium-sized businesses, to make keeping their customers easier.
Keep Customers Happy by Being Aware of Their Context During Communication
It is impossible to know the context and reasoning as to why a customer is interacting with a member of the service or sales department for online or traditional businesses. Before technology, it would take a lengthy conversation to find out all of the information necessary to get to the bottom of a problem or to find out a general idea of what product or service the patron may want.
Technology cuts through all of the wasted time through data collection from past shopping experiences. This way, service and sales associates can find out the context behind the conversation with a few quick questions, and they’ll have everything they need at their fingertips. Customer service becomes faster, customer frustration decreases and the customer stays.
New Technology Makes Automation Seem Like Personal Interaction on a Small Scale
Older self-checkouts and automated customer service systems were burdened with a couple of problems. First off, they tended to malfunction or work improperly, and they make customers feel like unimportant numbers. Unfortunately, many small- and medium-sized businesses are not upgrading to better, smarter systems like many of the services offered by certain customer relationship management firms like Solutionreach either, and those two problems are a great way to lose customers.
Newer technology is offering things on websites like micro surveys for customers to help the company improve and tailor the wants and needs of their customers. Newer automated phone systems are also keeping customers by offering callback requests if the automated service was not sufficient.
Technology Can Be Used to Anticipate Problems Before Losing the Customer
There are new technology systems out there that are allowing smaller businesses to stay connected to their customer base, so they may have a better understanding what customers they are in danger of losing. Many businesses mistakenly cater to the loudest and most obnoxious customers while many customers will take their business somewhere else quietly.
One method of keeping customers is to send follow-up messages to customer accounts, which have happened to browse the troubleshooting or support section of a site without making full contact. Also, CRM tools help keep customers inside the business scope.
Technology Allows Customers the Enjoyment of Helping Themselves
Technology has already revolutionized the way customers shop for products and order services. The best way to keep customers happy and continue getting their online business is to be honest on the frequently asked questions section, and make sure it stays updated too. Customers with questions answered efficiently and quickly on their own will be happy. Keep customers coming back to a website to shop by making sure there are plenty of search filters, so they can quickly, easily and precisely find the items and services they are looking for. If these small tweaks are made, then customers are sure to keep coming back.
Keeping customers happy and making their purchasing experience easy is the best way to keep them coming back and bringing along new business. Businesses are starting to devote larger budgets to areas of technology, which will increase and hold a customer base.