CX strategy - Leveraging digital in the face of new consumer trends
Buying a product is becoming an increasingly considered act of consumption, a trend that has increased with the health crisis. First of all, consumers have strongly adopted the reflexes of a hybrid consumption between in-store and/or online purchases. What's more, they are taking greater account of the customer experience they have with a brand in their purchasing decisions.
This is a real challenge for brands, which have to reinvent themselves to meet these new needs and be present where customers are. It's a long-term task, both in terms of digital transformation and organisational agility, but once it's been achieved, it will be easier to deal with consumers' needs in terms of customer experience.
So where do we start? How do we get there? Gabriel Frasconi, Vice President Europe at Zendesk, explains how to get there.
A digital shift to maintain the link with customers
Nowadays, people limit their shopping trips, visiting the website to choose what they are interested in before going into the shop. Shops have become a place for advice, to see and touch the product and confirm the purchase. The customer experience therefore needs to be rethought by harmonising online and offline strategies. Even for companies that have already begun their digital transformation, because the explosion of digital has reshuffled the deck in terms of the CX strategy that needs to be put in place.
This new paradigm is also forcing them to rethink how they interact with their customers, because some of their requests do not lend themselves to all communication channels. Multiplying the number of points of contact enables them to respond. This means putting in place tools to structure and prioritise flows so that customer service agents can better absorb activity.
These may include ticketing modules or a knowledge base accessible online so that the answer can be found in two clicks. Or solutions to help in-store sales staff gain visibility of interactions between customers and the brand.
Messaging, the key to a successful customer experience
Online, consumers increasingly want to interact with brands directly from the channels they usually use to communicate. In fact, since the pandemic, there has been an increase in the use of instant messaging services such as WhatsApp, Instagram and Messenger. These have proved to be real assets in improving response rates and the efficiency of customer satisfaction teams.
According to the latest Zendesk and ESG study, companies with a better customer experience are diversifying their communication channels. Of those that have chosen an approach focused on customer experience, 89% are likely to adopt messaging applications and 87% social networks. Conversational commerce has also emerged as a new opportunity for brands to build loyalty and attract new customers. It's a way of building an active community and even generating new revenue. What's more, being active in conversations with customers only strengthens their trust in the brand.
Agility as a competitive advantage
With digital, customers no longer compare their experience of a brand with that of its competitors. They analyse and compare each interaction with all the previous positive experiences they have had with a brand. For brands, it's not just about engaging consumers, it's also about standing out from the crowd, particularly in ultra-competitive industries.
By being agile, a company can offer the most unique customer experience possible. However, agility should not be driven by urgency, but should be part of a real strategic thinking process that responds to consumer needs. New positions requiring change and the implementation of processes to enable teams to make agility a reality. On paper, this may seem like a lot of work, especially in the midst of a pandemic. However, with more than half of customers saying they are ready to move to a competitor after just one bad experience*, the ultimate gain far outweighs the investment and effort required or made.
Beyond the technology, there is also the human aspect to be taken into account to ensure that agents are more effective, particularly in this fast-changing environment. Managers therefore need to ensure that they develop new skills and provide them with the resources they need to minimise the impact of change, while equipping them with tools to support this adaptability.
The sinews of war lie in companies' ability to adapt on several fronts. This means putting in place a global transformation strategy, both internally, to ensure that teams are efficient and agile, and with their customers, to meet their new needs and expectations in terms of customer experience. Only those who succeed in combining these two aspects will be able to stand out in an increasingly competitive economy.
*Zendesk Customer Experience Trends Report 2020.
Article translated from French