Effective Ways to Build Relationship With Your Customer Through Technology

Technology has improved our lives in many aspects. It has become ever-present in our lives, and we depend on it for almost all our tasks, whether it’s for a simple task like ordering our favorite pizza or online shopping. We now have self-check counters in stores and self-servicing check-in kiosks in events that allow us to check ourselves in and print out our receipts and badges on the spot. There is nothing that technology can’t do for us. Every day we find some new technological development that has the potential to transform our lives for the better.

There are a whole lot of benefits to using technology, but there are some problems as well. Most businesses use technology to increase their sales and lower their costs, but they end up alienating their customers. Instead of increasing their sales, technology becomes the reason for reducing their sales and scaring away their customers. Let’s face facts here—we are in the business of customer satisfaction, whether we are providing them some service or product. Our customers should always be our number 1 priority, and we should be able to use technology in a way that helps make it possible.

For small and medium businesses or startups, technology can help their businesses not only survive but thrive in today’s market. The customers of today are not like the customers of yesterday. They want personalized services, customizable products or services, instant gratification, and a unique and friendly experience every time they visit your website or store. Technology can help you win them over if it is used the right way. It could be anything from AI chatbots to cloud call centre solutions, based on what you need.

Here are some of the ways technology can help you build long-lasting relationships with your customers.

Understand customer context

Technology can give you critical insight into your customers that you require in order to be intuitive about them. You can know what they want even before they start a conversation with you. Technology can assist you with finding out if they have ever shopped with you before and if they have what they purchased. What model of the product they like and whether their purchased item is still in warranty or not. These are only a few of the insights that you can get if you integrate technology with your operations.

If you and your staff have access to this information, just think about what will happen the next time the customer walks into your store. You will have everything that you need to give them a more personalized shopping experience. The same goes for customers who land on any page of your website. Depending on their previous behavior, you can cater to their needs in a better way. You can offer them the right product right off the bat, and they won’t have to spend any time searching for it.

Deliver personal service at scale

Customers want help and guidance available to them at any time. With the help of technology, you can make sure that help is available to them no matter when they approach you. That doesn’t mean that you get to treat your customers like they are a bunch of numbers. You can standardize and automate your customer support to maximize your reach and strengthen your bond with your customers. You can ask them to fill out a form that you can use to assist them. You can check their previous history and find out what they could be looking for. With a complete database that has everything from their contact information to the dates they visited your store (online or brick and mortar) and the purchases that they made, you can use all this information to give them what they want and make sure that they come back for more.

Communicate

The key to any good relationship is open and honest communication. When you contact your customers, don’t just talk about your business. Instead, make sure that you have a dynamic and interactive conversation. Listening to your customers is more important than telling them about your business. Find out what they want from you and then show them a solution to their problem. If you take the time to find out their pain points and then give them a solution for it, it will take your relationship to another level. Don’t wait for your customers to call you. You should be calling them first. By adapting technology, you can know when a product that you sold is going out of warranty, and you can call the customer to ask them whether they are satisfied with it or not. Moreover, you can have a maintenance policy and follow up with customers to make sure that everything is working as it should.

Exceed expectations

No business can survive if they don’t try to better themselves continuously. Technology can help you do that. In simple terms, you have to under-promise and over-deliver. Technology can help you ensure that you keep your customers impressed. Use the latest and top of the line technology to deliver your products faster. Surprise your customers with early delivery.

If you know that your product’s maintenance time is coming near, don’t wait for your customer to call you, you should call the customer and ask for the best time for you to come and service the product. 

CONCLUSION

The consumer culture is fast moving towards an “always-on” nature. In an environment like this, without technology, businesses can quickly become obsolete as they won’t be able to give their customers what they desire and deserve. Any company must combine technology with its operations to take feedback, analyze shopping patterns, train employees, and increase their knowledge about their customers so that they can provide a better experience.