Harnessing loyalty
If you don’t have, or need repeat customers, you can get away with offers and incentives. The rest of us need to build loyalty.
Communities
Main social networks MO: to sign up everyone in the world. This makes them generic at best with no specific relevance within your marketplace, when what you really need are communities talking about the same things as you. The answer is simple… create your own.
One that you own
Your community; your data. You get the insights – not Google, Facebook or your competitors. And you don’t have to pay for advertising.
One you can integrate
You have systems, sales tools, CRM, websites and email marketing. Slim chance of hooking a LinkedIn group or Google profile into all this – but with your own community you can.
It’s already happening – connect the dots
You control the features, the content and the structure, which means it’s dedicated to your purpose. Doesn’t it make sense to unite all of your customers in one targeted place with one common goal?
Self-service
Sitting on the sidelines is no longer an option. Most companies realise that serving today’s customers means giving them access to answers and information quickly and easily online.
A multi-channel approach
56% of companies already have a self-service initiative in the works. Allowing customers to help themselves will reduce the cost of service to you and lower the amount of effort they make to get the answers they need – in minutes, not hours. Your website, email and social networks are all good channels to use when applying self-service functionality. Doing self-service well means making the brand experience work across the board and connecting it all together.
Escalation and support
Acknowledging and then seamlessly escalating your customers’ problems and questions to an assisted support channel such as email, online chat, or a call centre is the key to offering good support.
Ticketing system
Support is easier when multiple staff members are involved. You can see when a request is being responded to and who’s responding, so it’s easier to keep track of issues and time spent answering them.
Live chat
With a faster response time than ticketing systems, live chat support is a good way to quickly dispel issues and move users forward, guiding them through potentially confusing processes and obstacles.
Social channels
Companies are far more responsive on Twitter than via traditional means. It’s faster, cheaper and publicly addressing customer’s problems can strengthen a brand.
Building Brands | Generating Demand | Harnessing Loyalty