Industry leaders are now embracing a more holistic approach to digital transformation and customer experience. Their entire organisation is geared towards creating a customer-centric culture. They focus on building critical enterprise infrastructure that can not only endure but prosper in an increasingly volatile business climate. They disrupt their industries and are often rewarded with growth and increased revenue.

If companies are to succeed in today's market, they must continue to be innovative, flexible, and agile. 

In light of rising interest rates, a cost-of-living crisis, and a slowing global economy, companies are beginning to view customer service less as a cost centre and more as an opportunity. With the right amount of creativity and technological innovation, investing in the customer experience can help grow sales, retain customers, and get people talking about the brand.

Businesses that are playing catch-up realise that adopting technology, like a CRM platform, throughout the whole business rather than in silos is crucial to delivering real value and memorable customer experiences. 
 

Driving customer service and loyalty with CRM

Successful CRM programmes run on a steady diet of customer data and insights. 

When used properly, CRM can make dealing with customers seem effortless, improve marketing tactics by increasing personalisation, and facilitate sales activities by identifying prospects and opportunities for cross-selling and upselling.

Yet, delivering unforgettable customer experiences and building loyalty can never be taken for granted. A recent Salesforce report states that “48% of customers have switched brands for better customer service.”

Even though there are clear benefits to a unified customer service approach, many customers still experience issues with communication between departments.

The report also states 60% of customers feel like “they’re communicating with separate departments, not one company, and 66% often have to repeat or re-explain information to different representatives.”

Connecting sales, service, marketing, commerce and more to drive revenue and build loyalty

In order to buck the trend of disconnected experiences, businesses can now power the entire customer lifecycle by using a CRM platform such as Salesforce.

With the help of data and analytics, businesses can gain a deeper understanding of individual customers. Businesses can now create unified customer profiles that respond to customers' actions in real time.

However, businesses must be aware of the various sources of customer data, as well as the types of information that are most helpful at particular stages of the customer lifecycle.

Throughout this lifecycle, your customer's information needs and demands will change, as will their expectations for how much you should know about them. The establishment of your data infrastructure is, therefore, of paramount importance. 

Regardless of the channel or device used to make a purchase, customers expect a tailored and personalised service experience based on their previous interactions. In doing so, businesses can ensure that their customers have a positive and profitable experience throughout the whole marketing, sales, and service funnel.

What should you look for in a CRM?

At every point where a customer interacts with a brand, businesses can now dynamically engage with them, encouraging purchases and fostering loyalty. 

It also makes it easier for businesses to measure the return on investment of those interactions and optimise value across the customer lifecycle.

If you're looking for a CRM platform to improve customer experiences, consider the following questions:

• Do we respond quickly and professionally to all our customers and prospects?
• Is our service team accessible when customers need them?
• Does the solution offer a 360-degree view of customer data across all touchpoints?
• Can departments easily share customer data, or is it siloed?
• What channels do our consumers prefer to communicate on?
• Can we easily integrate with other systems in our tech stack?
• Does the platform promote security and trust? 

By investing in technology and customer interactions, you can provide meaningful, purposeful experiences that improve interactions between employees and customers, strengthen relationships, and, most importantly, win their loyalty.

To find out more about how CRM can enable greater loyalty, please download our white paper, Integrated customer service: the new loyalty frontier. Or to discuss your brand’s needs with us, please do get in touch.