We all are familiar with the saying, “customer is king.” In fact, this quote is one of the prime tenets that draw the line of distinction between successful businesses and not-so-successful ones. Add a tint of sophistication to the quote and you have the term, “Personalized customer service.”
Don’t we all like it when we get our Starbucks coffee with our name written on it? This is because with personalization comes an element of connection that takes the customer back to the product over and over again, and this, in turn, boosts sales and profits. This further underscores the importance of personalized customer service and its growing relevance in the business domain.
Customer retention and loyalty are important prerequisites for the smooth functioning of an organization. The more the customer feels connected to the product, the better are your chances of surviving in the highly competitive market. Because there is absolutely nobody who doesn’t like special treatment.
What is personalized Customer Service?
In very simple words, personalized customer service refers to meeting the needs of each individual customer and tailoring services that satisfy their diverse needs and preferences. It boosts customer satisfaction and the next time he or she wants to make a purchase, that mark of satisfaction left by the previous service will propel the name of your brand forward in their mind.
Catering to the needs of each individual customer might be an easy and manageable task when we are talking about small organizations. However, what about large companies with millions of customers? Satisfying each of their needs might seem like a daunting task. This is where we add the prism of technology.
Personalized Customer Service is a marketing technique that can reap brilliant results if applied right. In fact, if you look closely you will be amazed to see that a good majority of services you enjoy are curated with care using this marketing technique. Don’t you love it when Spotify suggests a song or playlist that is in line with your own tastes? Or do you get perplexed and amazed when Amazon comes up with a product recommendation that is quite in sync with the product you were thinking to buy next? Although these might seem rather telepathic, they are actually examples of brilliant customized services which hit their mark with perfection.
How Does It Work?
Personalized customer service at the grassroots level means that the seller knows and understands the buyer. There is a multitude of ways in which this can be done. Automatic product recommendations are one common way of achieving this. Once again the customized lists and suggestions from Amazon might come to your mind.
In fact, you can achieve personalization and customer satisfaction through the simplest of ways like adding your customer’s name to the automated promotional emails. And generally speaking, emails are a brilliant personalization tool. Now let us take a look at the different forms of personalization
- Predicting Customer Preferences: This is achieved through the development of user personas through segmentation. Rather than addressing the needs of each customer, you take the smarter road and try to predict their tastes and preferences based on the knowledge you have attained from analyzing the particular segment they belong to. Using this method, you can provide customized content on your website or use it in emails.
- Automated Individualization: automated individualization is attained through automated, real-time data collection. The data is analyzed and collected based on the activity in the customer profile. An algorithm will be present which is dependent on the information obtained from the customer data collected. The contact details, search history, purchase patterns, all play a role in generating this customer-specific data which can be used in generating personalized services like shopping cart recommendations, coupons, and so on.
- Personal Approach: A human touch when dealing with customers can go a long way in putting your business on the trajectory of success. For instance, if the customer support team is able to interact with a customer at a personal level by analyzing their previous interactions, it adds to the customer satisfaction resulting in better customer retention, and by default, success.
Do not make the folly of thinking that personalization is something that is solely for the customers. It is a sort of investment that you make for your company that can go a long way in strengthening your position within the market. Because a satisfied customer is like a shield that will shelter you from competition that springs up like mushrooms during monsoon.
