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Business team meeting with customers<\/p>\n
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During the pandemic, Zappos once again shot to the top of the customer experience (CX) leaderboard. Instead of pulling back on its historic support amid dropping sales, the company doubled down<\/a> on its customer commitment. Zappos representatives were encouraged to chat with buyers as if they were buddies \u2014 and the scheme worked. Zappos hung on to its top position and received lots of media kudos in the process.<\/p>\n The point isn\u2019t just that Zappos zigged while its competitors zagged. It\u2019s that Zappos realized that cutting off customer lifelines is a bad idea, especially during times of economic turmoil. Customer trust is tough enough to engender. Why take away the support that can foster, fuel, and nurture it?<\/p>\n Yet that\u2019s exactly what too many companies are considering doing today. There\u2019s no doubt that the world is mired in a mix of shrinkflation, stagflation, inflation, and other serious \u2018-tion\u2019 words. In response, countless businesses are taking extreme measures including laying off their personnel<\/a>. And your company may be ready to follow suit. Just think twice before pulling the plug on your customer service because you might be pulling the plug on your ability to scale.<\/p>\n You see, every positive CX adds a bit to your customers \u2018trust piggy banks\u2019. The more trust they have in your brand, the less likely they\u2019ll be to shop elsewhere. A full 75% of consumers say that they stick with trusted companies<\/a>, even when their prices are higher. Consequently, investing in your CX simply makes financial sense, no matter what the economic tailwinds do.<\/p>\n Ready to do more for your buyers and buck the \u2018right-sizing\u2019 trend? Try these strategies to keep your costs down while still serving up exceptional CX.<\/p>\n We live in an era where shoppers frequently try to find answers to their problems before contacting live customer service agents. This is good for your company and its budget. The more customers who can self-serve, the more time your representatives can spend on other customers with complex, higher-level concerns.<\/p>\n An economical way to encourage self-service is by adding AI-powered tools into your CX mix. Many respectable startups<\/a> have grown by prioritizing things like this. One of my favorite advanced solutions is AI chatbot technology. Chatbots can solve baseline buyer questions quite efficiently. A chatbot can rapidly direct customers to videos, how-to articles, instructional manuals, and do more. At the end of the day, empowered customers who can take care of their business will take care of your business as well.<\/p>\n Your brand goal shouldn\u2019t just be to sell merchandise or provide services. Ideally, your company should become synonymous with your industry. One way to make this happen is by telling your customers what you know. By sharing your expertise freely, you\u2019re making them more informed consumers. At the same time, you\u2019re cementing your business as \u2018the\u2019 place to go in your field.<\/p>\n This doesn\u2019t mean creating gated whitepapers and calling it a day. To truly give away your knowledge, you have to think broader and with less of an immediate lead generation<\/a> focus. For example, you may want to offer webinars to talk about innovative ways to use your products. Or you might start a YouTube channel, or even launch a podcast. Some of the biggest corporations are trying to capture the millions-strong podcast listener market. A podcast doesn\u2019t have to break the bank but can assist you in breaking out as a go-to brand.<\/p>\n1. Make it a breeze for customers to problem-solve solo.<\/h2>\n
2. Offer free resources and educational opportunities to customers.<\/h2>\n
3. Encourage customers to become members of your brand.<\/h2>\n