I was catching up with my marketing reading this week and came across an article on Marketingprofs.com by Joe Gagnon, a senior vice president for Aspect Software. The article delved into what customers want in the way of customer service and what their expectations are.
The article started out by quoting some statistics:
- “Some 55% of consumers say that their customer service expectations have increased over the past three years.”
- “Additionally 55% of consumers say they have moved from at least on company in the past year due to poor customer service.”
As consumers now have technology literally at their fingertips, “consumers arguably know more about the products and services than a company’s customer service representatives know about them.”
So what do customers want? According to Mr. Gagnon there are seven things that customers want. Shown below are the first three thoughts.
#1 They want to be known. Customers who have dealt with you in the past expect you to know about these past transactions and what occurred.
#2 A mobile experience. Customers want to be able to access products and services on all types of mobile devices. Importantly, as Mr. Gagnon says, “… the vast majority (70%) of consumers would rather text than talk.”
How many of you text your customers when you have information or specials to pass along? It’s definitely something you should think about. Start collecting cell phone numbers so you may text the customers who prefer to communicate this way.
#3 Self-service. According to IBM Retail Research 72%of customers prefer self-service over picking up the phone and 91% would rather use self-service if it was available. How simple is it to buy through your website? Do you have one-click purchasing (ala Amazon)? If you don’t it’s something you should think about.
As we come into the winter and (in theory) things start to slow down a little it’s a good time to start updating the way we use technology and shift to become more in step with the way consumers want to find information and want to purchase.
A tip of the glass from me to you
E column
by Elizabeth “E” Slater, In Short Direct Marketing
A recognized expert in the fields of direct marketing and sales in the wine marketplace. Slater has taught more wineries and winery associations how to create and improve the effectiveness of their direct marketing programs and to make the most of each customer’s potential than anyone in the wine industry today.
