The best way to ensure loyal customers is by keeping them delighted. Having said that, it can’t be ignored that customer expectations have changed over the years. So if you want to win customer loyalty, you need to be aware of what customers look for in a brand. To help you with that, we will be shining some light on customer expectations. Without further ado, let’s begin!
Expectation #1:
Customers expect immediate, responsive service
64% of consumers and 80% of business buyers said they expect companies to respond to and interact with them in real-time. (Source)
Gone are the days when businesses would take their sweet time to respond to customer queries. You may have strict SLAs in place to help manage customer expectations and provide timely responses. But they also range anywhere between 6 to 24 hours. That means, even if customers are getting responses within the SLA response time, they aren’t quite as immediate as they would like and that leaves them furious.
There are so many channels that your customers prefer for communication and no matter the mode, they expect immediate replies.
How you can live up to it: You can deploy a chatbot across different channels (your site, customer community, social media channels, etc.) that has all the user information so that the users don’t have to repeat their issues. Modern, AI-powered chatbots are capable of leveraging past user conversations to present quick, relevant results. Unlike the traditional chatbots that offer limited functionality, AI-powered chatbots have the capability to handle L1 queries without human intervention.
Expectation #2:
Customers want personalized results
59% of customers say tailored engagement based on past interactions is very important to winning their business. (Source)
Needless to say, every customer has a different set of requirements. Luckily, they leave a data trail behind at every touchpoint. You just need to pick it up and then analyze it to get a better idea of what they want and how you can deliver a more personalized experience. Unfortunately, only a few businesses do that.
Your users expect you to not only anticipate what they want but also complete their query as soon as they start typing. Well, what can we say? Internet search engines like Google have spoiled users. Also, every customer has a different set of requirements. Your customers seek tailored answers according to their profiles and requirements; they want to be presented with material that is relevant to them.
How you can live up to it: A good way of ensuring that is by analyzing the search data on your webpages and portal. A capable search engine can provide rich insights from the user’s past interactions and help you understand their perspective. It leverages ML to stay a step ahead of expectations & provide proactive recommendations to keep em’ happy. And the fact that users are prepared to share their personal data for getting better service shows how much they value personalization. (Source)
Expectation #3:
Customers feel data privacy is important
62% of customers say they’re more afraid of their data being compromised now than they were two years ago. (Source)
Customers now rank data privacy and security higher than they used to. With cyberattacks having substantially damaged businesses in recent years, it goes without saying that data breaches pose a serious risk. This, however, doesn’t mean that customers have a problem sharing data, they just want to be sure that it will be in safe hands.
Tech-savvy customers realize that businesses use different techniques to get information about the user. Hence, they are also concerned about getting bombarded with irrelevant ads and suggestions. So as a business leader, it becomes your job to make sure your customers only see what they signed up for.
How you can live up to it: Information exchange needs to be airtight. All the internal and external integrations shouldn’t compromise on user privacy. Additionally, new features that bolster security should be developed – like encrypting data in transit, enabling two-step verification, etc. – and the users should be educated about them. This reinforces your customers’ trust in your brand.
Wrap-Up
It is beyond a shred of doubt that keeping your customers happy requires you to step up. Fortunately, emerging technologies like AI, natural language processing (NLP), and ML can help. AI elevates the customer experience by generating more contextual results and providing deep analytics. It leverages the customer journey across various touchpoints to provide a consistent experience. As much as 84% of global business organizations believe that AI will give them a competitive advantage (Source). Be a part of the AI revolution that changes support for good.
Want to Provide an Enthralling Customer Experience by Meeting Their Expectations?
Read our guide – Improving Customer Experience With AI – Onboarding to Retention, to learn how to provide a personalized experience to your customers.