5 Ways to Achieve a Complete, Positive Customer Experience

Customer experience is a sought-after strategy since it is seen as the key to company success. With the growing use of social media and online review sites, there has been an exponential increase in the importance of customer experience.

Customer experience is often talked about as a sort of magic potion for businesses. High customer experiences are seen as the holy grail of business success, driving everything from increased sales to lower churn rates and everything in between. However, even with all the attention given to customer experience, it’s not always easy to achieve it.

Many businesses struggle to give their customers a positive experience from beginning to end. Even simple things like making sure that your front desk attendants answer all phone calls correctly or that your website has up-to-date information can be difficult, especially when you have so many other things going on at once. Now, it’s true that most businesses can’t just snap their fingers and achieve a perfect customer experience every time.

But there are many small things you can do, day in and day out, to help make your customers happy with the services you provide. Here are five ways you can optimise your business for great customer experiences at every touchpoint:

Start with the basics

No matter how great your website copywriting is, how flashy your marketing campaigns are or how many bells and whistles you add to your product or service offerings, the customer experience must be spot-on if you want to succeed, so start at the basics.

Every great business starts with strong customer service, excellent product quality, and a clear understanding of what its customers need or want. If you’re struggling to provide excellent customer service, for example, you’re not going to be able to make up for that with flashy marketing campaigns. You’re going to drive customers away.

A customer experience depends on the basics: a positive attitude, clear communication, and a willingness to go the extra mile. While these are essential for any business or workplace, they are especially important for brands working in the service industry.

When customers are spending money on a product or service, they expect to be treated with care and consideration. That means hiring individuals who truly care about the brand they represent and treating customers with respect, dignity, and courtesy. It may seem like a small thing, but a smile and a “thank you” go a long way towards improving the customer experience.

Train your employees

Having great employees is one of the best ways to ensure that your customers have a positive experience with your business. When you train your staff members (including your front desk attendants, customer service staff, and managers) on the best practices for customer service, they’re more likely to be able to help your customers and make them happy.

There are many benefits to training staff to deliver great customer experiences, including:

1. Improved customer satisfaction: When staff are properly trained in customer service, they are better able to handle customer inquiries and complaints. This leads to improved customer satisfaction levels, as customers feel they are being heard and their concerns are being addressed.

2. Increased sales: Happy customers are more likely to make purchases, so training staff in customer service can lead to increased sales for a business.

3. Improved reputation: Good customer service can help to improve a business's reputation, as satisfied customers are likely to tell others about their positive experiences. This can lead to more people patronising the business, which can in turn lead to increased sales and profits.

4. Reduced employee turnover: Employees who feel valued and appreciated are more likely to stick around, so training staff in customer service can help to reduce employee turnover. This can save business money in the long run, as it costs less to train new employees than to constantly be hiring and training new ones.

Overall, training staff in customer service can have numerous benefits for a business, both in the short and long term.

You can also use customer service training to make sure your employees know how to deal with hard or challenging situations. For example, you can train your employees on how to deal with unhappy customers, how to handle difficult conversations, and how to solve problems for customers – including when to refer customers to someone else in the company for resolution.

Measure everything

You’ll never know for certain how your business is doing unless you measure it. That goes for customer experience metrics as well as overall business metrics. You may want to measure customer satisfaction, for example, or the percentage of customers who are satisfied with your product or service offerings. You may also want to track metrics like customer retention rates, customer acquisition costs, or customer lifetime value. There are several marketing tools you can use to track, measure and improve your understanding of business data.

When choosing your key performance indicators, make sure they align with your company’s goals. If you’re targeting growth, for example, make sure your KPIs reflect that goal. You can also collect data on the types of customers you want to attract. For example, if you’re targeting enterprise customers, you may want to track the number of enterprise customers who sign up for your product or service.

Set up smart automation

You can take many steps to optimise your business for great customer experiences. You can train your employees, measure customer satisfaction, and even adjust your product offerings based on customer feedback. But there are many other things you can automate, too.

Automating customer support emails, for example, can help you reduce the time it takes to respond to customer concerns. You can also simplify your customer onboarding experience by using automated check-in procedures, like automated account creation or automated welcome emails.

Automating simple tasks like these can save you and your team a significant amount of time and effort. You can also use automation to streamline your internal communication. For example, you can set up an email notification to alert your team whenever a new lead comes in. This way, you don’t have to rely on a single person to track incoming leads.

If you use a group chat or collaboration software, you can also set up automated notifications to make communication more efficient. With these tools, you can receive notifications whenever a new lead comes in, and your team can start the conversation whenever they’re ready.

Wrapping Up

No matter how well you do everything else, customer experience starts with customer expectations. If customers arrive expecting one sort of experience and end up getting something different, they’re not going to have a positive experience, no matter how hard you try. That’s why it’s important to keep your customer's expectations in mind at all times.

From the moment customers interact with your marketing campaigns to the moment they interact with your product or service offerings, you need to be aware of what your customers expect.

To achieve positive customer experiences at every touchpoint, you first need to start with the basics, train your employees, measure everything, and set up smart automation. It’s not easy to achieve great customer experiences, but it’s necessary for business success.

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The Power of Possibilities

Did you know the one thing that holds most people back is the simple fact that they think too small? What separates the average business owner from the super successful isn’t her timing or her resources. It’s her ability to think bigger than others, and take action on the things that will create the biggest successes.

Take for instance the typical small business owner in your area. Go into any local shop and ask them how many customers they have from out of state. Chances are it’s a very small percentage of their business. Yet with the power of the Internet, any local business – selling products or services – can change her business model from being a small local provider, to a small business with huge profits and paying clients around the world.

And it’s easier than you think. I know; I’ve done it myself.

I was one of those pioneers. I purchased my first computer in the 1980’s. Remember Prodigy? I dialed in almost every day. So when the Internet began coming on strong in the early 1990’s, I jumped in with both feet, and brought our business online.

What I found was an incredible opportunity.

I started out as a small business owner, operating a photography studio, and servicing people within my local area. It was a traditional studio, offering the standard portrait and wedding services. With two people, we opened a commercial location, and began contacting people within a 10-mile radius. But I knew there had to be a better way. And I found it on the Internet.

Thanks to a powerful online marketing strategy, we found success quickly. Within 3 years, we shut down our traditional studio, and began operating a virtual studio online. Our clients changed from people in our local area looking for traditional portraiture, to people all over the world falling in love with our virtual wedding studio, and flying us in to their location.

No longer were we stuck selling to the people that resided in our local community. We established an extreme niche market, and went to where our clients were. We raised our prices substantially, and began living the life others only dream about. By changing the way we thought about business, we changed the way we looked for clients. And our profits followed.

You too have that power. By changing the way you think, you can change the way your business operates. The possibilities are out there. But thinking differently can sometimes be difficult. It involves stretching out of your comfort zone. It involves creating changes in your business planning. And sometimes these changes can be difficult.

Start by asking yourself some basic questions.

“How can I take what I do now, and sell it to people 1000 miles from me?”

“How do I change my marketing materials to sell to people I may never meet?”

“How well do I work with technology? What do I need to learn?”

These questions will allow you to think beyond your local area, and start discovering ways of doing what you do anywhere in the world. People all over the country are looking for the services and products you sell. You just need the tools to get your information in front of them.

When you expand your target market beyond your local area, and go worldwide, you also add another dilemma to your planning process:

“How do I market to the thousands of people added to my new target list?”

When you decide to take your business to a much larger market, it’s imperative that you focus on who your exact customer is. As a small business, you can’t afford to market to the world. Defining who your perfect customer is becomes crucial. And knowing how to reach them becomes vital.

Your customer can no longer be defined by simple phrases, such as:

·Single female between 25-50 years old.

·Married female with children under 18.

Instead you have to get into the mind of your client, and define them as precisely as possible. Start with the simple phrases. Then add in the detail. The more you know what interests your customer, the easier it is to reach them. Consider a customer definition such as:

Single female between 25-40 years old. Enjoys traveling, and prefers to take short, exotic vacations 2-4 times per year to places such as the Caribbean, Europe, Australia and the Fiji Islands. Holds an executive position in the corporate environment, or owns the company. Spends 2-3 weeks per month traveling for business, and holds tens of thousands of frequent flier miles.

Using the above customer description, I can begin finding many ways of targeting this customer. I can consider building up referral partners with travel websites that cater to young singles flying into exotic locations for short trips. I can find networking groups that cater to small business owners, or buy lead lists or place ads in magazines such as Inc. or Entrepreneur magazine. I can consider creating a relationship with airline magazine editors, and advertise or get an article placed as frequently as possible.

Obviously, I could continue with many more ideas. But you get the point. The more details I can use to define my perfect customer, the easier it is to determine methods to reach them.

By changing the way you market yourself, you can expand your business in ways that will take your business to new heights.

Open up your mind to the possibilities. You might be surprised at what awaits you.

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Top Tips for a Solopreneur: How to Market on Social Media

Working as a solopreneur can be hugely challenging, and we explain here how you can master social media marketing to help your business grow faster.

Working as a solopreneur can be hugely challenging, particularly when it comes to finding time to market your goods or services properly.

Social media provides a cost-effective way to reach a massive audience, but managing different channels undoubtedly takes plenty of time and effort.

However, solopreneurs prepared to invest sufficient resources into social media are the ones who give themselves the best chance of succeeding in their chosen field.

With that in mind, we take a look at some of the best ways for solopreneurs to maximise the effectiveness of social media marketing.

Establish clearly defined goals

Before promoting your business on social media, it is imperative to lay down some clearly defined goals about what you want to achieve.

For some businesses, this may be increasing brand awareness, while others may be more interested in generating sales leads.

As many marketing experts including Ahmed Bilal have repeatedly emphasised, understanding your goals will help you focus on creating content that your audience wishes to engage with – a point we will expand on later.

Spend time researching what your most successful competitors are doing on social media to gain greater insights into the type of content that works.

Be selective with your social channels

One of the biggest mistakes many businesses make, regardless of their size, is spreading themselves too thinly on social media.

Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and other platforms offer a wealth of opportunities for solopreneurs to promote their goods or services.

However, they each need populating with appropriate and consistent content that resonates with your target audience.

It is much more advisable to run one successful media channel than do numerous ones badly. Be selective and you will reap the results.

Showcase your work on social

Regardless of which industry you operate in, the work you do each day is one of the easiest forms of content you can use on social media.

By demonstrating your particular expertise on social, you give existing customers an insight into your business and open the door for new clients to jump on board.

You can use the content as a way to build engagement by getting people talking around the subject matter you have posted.

Think of social media as a big shop window in a department store – it is a way of luring people into your business in the hope they will buy something.

Use scheduling tools

Managing social media effectively can be time-consuming, but there are tools you can use that will support your marketing efforts.

For instance, Hootsuite and Buffer are excellent ways to schedule and publish content across several different social media channels.

They allow you to post consistent messages, keeping your business in the public eye at different times each day.

When used alongside real-time social posts, scheduling tools are a great way to take your marketing activities to another level.

Set time aside for social

Working as a solopreneur often means that time is at a premium and you end up in a position where your daily work becomes all-consuming.

However, it is imperative to remember that social media is a marketing tool – the time you spend on there can be equally valuable if utilised effectively.

On that basis, set time aside during the week to dedicate yourself to social media. Use the analytical tools to determine when engagement is at its highest for the best results.

For many solopreneurs, social media is their primary way of staying connected with their customers. Do not make the mistake of underestimating the importance of this.

Engage more, sell less

Engagement with your audience has been a common theme in the tips we have provided, but what does this mean for a solopreneur?

In simple terms, it means that you should largely use social as a place where you interact with clients, rather than consistently selling to them.

The clue is in the name – ‘social media’ – people use such platforms to engage with things they like. Be sociable with your content, and people will be happy to engage.

Conversely, if the bulk of your messaging is trying to sell goods or services to people, you will soon see your engagement levels drop through the floor.

Don’t be afraid to outsource

It is important to recognise that social media marketing is a skill – it’s undoubtedly not the same as sharing what you had for dinner on Instagram.

If you feel that you lack the skills to successfully manage social media on your own, do not be afraid to invest resources into using the services of an agency.

By outsourcing some or all of your social output, you will be taking advantage of the knowledge of professionals who are paid to succeed in this area.

Even a small financial outlay for part-time social media marketing by an agency can make a massive difference to a solopreneur’s annual turnover.

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Good Referrals Matter

The only referrals that matter are the good ones. Sounds like a no-brainer statement. However, too many people don’t get it. It’s my belief that their thought process is slightly mixed up. They either think that offering a referral (regardless of its quality) will make them look good, or they think if they offer one they’ll get one in return. Either way, it is a bad idea. When you give garbage you do real damage to your brand and your reputation. Not only will people stop trusting you, but they won’t give you any referrals. They use your behavior as an indicator of how you’d treat their friend/client/neighbor/family member. No one would willingly take that risk.

One example of a bad referral is offering up someone’s name and contact information before you’ve checked to make sure it’s okay with them. This is, of course, a trust issue. Before you share your client’s information – or anyone else’s for that matter, make sure you have their permission. No one likes getting unsolicited calls. And the best way to anger someone is to give out their phone number without their knowledge. Imagine how you’d react if the tables were turned and you were receiving the call.

The best way to solve this is to make the introduction yourself. You can reach out to your client and tell them you know someone who may be able to help them. Would it be okay for you to pass on their information? Or better yet, once you get their permission, actually make the introduction. You can do this via email so everyone hears the same thing. There can be no miscommunication this way.

If you are in a referral group, don’t think you can pass a referral and follow it up by saying ‘don’t use my name.’ I’ve actually seen this happen. It amazed me at the time, and still does. Don’t use my name? If you do this you have no idea the harm you are inflicting on yourself! Do you really want to be labeled as the person who never gives a good lead? I don’t think so! The only reason someone would behave this way is to appear as being giving. Unfortunately, the exact opposite becomes true. They appear to be useless. People talk; word travels fast. These people are quickly viewed as not really giving or interested in helping others. Once you get a bad reputation, you’re sunk. No one will give you a referral because you aren’t worthy of it.

According to the dictionary, a referral is ‘a person recommended to someone or for something.’ The dictionary definition of ‘recommend’ is ‘to praise or commend to another as being worthy or desirable; endorse.’

‘Recommend; worthy; endorse.’ Interesting words.

So the other side of this equation is the damage that is done to the person who received the ‘referral.’

-       In the first example he can’t approach those referrals again. They have just experienced him in a negative way.

 -       Now his pool of referral sources has gotten smaller. He knows now that he can’t trust that guy to provide him with quality referrals.

 -       Getting a referral that says ‘don’t use my name’ is really getting just a name. It’s a cold call. He’s no better off than he was before.

So let’s talk about quality referrals.

The best way to get quality referrals is to be known as someone who gives them. Certain elements must exist in order for a referral to have quality. They are:

1. You know the person you are going to refer very well.

         a. You are aware of their professionalism, their performance, their customer service.

         b. You believe in them completely.

         c. You would do, or have done, business with them.

2. You know the person you are referring to very well.

         a. You know what their needs are.

         b. You know how they feel about being contacted by strangers.

         c. You know what they look for in a vendor

3. You know the best way to conduct the referral.

         a. Do you make an introduction?

         b. Do you contact the person for them?

         c. Do you provide background information to your associate so they are equipped when approaching?

Knowing the answers to these items will help you in creating a referral system that works consistently and productively. Then as you work your system, you’ll position yourself as a networking pro. In addition, you’ll find you are referred more often because you can be trusted. Did you notice? This system treats everybody fairly and respectfully.

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5 Most Popular Digital Marketing Trends

Digital marketing is transforming the marketing landscape. It’s also one of the most talked about topics in the industry. There are many digital marketing trends that we can expect to see in the year.

In this article, we will explore the hottest trends. These trends could be a long-term strategy for your business. Read on to find out more! 

1. Social media courses 

Social media courses are courses that teach students and employees about how to use social media in order to grow a business.

Social media courses can be taken in-person or online

The course topics vary depending on the school or the company offering the course. Some schools offer a general overview of social media while others teach specific skills like how to post on Instagram stories. 

Some companies offer courses on how to use Facebook Live for marketing purposes or how to use Twitter for customer service inquiries.

2. Voice search

Voice search is a type of search that enables people to interact with the internet via voice commands. It is also called voice-activated search and voice-controlled search.

Voice search is a technology that lets you find information on the internet by speaking into your device instead of typing it in. Voice searches are activated by speaking words or phrases into a microphone, rather than typing them into a computer or mobile device.

3. Social media chatbots 

Social media chatbots are computer programs that use artificial intelligence to simulate conversation with humans over the internet.

Chatbots are able to answer questions, give information, and help solve problems. They can be used for a number of purposes including customer service and content marketing.

A chatbot is a computer program that simulates conversations with humans on social media platforms such as Facebook Messenger, Kik, or Skype. 

4. Visual content 

Visual content is a type of content that is made up of images, videos, and other graphics.

Visual content has been around for a long time, but it has only recently gained popularity. There are many reasons for this - one being that the internet has become more visual. Another reason is that people have started getting used to consuming information in this way.

This type of content can be used in many different ways. It can be used to sell products on an e-commerce site or it can be used as an educational tool on the site of a school or university.

5. Social commerce

The definition of social commerce is the use of social media platforms to promote and sell products or services. Social commerce can be done through the following platforms: 

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Instagram
• Pinterest  
• YouTube. 

The most popular form of social commerce is through Facebook where people post pictures of themselves wearing clothes that they want to sell. This type of promotion has been shown to be more successful than traditional methods like advertisements in magazines.

According to Forbes: “Social commerce is defined as when the entire shopping journey from product discovery through the check-out process is conducted on a social media platform.

In 2021, global social commerce sales reached $492 billion, but it is expected to nearly triple by 2025 to reach $1.2 trillion, according to a new study by Accenture.”

To end…

Digital marketing trends are changing day by day. It is a challenge to stay up to date with the latest trends and developments in digital marketing. However, as a business owner, it is truly an advantage to stay updated. 

With the rise of social media, people are spending more time on their phones. This has led to a shift in how companies market themselves and the rise of trends in digital marketing.

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