In continuation of my previous blog on ways to enhance cx, my second ideology is to show why keeping your customers informed is important.
In 2014, Home Depot was hacked—and 56 million credit cards were compromised. It was one of the largest data breaches to befall a major corporation. Then-CEO Frank Blake wanted to preserve Home Depot’s relationship with its customers, so he came up with a plan: Unlike other companies in this situation, who hid the breaches from their customers for months or even years, he was radically transparent about the problem with his customers. Check this podcast
For businesses, communicating with your customers is key to a healthy relationship. Sales promotion, feature announcements are good; whereas updating outages or security breaches isn’t. However, it is important for both types of communication.
Here are the reasons why it is a good thing to keep your customers informed.
“Customer First” attitude
With the advent of social media, consumers are accustomed to receiving information about virtually everything the instant they want it. Do your customers feel that they have been taken care?” One step toward turning that answer into a “yes” is to communicate with them.
Customers love promotions and offers. They may feel left out when they are updated only on websites and social media as not everyone has the time to visit those pages daily. Instead, share it directly to customers via email or text message. This reminds them that they come first and customer service is your priority.
Don’t expect them to find the information on their own
If you have something that your customers need to know then you can’t hope that they will find that information on their own, you need to tell them about it. For example, if your business closes on a holiday then you need to let your customers know that you will be closed. The last thing you want is for them to be trying to contact you and not be able to get hold. Otherwise, they are going to take their business elsewhere.
Be transparent
It is a hard thing to admit, especially to paying customers, when something isn’t working. But, it is the right thing and that is what Home Depot did it to save their business. Though there was a choice to ignore customers and hope they don’t notice it. But, customers these days notice everything. If they find that business has been hiding it from them, then you don’t get any grace period. They would have switched their loyalty.
By keeping your customers informed about a problem you are proactively showing them that you are aware of it. And, you are doing something about it. For most customers, this is enough to let them give you the benefit of the doubt and they will give you the time you need to fix the issue.
They always want to know how your business fares
Customers are like facebook friends. They like to know what goes on within your business and how you are doing. So, set up social media pages and update them regularly. Post company news, share coupon codes, update on promotional offers and blog. This will show customers that your business is active and it will make sure your customers don’t feel left out.
“Our communications have been focused first and foremost on our customers and what they want to know and need to know,” said Home Depot corporate communications director Stephen Holmes.
Customers want to feel special. By keeping customers informed, you make them feel valued. It shows your commitment. When done right, loyalty increases and business gets the reward it deserves.
Keep Your Customers in the Loop. Don’t keep them in the dark.
There are zillion ways to enhance your customer experience. While the majority of such ways require a lot of effort to be put in, quite a few are easier to implement. One such easiest way to better your customer experience is to “Keep your Customers in the loop”.
As you keep reading through this article, based on my recent experience with 3 different customer service centers. You can draw parallels to the epic film of the 60s – The Good, The Bad and The Ugly directed by Sergio Leone.
The Good
I filled an online form on Vakil Search for an inquiry. Within a few minutes, I received an acknowledgment email along with the tracking number. To my surprise, I was told that a dedicated advisor has been assigned to handle my question and a 24-hour helpline is available for instant support.
Throughout the journey of my experience with Vakil Search, I was impressed with the way they kept me in the loop on all transactions by sharing regular updates. I would best summarize this as The Good experience among the three. In spite of the time taken to close the case, I would still rate them extremely positive on Customer Experience.
The Bad
You all have been multi-tasking, so do I. Around the same time of my experience with Vakil Search, I had to deal with another organization (name not disclosed for reasons better known to me), for they had a number of issues with their product.
While the acknowledgment was a standard template, it took more than a couple of weeks for them to understand my pain points. There wasn’t any response from their support team after a few follow-ups, which made to reconsider my decision on using their product.
At this decisive hour, I receive an email from them acknowledging it as a bug. All long those days of unresponsiveness, the Support Team had been working with the Development Team to deliver a fix. Nevertheless, I settled down with them as they managed to address my concerns. However, the bad experience with the Support and their process, keeps me thinking to switch over, for you all know by now that I am a Customer Experience Enthusiast.
And, The Ugly
Finally, take a few seconds more to read my experience with an e-commerce portal, where I ordered a gift for my bestie. I am sure you all would have guessed it by now. For those, who didn’t, the obvious thing happened – the gift wasn’t delivered in time. I now had to raise a ticket with their customer service portal.
Though there was a standard acknowledgment for the issue raised, the Support Team, neither the management, bothered to call or apologize for the non-delivery of service. After over a month or so, I receive a call from them saying the product was misplaced during transit and that the same will be delivered the next day. I wasn’t quite sure if this was going to happen as their Service seemed unapologetic to me.
Well, the last words.
One common thing across these 3 scenarios was that there was a delay in the final outcome. However, it is obvious that the Good (my experience with Vakil Search) turned out to be the top scorer in terms of customer experience, for they managed to keep in the loop during all transactions. I was well informed on the happenings and I could imagine what their next step would be. The result turned out to be on similar lines of my expectations.
Your customers never see the hard work you put in unless you keep him informed. However hard you may try to resolve his issues, you score a point less if you haven’t gotten back to your customer on what has been happening. The anxious wait to know what has happened kills the customer’s precious time and energy.
Offering great customer service is easy. But, the onus is on the organization to keep the experience alive for all customers across all times. Businesses need to empathize with the customer first, before trying to solve his product/service issues. Keep your customers in the loop well informed about the steps taken to address his/her concerns. By doing so, you are taking the first step to creating brand ambassadors for your product/service through the customer.
Landing a new job will give you both excitement and anxiety. The learning curve and the zeal to create a lasting impression will be pressurizing. Organizing your time and prioritizing tasks is imperative, and a 30 – 60 – 90 Day plan will help you do just that.
It will help you absorb the core job responsibilities and plan your activities accordingly. Think of the 30 60 90-day plan as the magical compass of “CAPTAIN” Jack Sparrow, it’ll show what you want the most and guide you and your team towards success.
The plan consists of three phases
1. Understand
2. Analyze and Plan
3. Execute.
Each phase is divided into 30 days and each of them has its own priorities.
Hari Kishore, a customer success enthusiast, has willingly contributed a guide for CSM aspirants. This guide will walk you through his vision of product success and growth as a new joiner in the organization. Share your thoughts in the comments section below.
If you are a self-motivated aspirant in your stream of business, feel free to share your plan for the benefit of the larger audience. You can reach me at ramesh@doyenthoughts.com
In today’s customer success-driven industry, business is in a constant quest for growth. But, they often overlook a promising opportunity within their organization: Presales. An integral part of the sales team, Presales plays a crucial role in not only acquiring new business but also lay the foundation to retain customers for a lifetime.
Presales operations kickstart when the potential customer has been identified. They carry out a specific set of activities that lead to qualifying, present product demonstration and help sales win deals as well as to renew.
More specifically, it refers to the technical side of the sales; responsible to demonstrate technical aspect and business value of the product.
As mentioned in my previous blog, I have dwelled into the details of the responsibilities and importance of presales in an organization.
Who is a presales engineer?
A presales engineer is a person who works alongside a salesperson to discover a customer’s business challenges and creates a unique solution to present back to their decision-makers. They help prospects visualize the value and benefits through an engaging story. When executed well it equates to a sale for the business, ROI for the customer and long term relationship.
Break down of responsibilities
Two-thirds of Presale’s efforts involve technical activities (crafting solutions to customers’ problems) and the remaining one-third is for commercial activities (manage deal qualification, bid RFP).
Qualify leads by tagging with salespeople during visits or calls with prospects and clients.
Deliver a kickass demonstration or presentation exhibiting in-depth knowledge in their industry.
Keep the POC moving by contacting prospects pro-actively and answer any technical questions related to their product.
Gather product feedback or feature request from clients and liaise with Product Managers
Collaborate with sales and marketing for Sales Enablement.
Respond to RFP’s when the tender is out and help sales to manage the bidding process.
Importance of Presales
It’s the first “proper interaction the customer has with the product/solution so the pre-sales group sets the standard and tone for the technical support and engagement they will receive” throughout their lifecycle. They invest their time to have a deep understanding of the client’s needs. Presales have the ability to predict customer needs with greater precision and provide expertise before the purchase is made.
A well-run presales organization will have a lasting impact on the customer’s perception and attitude toward your business. Oftentimes, they have a significant influence on the customer during the renewal period.
In conclusion, Presales is not about delivering technical closure for a sales opportunity. The primary focus of presales is always to deliver far more value to the customer during every stage of their sales journey. The value should contribute to the achievement of the customer’s strategic goals. The likelihood of customer renewing or expanding depends on identifying these value-based outcomes for the customer.
A salesperson is the first point of contact for a Prospect, who sets the right platform for futuristic business for both the organization and the Prospect. But, the actual business conversation starts with the Presales. They set the tone right for the Prospect for continual business and a long-lasting relationship.
Trusted advisor
Presales are just not about delivering a technical closure for a sales opportunity. It is the first step to providing a greater customer experience. The presales team has to invest their time and resources to have a deep understanding of the Prospect’s needs and competitive analysis.
They have the ability to shape up a fruitful conversation that dwells on addressing their needs as well as positioning the product/service above the competitor scenario.
Accelerate the Sales Cycle
The primary focus of Presales is to deliver an experience to the Prospect during every stage of their business journey. This experience, in turn, relates and contributes to achieving the customer’s strategic goals. They help in accelerating the revenue and guide customers/prospects to make the right investment
Expansion of Value
A well-knit Presales team leaves a long-lasting impact on the prospect/customer and business. This top-notch team of the organization should predict the Prospect’s requirements with greater precision and provide technical expertise and show Sales acumen before the purchase is done. The likelihood of renewals or up-sell hugely depends on this experience. This paves way for future expansion of the business.
“Companies with strong presales capabilities consistently achieve win rates of 40–50% in new business and 80–90% in renewal business” – McKinsey
A Presales Engineer is more trusted and respected by the Customers. They are a valuable asset in the sales arsenal and a trusted guide for the customer. Revenue, Customer Satisfaction, future growth, and market presence all begins with this Presales journey. To win and retain lifelong customers, I believe the organization needs to leverage and improve its pre-sales capabilities. They will be a clear differentiator from your competitors.
It needs a special mention in my blogs, as I have had the opportunity to work and lead a team of Presales Engineers in the organizations(Zoho and Freshworks) that I have worked so far. Stay tuned to my blogs for the next couple of weeks to gain deep insights into the Presales Activities, Roles and Responsibilities, and the Importance of Presales.
“Make a sale, you’ll make a living. Build a relationship, you will create a fortune.”
Sales are imperative for growing any business. Without sales, businesses struggle to survive in today’s competitive environment. However, traditional sales techniques like ‘Always be closing’, cause businesses to fall behind without a futuristic growth.
Before I share my opinions, I’m adding some stats from Hubspot on creating a positive sales experience, according to buyers.
Listen to their needs (69%)
Don’t be pushy (61%)
Provide relevant information (61%)
Respond in a timely manner (51%)
Sales techniques like ABC emphasize heavily to bulldoze through a sale. But, this increases the risk of losing the overall business as the requirements are not fully understood. The customer experience is quite dissatisfactory and this will cause a large impact on the reputation of the business.
“People don’t like to be sold, they love to buy” – Jeffrey Gitomer.
A Sales Superstar knows that a customer is for life. He takes mammoth efforts to build an ever-lasting relationship with the customer and that is what you call a positive Customer Experience. I have had the luckiest opportunity to work with many such Superstars. The conversation between them is quite interesting to observe as itfocuses more on the customer’s problems and interests rather than a forced sales pitch.
Experienced salesperson represents themselves as a knowledgeable person with solid domain expertise in the service they offer. Customers tend to listen to such an expert and this will make a huge impact on their purchasing decision and improve their outlook about the company. Trust and confidence are built forever before the deal is signed.
“After a positive experience, 83% of customers would be happy to provide a referral”(source).
Don’t jump the gun by pushing through a sale. Instead, tailor the sales process to create a sense of control thus making it easy for the customers to feel that they are purchasing an experience instead of a service.
Customer support is no more a cost center. It is actually a profit center.
I recently chanced upon an article comparing Customer Success to Support. The one that caught my attention in this article was “Customer success generates revenue while customer support is tagged as a Cost Center”. Traditionally, businesses have looked at customer support as an expensive division of the organization. It is considered a necessary evil. However, with more emphasis on Customer Experience(CX) these days, the tides are changing.
In today’s digital world, customers are empowered with technology than ever before. With a post, not more than 30 words, they either promote or destroy the brand. More than anyone else in the organization, they are constantly engaged with customer support. Hence, there is a need for businesses torealign their strategy. A couple of points to be considered during decision-making.
Focus to increase the customer satisfaction level
When problems reported by customers are effectively handled to their satisfaction, they tend to scale up your business more than those who haven’t reported a problem.
Customer problems are indeed opportunities.
The business has to look at customer problems as opportunities. It helps to narrow down and fix the services or products or business processes. It is an opportunity to increase customer experience and add revenue to the organization.
My experience
Having imbibed this quality of looking at every problem as an opportunity, I was assigned a difficult task to retain an unhappy customer. I had one last chance here to overturn the situation. From my discussion, I identified that the customer and his team were unaware of the complete capability of the service. After listening to their concerns, I empathized with their current situation and offered a two-day product level training. This training brought in the necessary product awareness which helped them realize the potential of the service. During the course of this interaction, flaws in business service were identified and fixed. This resulted in improving the overall experience of the service. As an addendum to the existing service, further opportunities were identified resulting in an upsell.
In conclusion, businesses have to come out of this old school thought that customer support is a cost center. This division is a treasure house as it holds critical data about your customer and their experience which provides immense value for your product, marketing and sales team – DIKW.
Katherine Mansfield, an author from New Zealand in the early 19th century, once quoted –
Risk! Risk anything! Care no more for the opinions of others, for those voices. Do the hardest thing on earth for you. Act for yourself. Face the truth.
Have you ever wondered the hardest thing that you did in life? In fact, at every stage of our life or career, we would have taken the hardest decision.
Let me go a step back and tell you that we have had done the hardest thing as a kid- the first step to walk, the first word, the first sentence without any errors as a child. And, there can be many more such examples. These things seemed hardest to us, without actually knowing that it was the hardest. We managed to come out of these with radiance and courage, as we were all naive to the world and we didn’t care much about risk. We never had thoughts on the aftermath of an action or decision. If I may ask you a question at this point, do we have the same courage and strength to risk our life and career?
Many in my friend’s circle were quite hesitant to say a firm YES to this question. I may not want to divulge or discuss the reasons behind the hesitation. However, one common thing that I found was everyone wanted to play safely without being risked on physical, mental or financial aspects.Where did this hesitation come from, while all along we have been thought to risk everything in our childhood?
The fear of failure grips us all. The hesitation to start anything new or afresh or change a situation stems from the fear factor in you. The onus is on our own self to overcome this fear factor. Take risks with caution to face one of the many new challenges that come in your way. Take the first step towards your goal and happiness and the rest will automatically fall in place as to how it did to all of us as a kid or a child.
“You have to take risks. We will only understand the miracle of life fully when we allow the unexpected to happen.” – Paulo Coelho
I have overcome my fear to take this leap in my career.
DoyenThoughts is a hub for GTM team’s to network and exchange ideas that will help the business provide a great customer experience
