What do you think your customers want? Is it high-quality products and services? Or maybe it’s efficiency? Probably both. But that’s not all.
They want to be heard. They want to matter.
They want you to listen.
Genuinely listening to your customers is what sets you apart from your competition. This is where personalized service comes in.
Not convinced? The numbers don’t lie.
According to Segment’s 2017 State of Personalization Report, 71% of customers find an impersonal approach frustrating. As many as 37% of those frustrated customers are less likely to purchase brands adopting this approach.
On the other hand, 44% of customers say that a personalized shopping experience would likely result in them becoming repeat buyers, and 39% say they would even spread the news to friends and family.
Not only does a personalized experience mean repeat customers, but free advertising and recommendations.
So, what is personalized customer service, and how will it help you build lasting relationships with customers? Keep reading to find out.
What is personalized service?
In the world of customer service, personalized service communicates that your business listens to customers’ wants and understands their needs.
Some personalized service examples include:
- Writing personalized answers to your clients that address their concerns directly
- Noticing if the customer has had a similar issue before and working on better solutions
- Using their name over the phone, in emails, or in chat.
Personalized service is prominent in various elements of the business. This includes marketing, sales, and customer support personalization, ranging from email and website marketing to smartphone apps, messaging platforms, and social media.
Customer service can be very tricky to master, and if not done correctly, the consequences for your business can be dire. The truth is, customers, tend to chop and change if they feel as though their needs aren’t being met. Just like that, on to the next brand.
Proving that they’re both understood and valued personally ensures customer loyalty, and you can achieve that more quickly than you might think.
In practice, this means tailoring your service to suit their needs. To do so, you must first have a good understanding of your customers.
You can get to know your customers and their needs by:
- Checking your website traffic analytics
- Noticing which age groups follow you on social media
- Asking them for feedback on your services.
Why is personalized service important for customer satisfaction?
Happy customers are return customers. Personalized service is a technique that helps you build trust and converts new users to loyal customers.
Communication with your customers is about more than answering their specific concerns. Personalized service helps them connect with you, reduces cart abandonment, and enables you to form long-lasting relationships that keep them coming back.
Need more reasons to implement personalized customer service into your business strategy? As automation is taking over more and more business areas, it is difficult to provide that personal touch to your customers.
The point of personalized service is that it makes your customers feel like they’re doing business with a human rather than a company.
Personalized service examples: How can businesses offer customized support?
Your best strategy is to offer customers different ways to contact you, tailor responses to your customers, reach out to them before they reach out to you, and use automation technology to your advantage.
Creating multiple communication channels
The ways customers prefer to contact you differ, from live chat, email, or a good old-fashioned phone call. Having more options allows them to choose the one that makes them most comfortable.
Setting up live chat on your website and highlighting your email and phone number in the contact us section demonstrates to your customers that you’re ready to assist them through various channels.
What should you do when they reach out? It’s time to personalize your answers in a way that addresses their issues directly.
Regardless of the channel they choose, your customers deserve an answer tailored to their needs and make them feel heard.
Contact them before they contact you.
Proactive support is a type of outreach based on your customer’s previous engagement with the company.
Use customer data from previous interactions as well as collected purchase history to create a unique customer experience.
A 2018 survey on brands and personalization shows that 91% of customers would instead shop with brands that provide relevant product recommendations. You can send automated messages to suggest products or offer them help during their purchases.
Balance AI chatbots and human intervention
AI chatbots are not only excellent at handling customers, but they also save money, provide customer satisfaction, save you from doing repeat tasks, and are available round the clock. Using bots for personalized service has become a business norm.
So which is best? Human outreach or AI chatbots?
Choosing an approach that makes sense can depend on the size of your business. Smaller businesses that have less customer engagement can write personalized responses. Companies that have scaled their firm will often use AI chatbots to answer their clients’ questions.
AI chatbots work like a more intricate FAQ section for clients. They save your company time because your customer service isn’t stuck in an endless loop of answering the same questions.
These chatbots can help customers get the correct answers and allow your staff to create meaningful connections or focus on other tasks.
However, AI chatbots have their limitations. They cannot handle more complex questions and situations as they don’t have enough data to work with.
That’s why it’s essential to have a way of redirecting your clients to your customer service chat. This can make the customers feel more heard, and you can use those interactions to connect with your customers.
When answering, make them feel like they’re talking to a human being who truly understands them by:
- Using their name while answering their questions
- Keeping track of their previous purchases and concerns
- asking them additional questions to create rapport
- Thoroughly read their chat message or email to make sure you understand their situation and offer suitable solutions.
Does that mean AI wins against humans?
Well, the truth is, there is no definitive winner.
The best approach for personalizing customer service is to combine multiple channels and tools.
The omnichannel approach, otherwise known as “not putting all your personalized services in one basket strategy,” combines different ways you can enhance your company’s customer service.
For example, you can combine and connect FAQ sections, chatbots, email, and live chat on your website.
How can live chat help with personalized support?
If you’re just starting with personalized customer service and the omnichannel option is just too overwhelming, why not start slowly? Introducing live chat to your customers is a significant first step in helping them feel heard.
Live chat is that expert friend who can give your customers straight-to-the-point answers in real-time. It helps them solve their exact problem on the spot and saves time, particularly for large businesses.
Chat reduces wait time, avoiding those long phone calls and enabling customers to ask what they want to ask right away and in turn receive straightforward answers – at least for less nuanced questions.
Instead of typing up a lengthy email, chat allows clients to get to a solution question by question. This breaks things down into manageable tasks that are easy to tackle.
In this way, your customers instantly get the information they need to decide whether your services and products are the best fit for them.
Additionally, live chat makes your company seem approachable and friendly. It avoids formalities and creates a welcoming space where they can seek help, and it’s relatively quick and straightforward to get up and run.
On top of that, your tone is more casual, and they’ll feel as if they’re talking to a friend who understands them and their exact pain points.
Personalized customer service helps build lasting customer relationships.
The bottom line is you want your company to be known for its excellent customer service.
Customers gravitate towards businesses that listen and understand them and those that pay attention to their needs and wants.
They also want their answers as soon as possible.
Features such as live chat make their lives more convenient when they need to get to the point quickly. This creates impressions about what kind of company you are— one that values your time.
Which personalized service method you use will depend on what makes sense given the size and type of your business. For most companies, a mix of methods is often the best path to take.
Ready to set up a personalized customer service strategy that combines various tools that save you time and help you connect with your customers?
Sign up for Freshchat and give personalized service a spin with our 21-day free trial.
