7 ways to build a personalized customer experience

According to Hyken’s research, 81% of customers prefer to shop with companies that personalize their experience. Moreover, 70% appreciate that employees know about their previous interactions with the company. However, not all businesses consider this level of service mandatory. And in vain — because, according to statistics, brands with a high customer loyalty increase revenues 2.5 times faster than competitors. Read our tips if you want to achieve the same results.

Method 1: Get customer information instantly from CRM 

For 70% of customers, it is important that sales reps remember the history of their interaction with the company. No one wants to say something like: “My name is John. I’ve already called to order a kitchen. We agreed on…”. Firstly, it annoys the client, and secondly, it takes time away from both him and the sales reps.

With a personalized experience, the sales rep immediately addresses the existing customer by name and knows what they need. But how to achieve this? It’s simple—use a call application installed on the sales rep’s or operator’s work device. Integrate it with your CRM system, which stores information about customers and their purchase history.

Combining these two valuable tools will bring you much closer to personalization.

1. When you receive a call from an existing customer, the app will immediately display their name. This will give the impression that the sales rep “remembers” the client and will impress them. 
2. You can instantly go to the deal card and customer contact in CRM from the app. For example, the Ringostat Smart Phone app has special buttons for this purpose that are displayed directly on the screen of an active call.
3. By recalling the transaction details or the history of interaction with the client, you can advise them more quickly. Or you can start a conversation with what’s important to them immediately. For example, the last entry in the transaction indicates that the customer has placed an order. So the sales rep can inform them about the stage of the order, for example, if it is waiting to be shipped within a day. 

It is also essential for sales reps who sometimes work outside the office without access to a computer. This happens in any business where employees periodically travel to clients, the post office, or a warehouse. In this case, choosing apps for calls with a full-fledged mobile version is crucial. For example, Ringostat Smart Phone works not only on macOS and Windows but also on iOS and Android.

Thanks to such an application, a sales rep can immediately address a client by name and go to CRM to “peek” at information about him or her. The main thing is that the company should use a CRM system that has a mobile version.

Method 2: connect the client to the right sales rep right away

An essential component of a personalized experience is the ability to communicate immediately with a relevant employee. That is why it is significant for businesses to use an interactive voice response (IVR). Thanks to it, the customer first hears an audio message that offers to select the desired department. Then, they press the appropriate number and are immediately connected to employees who will resolve their issue. 

You can also use additional numbers in the IVR for specific employees. For example, this can be useful when a top sales rep serves the most valuable customers. He or she can print their extension number on a business card or personally inform the customer about it. This way, the client can dial the number and be immediately connected to the personal sales rep.

It’s also essential that an existing client is immediately connected to “their” sales rep. This will also save time for both the customer and the entire team, as sales reps will not be distracted to transfer the call. This is also achieved through the integration of CRM and telephony:

• when a customer calls, the system checks the phone number to see if there is already a transaction in CRM;
• if so, the integration finds the sales rep responsible for the deal and connects the client directly to him or her;
• similarly, if the sales rep works even outside the office, it is enough to have a mobile version of the application for calls.

Such automation and a quick response from a familiar sales rep give the customer the impression that their call was expected. Such convenience warms up the relationship and increases the desire to cooperate with you in the future.

Method 3: Focus on valuable insights about the customer

Above, we discussed communicating with a potential buyer who has already contacted the company. But what to do when a customer calls for the first time? After all, in this case, the sales rep can’t get any information from CRM. 

This is where tools that show customer insights in real time come in handy. According to Forbes, 58% of companies that have invested in real-time customer analytics have experienced an increase in customer loyalty. With the help of such tools, you can, for example, observe how users behave on the site and what they do before putting an item in the cart.

It’s equally useful to see information about the customer before sales rep picks up the phone. This is how, for example, the already mentioned Ringostat Smart Phone works. As soon as a customer calls, you can see:

• in which city he or she is now;
• what device and operating system it is using;
• what kind of advertising they came from: source, channel, campaign, and keyword — for example, “buy an electric scooter.”
• which five pages of the site were viewed most often;
• whether he has already called and how many times;
• history of all user’s visits to the website, etc.

How can this be used to personalize the customer experience? Let’s say that an online store sales rep sees that a user has come to the site with a request to buy an iPhone. Customer browsed not only this brand but also cheaper ones. In addition, he often visited the page with headphones. This already provides important information:

• the customer is hesitant to buy a more expensive product, so sales rep needs to emphasize its advantages to increase the check;
• the customer is also interested in accessories, so the employee can mention that the store has a great selection of headphones.

This way, you can make both upsell and cross-sell. Also, the client will be impressed that the sales rep “guessed his thoughts” so accurately and immediately started a conversation as if he knew about his needs.

Method 4: set up call forwarding depending on customer behavior on the website

The customer has come a long way on the website, and this already provides a lot of information for personalization. The virtual PBX can understand where to direct his call when he calls. There are several options for intelligent call forwarding.

1. By product category. Depending on which product category the visitor is browsing, the caller is connected to an operator specializing in that category.
2. Distribution of new and service requests. If a customer is on the warranty or product return page, you can immediately direct them to the after-sales service department.
3. Depending on the region or country. The user selects his or her location on the website, and the call is immediately transferred to the nearest branch.
4. By the language of communication. If visitors browse the site in a foreign language, they are connected to a sales rep who speaks it.

Such automation shortens the customer journey and thus speeds up the purchase. 

Method 5: Identify customer needs during the conversation and focus on them

66% of customers expect a brand to understand their needs. At the same time, 31% of companies, according to our research, do nothing to do so. Sales reps often just “read out” the script of a conversation or only answer the client’s questions. In this case, it remains unclear what the customer really wants, whether the chosen product will suit him or her, etc. And the customer gets the impression that their goals and desires are indifferent to the team. Moreover, as one Ringostat user said: “If I don’t find out what the customer needs, the product may not fit them after receiving it, so the customer is likely to return it.” 

To prevent this from happening and to ensure that the client has warm feelings about communicating with salespeople, teach them to find out what the customer needs. The example below is illustrative in this regard.

“A few years ago, I was in a well-known market looking for a suit. I faced sellers offering me different options and asking me what I was interested in. But the problem was that I didn’t know what exactly I required, because I didn’t understand such clothes. 

Here, another salesman showed me what it means to identify a need. He asked, “What do you require the suit for? What occasions do you plan to wear it? Do you already have matching shoes? If so, what color are they?” When I answered the question, the salesperson immediately filled my need. He showed me two options by model and color, and told me the prices. He even helped me choose a shirt that his neighbor had on sale. 

He understood my needs so well that I would still buy the suit from him even if it cost twice as much. Because he was the only one who figured out what I needed and offered a solution based on that.”

Kostiantyn ChervyakovCommercial Director and Managing Partner of Ringostat

Here are a few examples of questions a sales rep can ask to find out what the customer needs:

• Tell me, are you going to travel with your family by car?
• Do you often plan to drive this car out of town or on long trips abroad?
• Do you have children or pets?
• How important is it to you that a car is environmentally friendly?

Method 6: Create a customer profile

Businesses frequently think they know exactly who their potential customers are. But you can’t rely on intuition because expectations and reality can differ. Take, for example, an economy-class residential complex aimed at young people. Here, buyers can be not only young people but also their parents who want to give real estate as a wedding gift.

You will need demographic reports from web analytics systems to understand the customer profile clearly. They will show you the age and gender of your potential customers, where they live, etc. But that’s not all. It is also essential to listen to calls to better understand who usually contacts your company and then makes a purchase.

How to do it: Use a virtual PBX because it automatically records all conversations. Listen to the audio recordings and record what types of customers you meet and their characteristics. Ask your sales reps what unusual cases they have to deal with and how often such leads turn into customers.

There is an additional, much faster way to use artificial intelligence for the sales department. More precisely, the Ringostat AI Supervisor service, where artificial intelligence is customized exclusively for your company. As a result, AI is so well-versed in your business processes that it comprehensively evaluates the work of sales reps or call center operators. Artificial intelligence:

• transcribes and translates conversations;
• captures the mood of the customer and the sales rep;
• evaluates the dialog by checklist, based on the criteria you need;
• advises on the best next steps after the call, etc.

In particular, it captures a portrait of the client after each call. From it, you can learn about the person’s experience, what they are interested in, and much more. 

If you know what types of clients you usually have, you can develop a conversation script for each. This will help make communication more personalized and build a dialog that addresses specific needs and pains. 

Method 7: Research the customer journey and be available at every stage of it

A customer journey is a detailed description of a customer’s interaction with your brand, from the first contact to repeat purchases. It is a map that helps you understand customer needs, identify potential problems, and optimize marketing strategies.

How to build a customer journey?

1. Define your target audience. Create a detailed portrait of your ideal customer. What are their needs, interests, and pains? Determine demographic characteristics (age, gender, place of residence), psychographic characteristics (interests, values, lifestyle), behavioral characteristics (consumption habits, communication channels). Divide your audience into smaller segments based on different criteria to develop more targeted offers.
2. Analyze the points of contact. Identify all possible channels of customer interaction: website, social media, email newsletters, offline stores, etc. Create a visual representation of the customer journey, marking all the touchpoints.
3. Visualize the journey. Create a diagram or chart that shows all the stages of customer interaction with the brand. Divide the journey into several phases: awareness, consideration, decision, purchase, after-sales service, and loyalty. Involve representatives from different departments of your company in creating the map to get a more complete picture.
4. Collect data. Use website analytics, CRM, and other tools to collect data on customer behavior.
5. Optimize. Analyze the data you collect to identify the stages at which customers encounter difficulties or lose interest. Make the necessary changes to your marketing strategies, website design, sales process, and other aspects of your business. Regularly review and update your customer journey, as customer behavior may change over time.

Make sure you are present wherever your potential customers are. Ensure that your sales reps respond to them on time via any communication channel. Ringostat Smart Phone can also be useful in this regard, as it combines not only calls, but also messengers and chat messages. 

The client writes to Viber, Telegram, or Messenger, and the team receives the messages in the same app where they receive calls. Sales reps can see all requests and respond directly through the app. This allows them to respond to requests instantly and not miss messages. Unlike the situation when employees have to keep several tabs open and look at them from time to time.

Conclusions

The chosen methods work best in combination. Take care of personalization at every stage of customer interaction, and it will pay off.

1. Analyze your customers’ interests and pain points. Think of answers to common questions for each type of customer. What objections do they have, and what “drives” them the most in your products? Develop separate conversation scripts based on this.
2. Use helpful customer data to target their needs better. Switch to CRM during a call to recall the details of the transaction. Use software that shows customer behavior in real time to understand what they require right now.
3. However, rely on more than just the data obtained with the help of valuable tools. Talk to the customer and ask them in detail about the purpose of the request, the specifics of the future use of the product, etc. This will help you not only recommend relevant products but also better understand all customers of this type.