Customer engagement trends in 2009.
Getting honest customer input is one of the smartest ways to truly engage your clients and improve your business,
- Matt Rhodes
- As providers of live chat service for your site visitors and customers on your website, you are already aware of the importance of a positively charged customer engagement approach toward your customer community. The inclusion of live chat on your website is a clear indication to both your potential and existing customers that you care about them and are always standing by to address their specific needs, answer their questions and interact with them on their terms. Did you know that you are in a minority?
IN a recent survey of 1300 US and multinational companies conducted by the firm e-Consultancy http://www.e-consultancy.com, less than half of them said that they had put into place a clearly evolved customer engagement strategy. However, awareness about the need for such a strategy was widespread.
Do you have a Customer Engagement Strategy?
The fine line between corporate success and mediocre performance is often determined by the level of importance you attach to your customers. Hundreds of studies and research reports have established beyond doubt that it is far easier, more cost effective and much more beneficial in the longer run for companies to work toward preserving their customer base than attracting new customers at its cost. However, one does not preclude the other. Here is a list of what is going to be hot in 2009 from a customer engagement standpoint according to e-Consultancy:
e-mail Newsletters
Do you have an e-mail newsletter that you can send out at least once a month to your prospects and customers? If you don’t, consider the possibility seriously. Your e-newsletter doesn’t have to be fancy to start with and you don’t have to spend a fortune to distribute it. Use Zakuta http://zakuta.com if you would like to use a free service to get your feet wet. For a low cost and feature rich e-mail marketing solution, use Mailer Mailer http://mailermailer.com. Create a canned message which your chat operators can use to encourage your chat customers to sign up for your e-newsletter from your home page. Using a professional company to manage your e-newsletter subscriptions is a good idea especially since there are a few legal issues involved.
User Generated Content
Customer engagement and Web 2.0 are gradually becoming synonymous. Your customers are members of your online community and are eager to participate on your social platforms. You should therefore consider starting a corporate blog on your site with an easy-to-use comment section. You can install open source blogging solutions such as WordPress http://wordpress.com or TypePad http://typepad.com to launch your niche in the blogosphere. To set up a forum on your website for your prospective and current customers to participate in, consider using low-cost forum software such as VBulletin http://vbulletin.org.
Customer Engagement and Social Media
The best way to build a quality reputation among your customers is to listen to them when they have something to say. This includes complaints as well. Listen to them in public and address their problems in public. This will build community trust and assure other customers that they indeed have a real voice which you are keen and willing to hear. Even a Rhodes scholar will tell you that no one is perfect. Business profiles on social networking sites such as Linked In http://linkedin.com Zoom Info http://zoominfo.com and Tribe.Net http://tribe.net will personalize your corporate identity. These websites also provide forums for you to interact with your customers which you can use just in case you choose not to set up a forum on an independent web page.
Nothing to Lose
Sustainable customer engagement that is ongoing and not run like a seasonal campaign is gradually becoming the key to business success. Since you have already explored the value of live chat by implementing it on your website or are probably considering doing so seriously, you are already ahead of your competition. Incorporate these strategies and many more customers—both new and current-- will beat a path to your cyber door.
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