How Small Businesses Can Use Technology to Improve Customer Experience

A memorable, engaging, and personalized customer experience is one of the cornerstones of running a small business. After all, your customers are one of your most important “assets”. Without loyal customers, your business wouldn’t be what it is.

Refining the customer experience has been a topic of importance for most businesses for decades now, and it only continues to improve as time goes on. But considering the ever-changing environment of business and customer service, it’s always good to keep up with the latest technology trends that help make the customer experience even more enjoyable, allowing your business to thrive and develop meaningful relationships with your customers for the long term.

Here are some ways in which you can use the latest technology to improve the customer experience and drive better results for not only your customers, but also for your business success.

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) Tools

Providing your customers with what they need is all about understanding their wants, their behavioral patterns, and being able to meet them where they are in the consumer journey. A data platform like a CRM allows you to gather information about your customers and how they interact with your business, such as purchases they have made, browsing history on your website, and their likelihood of purchasing from you again.

Essentially, this type of platform allows you to aggregate the data you have across all systems, whether that’s point-of-sale, services and activities, or eCommerce (to name a few). Then you are presented with an all-encompassing view of how customers interact with your business and how you can personalize your marketing tactics to keep them coming back.

A personalized experience with a business is one of the primary reasons customers return. And when you have that data at your fingertips, you can more easily provide your customers with what they need instead of sending them blanketed, one-size-fits-all emails and other marketing promotions. In fact, 89% of marketers see a positive ROI when they use personalization in their campaigns, and 60% of consumers say they become repeat customers after a personalized experience.

Talk to Your Customers

Simply put, customers want to be in the loop, whether that’s about upcoming offers or deals, a change in inventory, store or service hours, etc. For instance, trade and/or service businesses like home repair or maintenance can sometimes leave the customer waiting for when they’ll show up. Technology like automated texts or app notifications can help bridge that gap. The easier the process is for your customers, the more satisfied they will be.

Use Communication to Your Advantage

It’s not a secret that customers want to be heard. That gives you an opportunity to dig deep into online surveys, reviews, and forum discussions. It can be quite frustrating for a customer when things go wrong or they are having trouble navigating to their desired end result, and the best way to remedy that issue is through transparency and communication.

There are many software solutions that can help with coordinating information flow between your business and customers. It’s also important to keep your website, social media, and other online communications up to date and detailed so that customers can find what they’re looking for without having to search far and wide for an answer.

Automate Your Analytics

When you are trying to curate the perfect customer experience, analytics are a very important tool to determine what’s working and what isn’t. If you test more personalized marketing campaigns, you’ll want to be able to see the results and how they are positively or negatively impacting the customer experience.

Analytics tools that automatically track ROI as well as customer engagement, retention, and satisfaction are widely available. They provide you with instant access to actionable insights that show you how your customers are reacting to your messaging, your services, and your products.

Strive for Financial Health

A company that seems as though it is barely keeping its head above water is likely to be less attractive to existing and potential customers. While customers don’t have insight to the day-to-day specifics, the effects of poor financial health can be easily recognizable should things be too unstable. The key to keeping your financials on track is maintaining a budget, regularly analyzing your cash flow, and keeping your financial statements up to date. There are loads of online and mobile banking tools, checking and savings accounts, business loans, and other resources to help you achieve ideal financial health.

It can be extremely helpful to speak with a financial professional to ensure everything is in tip-top shape and you can continue to provide outstanding experiences for your customers. For more information regarding an analysis of your business finances and the right tools for you, reach out to our experts at Republic Bank by calling 800-526-9127. Plus, take a look through our library of other helpful financial tips.