By Swatil Binte Mahmud, Blogger, Lava Protocols
The pandemic changed the way we work, shop, and how we communicate. Overnight, we were glued to our phones and laptop screens for most parts of the day and night. I remember when I first started working from home, it was extremely difficult to constantly stare at my laptop screen without being distracted. So, in between Zoom calls and writing reports, I was shopping online on my phone. I bought groceries even when my pantry was full, I was ordering pizza every time a food app gave away coupons, and Yes, I ended up buying things that I did not need. Even though the work from home era left a dent in my wallet, I had some great observations about shopping online.
Apps became smoother and easy to use, delivery was fast and efficient, discounts and coupons kept piling up, and there was always someone on the other side of my phone tending to all my needs. Online customer service reached new heights in the pandemic and so did my shopping addiction. Online customer service agents and apps became my new best friend.
Meet the New Sales Engine
In 2020, we entered a new era during the pandemic and e-commerce did too. Salespeople are no longer approaching you on the streets and knocking on your doors. Our sales teams shifted to virtual selling from the usual face-to-face encounters. Consumers started engaging with businesses online and the number of first-time online shoppers increased exponentially.
This new era post-pandemic consumers are not only concerned about your products; they care about your behavior. Customers expect the businesses and organizations they buy from to have values that extend beyond the traditional pursuit of profit. According to research by Salesforce, 80% of customers expect company values to be clearly stated, and 90% expect them to demonstrate those values in their business. 80% of the customers in the same research said the experience provided by a company is also as important as its product and services.
Hence, to keep up with the growing and evolving expectations of customers, companies are changing too. They are changing the way they take care of their customers, they listen more, and care more. So, let me introduce you to your new sales engine; top-notch customer service. Service teams are now responsible for better sales experiences and improving their company’s sales performance.
- Customer Insights: According to the Co-Founder of CX and Service Expert, Uplifting Service, “if you bring your sales and service teams together and ask them what they need from each other, they will develop things that you couldn’t even imagine.” Therefore, to understand deep customers insights and to create greater customer experience the silos between sales and service needs breaking down.
- Brand Loyalty and Advocacy: More than 80% of sales representatives said building long-term customer relationships are more important now than pre-pandemic. Hence, providing a good service experience can cultivate trust and understanding, which can make your customers feel assertive about a future partnership.
- Seamless Omni-Channel Customer Experience: Customers are hyper-connected and use multiple channels online. Hence, they expect consistency across all channels of your business. You can create personalized and unified touchpoints in all your sales and service channels to keep your customers happy.
Happy customers mean more sales which will lead to more profits! The idea remains the same, only the platform has shifted. In this digital world, where we are spending more time online, all we have to do is ensure smooth and easy customer service for our most valuable stakeholders.
Lava Protocols is an authorized Salesforce Partner. Want to hyper-personalize your Customer Experience? Drop us an email to: hello@lavaprotocols.com.