In recent years, consumers have shown that they’re increasingly willing to engage with technology. Gone are the days when we would speak to customers face-to-face to make a sale. COVID-19 has accelerated the consumer shift to digital channels. When supermarkets, retail chains, and airports introduced self checkout, people either embraced it or hated it. While the immediate concern was that people were losing their jobs to machines, this wasn’t necessarily the case. Expectations of customer experiences have changed, and many consumers now prefer to use technology to communicate with businesses.

Technology has changed customer behaviour

As technology and social media have evolved, the way consumers interact with and buy from brands has changed, too. While customers would have previously settled for a return email or phone call within business hours, they now expect an instantaneous reply. This growing thirst for information, coupled with having service at their fingertips, has left consumers wanting to buy any hours of the day or night when it suits them. And the longer you make them wait? The more likely they are to leave. This need for instant customer service can feel exhausting to any business owner, which is why it’s time to lean in to technology, and allow it to work for you. 

The sheer volume of content and advertising thrown across people’s newsfeeds today has also caused the attention of consumers to plummet. People are now experiencing information overload, with businesses fighting for attention over every square inch of the online world. This means you must stand out and grab the attention of your audience quickly, before they begin scrolling again. 

Coupled with these new realities, expectations for great customer service has skyrocketed, too. While most customers would make a purchase regardless of their experience in the past, studies now show that 89% of consumers have stopped doing business with a company if they have poor service (5). Previously, buying decisions were driven by cost and popularity, but now they are determined by experience. 

How your business can benefit from technology

If you can adjust your business to meet new consumer demands and behaviours, you will experience greater sales, and more return customers. While a reliance on technology can beg the question “Will it steal our jobs?”, the answer is no. Most technologies will only serve to help the customers further, or assist your employees to do their job more efficiently. And although there is a steep learning curve in adapting to new systems and technology, you will see a positive pay-off.

Given that consumers increasingly prefer to find and source information, and make purchases online, your business will benefit from making small technological implementations to create user friendly sites. 

The types of technologies you can implement into your business

While it may seem overwhelming, adding technology systems to your business website and processes is easier than you think. In fact, most of these implementations reduce the burden on your staff by automating repetitive or tedious tasks, which enhances their productivity. 

The days of operating a business during 9-5 are gone. Customers want to interact with you and buy from you at a time suited to them, so advancements in technology will help you to achieve this. 

Here are some of the things you can implement to achieve greater customer satisfaction:

• Automate conversations with prospective customers using a chatbot. Successful chatbots answer your customers most common questions, and walk them through the buying process without you so much as lifting a finger. They have risen in popularity over recent years, and studies have shown that businesses are now prioritising the implementation of both chatbot and voicebot tools (4). 

• Real time messaging will keep your consumers engaged with your brand. While it isn’t always viable to be “on” all the time, consumers now prefer to connect with you over chat and messenger rather than phone or email. With features such as “average responsiveness” shown on a Facebook business page, users will know how long they can expect a reply from you. You can also add a chat box into your website for customers to engage with you while they shop. 

• Create an automated call back feature. Customers don’t want to be waiting on hold for hours. By implementing a call back feature, you can save them time, improve their experience, and enhance your brand loyalty in the process (1). 

• Use video in your business. People want to know who they’re doing business with, so utilising video tools such as Zoom for client meetings and consultations will enhance trust and open-ness (2). You can also use video voicemails when calling or returning a call to your customers to add an element of personal touch. 

• Add a self-service element to your website. According to research, 40% of customers prefer self service over talking to a human, with a further 70% of customers expecting a business website to include a self-service option (3). Self-service can be enabled on your website by simply creating a community forum, or providing a knowledge base or FAQ page. 

• Utilise omni-channel support to improve communication and customer support. With most businesses now interacting on a variety of platforms and channels, it’s important to make the buying and communication process easy for the consumer, wherever they may be online. Omni-channel support reduces consumer frustration when having to log out of one platform, and onto another to find the information they need (2). Instead, they can communicate and buy from you on their preferred channel, only switching to other means if absolutely necessary. 

GippsTech’s services expand far beyond designing and building websites. We can help you to implement and add additional features into your website and digital platforms to enhance your customers’ experience.

Book in for a free consultation with a member of our team. We’d love to hear more about your business, and what you want to achieve.

We are here to help.

References: 

1. Forbes Technology Council, January 29, 2020, “Leveraging tech to improve customer experience: 11 smart techniques”. Forbes, https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbestechcouncil/2020/01/29/leveraging-tech-to-improve-customer-experience-11-smart-techniques/#492ecfb424b8

2. Michael Redbord, May 13, 2020, “14 ways technology will affect the future of customer service”, Hubspot, https://blog.hubspot.com/service/customer-service-technology

3. August 27, 2019, “Improve customer experience with intelligent technology”, Smart Insights, https://www.smartinsights.com/user-experience/customer-experience-management-cxm/improve-customer-experience-intelligent-technology/

4. Chandrima Samanta, April 29, 2020, “7 technolgies that can enhance customer experience”, Martechcube, https://www.martechcube.com/7-technologies-that-can-enhance-customer-experience/

5. Hassan Mansoor, October 14, 2017, “6 ways technology impacts customer thinking, behaviour, and experience”, Customer Think, https://customerthink.com/6-ways-technology-impacts-customer-thinking-behavior-and-experience/