5 Ways COVID-19 Pandemic Highlighted the Importance of the Customer Experience

Restrictions for preventing the spread of the virus and other factors have dramatically altered the way people do business, forcing companies to come up with new and creative ways to serve their customers. Customer behavior has changed drastically, and providing an exceptional customer experience is more crucial – and challenging – than ever.

This is why companies are increasingly turning to advanced technologies to ensure that they can meet their customers’ needs. If you own a business and are struggling to cope in the wake of the pandemic, it could be because you’re not addressing how the customer experience has changed because of it. 

As you will see, customer expectations are different in the “new normal.” In many ways, though, the pandemic has merely accelerated many trends that were already picking up steam beforehand. Read on to learn about the top ways in which the pandemic has placed a renewed emphasis on the customer experience.

1. Real-Time Responsivity

Businesses have scrambled to accommodate the new world we live in. Many employees started working remotely from home, and this continues to be true over a year after the first cases were reported in the United States. As a result, many companies have struggled to keep providing the level of responsiveness that they did pre-pandemic.

If you have fewer people available to handle calls and otherwise manage customers, artificial intelligence and automation are technologies to consider. After all, more businesses are turning to chatbots and other AI solutions in the era of contactless communication than they ever used to. 

There’s a good reason why: chatbots and other forms of AI-based automation have become incredibly sophisticated. They can now be programmed to chat with customers about their preferences, for instance, or to recommend products and services. 

In this day and age, customers expect immediate responses to their queries, and chatbots can considerably reduce the load by fielding repetitive and minor issues. However, hosted help desk solutions are also an effective tactic for helping businesses respond quickly to their customers, because they allow customer inquiries to go directly to the business owner or manager’s email inbox so they can be received in real time. This is ultimately a superior solution for any customer inquiries that need a human response and that automated chatbots won’t be able to handle. 

2. Self-Service

For safety reasons, employees shouldn’t deal directly with customers. Instead, giving customers powerful self-service tools is crucial. One of the best ways to do this is by developing a comprehensive online knowledgebase that customers can turn to for assistance. Your knowledge base can be a repository of useful information that includes how-to videos, quick-start guides, product data sheets, troubleshooting guides and more.

Another great way to encourage people to help themselves is by developing a robust online community. You can set up a Facebook page where customers can share their experiences, provide feedback and ask questions, for example. When combined with a well-developed knowledgebase, this can lessen the load on live representatives and empower customers to get the information they need without face-to-face contact.

3. Personalization

With many businesses shuttered entirely and social distancing required everywhere, customers miss the human touch. A great way to bring it back under these conditions is by personalizing the transactions that you have with them. Thanks to CRM services, or customer relationship management, you don’t have to hire a dozen people to deliver a high level of personalization. The right CRM software can help give your business the human touch that customers crave, allowing you to succeed even in the midst of the pandemic.

The best CRM systems let you create consistent experiences for your customers. Many can be integrated with various sales, marketing and customer service tools, giving you even better results. For example, your business phone system can be integrated with your CRM system so that customer information pops right up on the screen, allowing you to deliver exceptional customer care without missing a beat.

4. Togetherness

The pandemic has forced people to stay apart from each other, making it easy for customers to feel isolated and alone. Therefore, businesses need to acknowledge this new reality and demonstrate how they are working to accommodate it. 

This spirit of togetherness can be a powerful way to remind customers about your brand – and it can encourage them to do their part to help you stay afloat.

5. Convenience

Finally, although the pandemic makes things more difficult for business owners, it shouldn’t make life trickier for customers. Companies must be willing to meet their customers wherever they are, and this has translated into things like offering home deliveries and setting up contactless pickup spots. Regardless of how the pandemic has impacted the way you do business, you should find ways to make things as easy on customers as possible.

To be there for your customers, you have to be flexible. Doing things the “old way” won’t work in the post-pandemic world. By showing your customers your willingness to go the extra mile, you increase the odds of repeat business, ongoing loyalty and positive word-of-mouth. 

Therefore, identify places in the customer journey that may be problematic because of the new reality, and brainstorm ways to streamline and simplify them. Most importantly, be willing to do whatever it takes to make things easy for your customers.

Embrace the New Reality for Ongoing Business Success

Let’s face it: no one is happy about the way things are under the pandemic. However, many of the tactics that companies are using to improve the customer experience during this time are things that should always be at the forefront in the first place. 

In other words, these changes shouldn’t be fleeting but should become integral parts of how you run your business. By remaining flexible and open to new technologies and ideas, you can ensure exceptional experiences for your customers every step of the way now and in the future.