As we kick off our new blog series on the top CRM trends identified for 2015, there’s no better place to start than the key consideration that influences all others—the customer experience. According to management consulting firm McKinsey, 70 percent of a customer’s buying experience is determined by how they feel they are treated, starting the moment they begin an interaction with your company. These interactions shape how customers view your brand and have a direct impact on future purchase decisions—and your bottom line.
In today’s mobile environment, customers have access to more options than ever before, so CRM tactics designed to draw in and retain your audience are more important now than ever. To this end, Forrester recommends a four-step approach to boosting your systems’ customer experience maturity: repair, elevate, optimize, and differentiate. Fix customer pain points, share and analyze feedback to identify top performers, design a customer experience model, and consistently seek new approaches to mine for customer insight.
The crux of the approach is authenticity—creating interactions that feel organic and genuine. CRM customization approaches such as robust content creation and gamification tactics can help personalize the shopping experience, as can retailer loyalty programs, no longer tied solely to credit cards, but revamped as multi-tender opportunities to reach a wider audience.
In 2015, it’s also expected that initiatives based on holistic experiences will take center stage, such as applications that let you search, order, and pay for a service all online. The shift of power from the creator to the customer means companies who turn their focus to the audience as their primary influencer will create more meaningful—and profitable—customer experiences.
Tune in next week to learn how personalization and customization are changing the way companies approach CRM implementations in 2015. In the meantime, to learn more about these new technologies and how our seasoned CRM consultants can deliver this functionality to your business, please contact any member of our consulting team at [email protected]. We also encourage you to contact Tokara’s VP of Business Development, Mark Fillingim, directly at +1 972-719-0213.
Sources:
CRM Trends, “Top 5 CRM Trends for 2015,” http://www.crmtrends.com/crm.html
Leggett, Kate, “Forrester’s Top Trends For CRM In 2014,” Forrester, February 22, 2014,http://blogs.forrester.com/kate_leggett/14-02-22-forresters_top_trends_for_crm_in_2014
Moran, Tim, “Customer Experience ‘An Everest Like Goal,’ Says Forrester’s Burns at CX Forum, Adobe CMO, http://www.cmo.com/articles/2013/6/25/customer_experience_.html
NOTE FROM THE PRESIDENT
