FEATURE: CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE
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Customer
engagement done
differently in 2020
Due to the amount of new technologies that are now available on the
market, it is imperative that organisations keep up-to-speed to ensure
that the customer has the right experience. Mo Areff, Business Unit Lead
for Customer Engagement at Altron Karabina, tells us how customer
engagement can be done differently this year.
Disruptive change
D
espite all the technological
advances taking place, customer
engagement remains one of the
most fundamentally important components
necessary to drive business growth. And
yet, many companies are still not giving
it the attention it deserves. There are
several shifts happening around customer
engagement and experience that will
hopefully remedy this.
One of the most interesting elements
has been around the re-emergence of
physical stores as an engagement tactic.
Already, several online-only retailers have
opened brick-and-mortar stores. This
highlights the move to how customers want
to experience products physically and not
just browse pages on the Internet. It will
only increase in relevance in the coming
months with personalised service being
added to drive differentiation.
Thanks to the growth of social media
channels, customers have all but lost trust
when it comes to targeted advertising and
how companies mine their data. This year, it
is the customer experience that will become
vital. We are likely to see Augmented Reality
become a powerful tool for companies as
customers expect to view, touch, and interact
with products in real-time.
From a B2B perspective, it is concerning
to note how few organisations are
adopting technology focused on customer
engagement. With so many sources of
information available to them, it is surprising
to see decision-makers not leveraging them
to gain a unified view of the customer. Along
with enhanced customer experience, this
more effective and integrated view of the
customer from a business perspective will be
critical this year.
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INTELLIGENTCIO
Throughout this, data will be instrumental.
However, it will not be limited to profiling
customers, but to use information to identify
groups of people that can become online
ambassadors for a company. This year will
be about the story of a person’s data and
how it can be used to serve the customer
better. Inevitably, customer relationship
management solutions will evolve. Using each
touch point as a data point, it will feed into
how organisations segment their customers
and deliver more engaging offerings.
Mo Areff, Business Unit Lead for
Customer Engagement
Engagement done differently
A tough economy and pressure to retain
increasingly fickle customers will result in
price wars between competitors. This will
drive businesses to embrace data analysis in
more innovative ways. In certain respects, it
will give rise to consulting-as-a-service where
organisations will employ people for shorter
periods of time and use them to deliver
on-demand services focused around the
customer. How companies engage with and
understand their customers will also change.
While it is still in its infancy, gaming will
become a powerful new marketing tool. For
example, players of popular online games
will be incentivised to go to retail outlets to
receive codes to unlock exclusive in-game
achievements. Instant messaging platforms
will also be used to renew everything from
car licenses to purchase prepaid electricity.
It is all about embracing digital channels
to deliver services to customers faster. Yes,
these will be available at a premium, but the
time-savings will see more people use them.
When it comes to great customer experiences,
the financial services sector is leading the
charge. This is especially the case when it
comes to disruption in the insurance space
as well as the emergence of digital banks
on local shores. All these organisations are
focused around customer engagement and
trying to do things in more unique ways.
Furthermore, customers are becoming
financially strapped as the economy slows
down. And the less disposable income
customers have available to them, the more
companies will do to keep them. This is driving
a lot of innovation, especially in the sectors of
the market where organisations are struggling
with a lack of customer loyalty.
Mobile apps have also contributed to a
changing customer experience. For example,
many local banks report that most of their
customers are relying on apps instead of
visiting their websites or going to branches
for their needs. As technology evolves, so will
banks and other companies be able to serve
their customers better. The app culture is also
changing the way consumers and businesses
purchase and consume goods, as well as the
way companies interact with their customers.
Fortunately, South African businesses are on
par with what is happening in the rest of the
world in terms of customer engagement and
experience. While regulation that governs
how customer data can be used does limit
opportunities to a certain extent, this year
will see many businesses adopt a back to
basics approach. This will revolve around
companies asking customers what they want
instead of them telling people what they are
supposed to want. Businesses will have to
refocus on getting to know their customers
again irrespective of whether that is a
consumer or a business client. n
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