CONSUMER BEHAVIOR
Customer Engagement Strategies To Strengthen Relations And Enhance Competitiveness
By Dr . Catherine Ngahu
In today ’ s competitive business environment , customer engagement is highly valued as many organizations seek to find better ways to manage interactions and to maintain effective relationships with clients . The reason for this is the recognition that engaged customers tend to buy more , use more , recommend more and are more likely to be loyal to the brand . Furthermore , engaged customers tend to spread positive word of mouth about your brand .
This makes enhancing customer engagement a key focus for marketers because as Peter Drucker put it : “ the aim of marketing is to understand customers so well that the product or service fits him and sells itself ”. This means that engaged customers are good for business and contribute to generating higher profits .
A few months ago , I received an interesting question on my YouTube channel relating to customer engagement . Allan asked me thus : “ I would like to know more about customer service from the point of view of the client - meaning effective customer service . In Kenya for example , they put a pretty girl with an American accent to smile as she speaks down to customers as a way to make you believe that they are up market or high end … I would like to learn more pointers on how to make sure I always communicate with my clients in a more genuine and engaging way ”.
I appreciate Allan for asking such a great question . It was my inspiration for this article . One question I have for you is this ; have you experienced what Allan is talking about in your interactions with Kenyan businesses ? You can share your considered feedback through my email address at the tail end of this article .
I do agree with Allan that customer engagement is not about putting someone out there , just to create a fake conversation . Customer engagement is about building a relationship of trust between the company and the consumer .
There is no one strategy that works for
To build a strong relationship with customers you need to take time , gather information , test different approaches and get to understand them so well , that your selling efforts will become superfluous . In other words , ‘ your products will sell themselves ’ as Peter Drucker asserted . all , but the important thing is to recognize the need to have a customer engagement strategy . Happy customers who are willing to repeatedly buy your brand and to recommend you to others are a result of effective ongoing interactions .
This made me think of a Kikuyu proverb that says something that roughly translates to this : “ a relationship is strengthened through constant interactions ”. In my view , this statement is as relevant to customer engagement as it is to personal relationships . There is a lot we can learn about customer engagement and how to build brand relationships from the strategies used in building personal relationships .
Customer engagement fits well within the context of customer acquisition and retention strategies . Without effective engagement , there will be a gap between your customer acquisition and retention objectives . You may win first time customers easily , but if you don ’ t engage them effectively , you will not be able to retain them over time .
Customer engagement helps to grow a business in a sustainable manner . Generally , it ’ s expected that engaged customers will have a higher repeat purchase rate , higher average order value , higher likelihood of loyalty , higher customer lifetime value , and more willingness to promote your brand . It very well translates to higher net promoter scores .
Here-under are 3 ways you can deploy to help you in your journey of enhancing
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