Creating Personalized Customer Experiences

Written in collaboration with Gorgias

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If you are looking for the perfect ingredient to increase sales for your brand — it is personalization. Right now, personalization is at the core of every brand’s strategy. 

Providing services as a human and not a robot is not just a trend, but a survival strategy. Would you go to a hairdresser that gives you the same haircut as everyone else? Likely not, because one size does not fit all. Giving your customers what they need is fundamental to strengthening your branding and sales strategy.

But First, Why is it So Important?

As the market keeps getting bigger and bigger, and shoppers have twice as many options, what is it that makes them come back to you? According to McKinsey, personalization drives up loyalty. Experiences customized from individual data points leave an impactful mark on customers. It gives you a competitive edge and makes it difficult for your competitor to adapt.

Personalization can lead to revenue growth between 5%to 15%, and 90%of retailers state that personalization is a priority for them. Customers who still receive irrelevant ads and offers recorded that some companies are not good at the game. When done right, personalization not only attracts new customers but also nurtures existing ones.

What is the Holy Grail of Personalization?

1. Content is King

Personalizing content might seem like a no-brainer, but usually, the most basic things have maximum impact. Tapping into people’s emotions to create a positive experience is the start of a strong bond. Understanding people and responding to their needs is how they begin to trust you. But let’s get this straight — it is not easy to do it virtually, nor is it easy in person.

Thankfully, there are tools that make your life simpler. With our partner Gorgias, you can create personalized messages ahead of time to respond faster. It establishes consistency across brand channels and increases your chances of brand recall. As per Harvard Business Review, businesses that value customer relationships earn profits 2.5 times faster than their competitors.

2. Engagement Channels: The More, The Better

Your customers are present everywhere. They find you through ads, social media platforms, engage through live chats, sign up through email, and phone you for voice support. Being present where your customers are remains the cornerstone of impeccable customer service.

Gorgias allows you and your team to engage with customers across multiple channels. Building an ecosystem to reach out to your customers at every buying stage ensures they do not leave you halfway. It also creates a massive amount of opportunity for lead mining. 

To learn more about how to engage customers across multiple channels, check out our first collaboration post with Gorgias: Customer Care in an Omnichannel World.

3. Less time, more money

Giving customers back the time they would ideally spend finding a solution, amplifies the quality of your service. In Gorgias you can set up an efficient and automated self-service experience that reduces the hassle of waiting for basic answers to ordinary problems. Suggest questions to ask based on prior engagement, order status, and delivery information. Win over customers with two main factors — convenience and speed.

Listen Before You Speak

Customer expectations change like the seasons. Understanding what your customers like or dislike at each buying stage creates opportunities for improvement. Feedback can influence innovation and enhancement in your service. Personalization is a vicious cycle. You start by understanding what your customers want, you act on it, hear their feedback, and then go back to understanding what they want. Knowing that all your efforts are working is just another step towards gathering satisfied customers.

The Bottom Line

Major shifts in the shopping environment are constantly changing expectations. It is up to you to anticipate these beforehand to meet your customers where they are. 

While this sounds overwhelming, it’s an opportunity for you to understand how you can provide exceptional personalized customer service. An effective personalization strategy enriches the customer experience, leading to greater customer satisfaction, increased revenue, and long-term loyalty.

If you’re curious about how you can create personalized customer experiences, you can get TWO MONTHS FREE for being a Stairway to CEO listener! Simply go to gorgias.com and mention the Stairway to CEO podcast.

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Written in collaboration with Gorgias, a leading helpdesk for Shopify, Magento and BigCommerce merchants where retailers can manage all of their customer communication and tickets in one platform (including email, social media, SMS, live chat, phone) It’s powered with machine learning to automate up to 25% of commonly asked questions, and seamlessly integrates into your existing tech stack to deliver better customer support.