Customers love convenience and technology is supposed to make our lives easier, right? Careful! Focusing on automating workflows and streamlining processes can inadvertently delete the human connection -- that critical priority in building relationships with your brand. How are you keeping it real?
2. • Companies are trying every trick in
the book to create as many positive
experiences as possible—the kind
that drive customer satisfaction,
promote referrals, and ensure
retention.
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• Digital experiences have become the
norm for even the most traditional
brick-and-mortar stores, and the
allure of shiny new tech is strong.
4. • But in this vast sea of ever-changing,
ever-advancing technology, how can
companies retain that treasured
"human touch" which consumers say
is essential for a great customer
experience?
Start by looking at how your company
adopts “personalization”…
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• Most of us want personalized
service.
• We all want to visit a website and
immediately find the perfect items
for us.
• We like ads showing products
we really want, as long as it’s at a
time when we’re receptive to them.
• This is seriously powerful stuff.
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• But the last thing customers want is
marketing shoved in their faces.
• Most people enjoy the benefits of
personalized marketing, but prefer to
stay blessedly ignorant of the details.
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• Not to say that flagging a past
purchase is always a bad idea, but
there needs to be a purpose to it.
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• While an AI-powered chatbot
might yield incredible results for
that SaaS startup in Silicon Valley,
it’ll probably be an expensive flop
at your rural farm shop and
pumpkin patch.
• You’re probably better off paying
a real person to answer the
phones and be useful, personable,
and kind to potential customers.
11. • Part of the problem is that companies
present new tech tools as THE
solution to all of our problems.
• If a new trend or technology can
help your business, consider trying
and applying it.
• If it doesn’t tackle a problem you’re
already aware of, maybe shelve it for
now and just focus on delighting the
people actually buying your stuff.
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12. • It’s all too easy to drown your
business in the quagmire of
unnecessary tech.
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• Similarly, the adoption of new
technology often causes
problems with employees.
• For example, there’s a disconnect
between how well staff adopt
a new tech tool and how well C-
suite executives think it’s
been adopted.
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• In fact, 90 percent of C-suite execs
say their company pays attention to
people’s needs when introducing new
technology, but only 53 percent of
staff agree.
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• A robust and honest feedback loop is
required when adopting new
customer-facing technology.
• If not, employees might view the
company’s fight for increased
efficiency as just another way to
streamline the payroll.
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• If technology can be implemented to
improve employee performance (such
as freeing up time so they can add
value elsewhere), then the
company will thrive.
• New technology can enhance the
human touch only if it's integrated
with (not in place of) employees.
19. • Businesses need to remember that
"technology" extends far beyond the
manipulation of customer data
through AI, BI, and other powerful
tech tools.
• Yes, it’s fashionable and has many
applications, but data analysis isn’t
the only type of tech you can
leverage.
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• “Losing the human touch” often
stems from missteps in online
technologies such as social media,
on-site UX, knowledge centers, and
simple customer support.
• If you don’t want to lose the human
touch, keep communicating like a
human!
• This is probably the easiest thing to
overlook.
21. • There are plenty of companies whose
human customer service teams sound
like poorly designed bots.
• They use stuffy, machine-like
language "to sound professional,"
or they might use prepared scripts.
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• If communication with your
customers is stale and robotic, it
doesn’t matter what trends you follow
or how amazing your data is:
customers will reject your company.