The 3 C's of Customer Contact
How Consistency, Customization, and Convenience Drive Engagement
by Brookelynn Sullivan
Customer engagement continues to be a necessary component of any successful business, and evolving your engagement strategies as customer expectations evolve is critical to stay competitive in the market. “The Three C’s,” consistency, customization, and convenience, are key pieces for successful customer interactions. By keeping these in mind, CX leaders can gain a competitive advantage and deliver a stellar customer experience.
Consistency
Creating a consistent brand experience is essential to retaining customers and growing your brand as a whole. As of August 2023, 59% of [retail] companies still manage marketing, ecommerce, and service functions separately, as opposed to having a streamlined platform to access these different functions. A company that lacks a consistent engagement strategy and unified platforms risks losing customers to brands that provide a more cohesive experience. Here are a few ways to create consistency for your customers:
- Communication: Unifying your platforms will improve the consistency and reliability of communication between customers and your brand. While this may require changes to be made to your current tech stack, optimizing communication can maintain responsiveness amongst customers. This can be through a loyalty program, marketing emails, online payment platforms, or customer feedback surveys. All of these means of communicating with the customer should be aligned to create consistency across the customer journey.
Customer support: Whether it’s over the phone, email, or chat, customers should have consistent experiences when seeking out support. Excellent service, regardless of industry, can help retain customers over a longer period of time. In the case of retail specifically, 94% of shoppers can be converted into loyal brand advocates based on the level of customer service they receive. This is just one example of how consistency in your customer support channels can make all the difference for engaging and retaining clientele.
Customization
Personalization has become an expectation for customers regardless of industry, product, or service. Personalized customer experiences positively impact customer satisfaction, conversions, competitiveness, and long-term customer loyalty. In 2024, prioritizing customization as part of your CX strategy can increase engagement and build upon existing relationships with customers. Customization can be achieved in a variety of ways:
- Analyzing customer data: Understanding your customers’ preferences, previous purchases, and behavioral patterns goes beyond demographics and puts your company in a position to market products that appeal to their interests and preferences. From there, you can anticipate their needs and customize messaging to fit their persona.
Real-time personalization: Leveraging emerging technology is a great way to engage customers while they are in the midst of shopping. Data derived from internet-of-things devices and sensors can be utilized to share offers and deals with customers depending on their location in the physical store or on the website.
Convenience
Convenience is the most essential piece for customer engagement. Customers are expecting convenience at every stage of the customer journey and if your company doesn’t deliver on that front, the customer will seek out an easier option almost every time. Having a seamless experience is an expectation that will only increase as time goes on, and CX teams must adapt and rise to meet these expectations. Two aspects of convenience in the customer experience are:
- Omnichannel support solutions: Giving customer options when they need support is a huge component of ensuring convenience. The omnichannel approach to customer experience has continued to be a front of mind topics for CX leaders over the past few years; enhancing these various platforms and making them easier to use will only improve the level of engagement between customers and the company. Making improvements that center on what’s best for the customer, as opposed to what best markets the product or service, is a necessity.
- Accessibility features: Providing alternative accommodations and features on digital platforms will create a better and more convenient experience for people. Evaluating and implementing customer feedback can help drive improvements in accessibility. An exceptional customer experience at its core is one that is attainable for any and every customer.
