Businesses sometimes face an uphill task when tracking a customer’s journey across multiple channels, devices, and interactions. Following a customer’s journey makes it easier for you to provide them with a superior customer experience that does wonders in customer satisfaction and retention. But not every organization has solved this Rubik’s cube.
The customer is generally viewed separately through the eyes of the sales, marketing, and customer service departments. These three departments view one customer as three different people and not a single person, which can be frustrating for all parties involved, especially if a customer has to repeat information every time they seek a resolution.
If you are a business owner, do not fret because you do not need to cast magic spells to get a comprehensive view of your customer. The remedy is called Customer 360.
What is Customer 360?
In simple terms, Customer 360 refers to having a 360-degree view of the customer.
Think of it as looking at a single picture of a customer’s interactions and experience throughout their journey with your company. It is a compilation of all your customer data in one place, including basic contact information, past and current purchase data, customer service encounters, and social media activities.
Do you have good products? That’s great, but good products alone aren’t enough. You need to offer excellent customer service. Having a comprehensive view of a customer will help you provide outstanding service.
What does Customer 360 mean to sales, marketing, and customer service teams?
A global study conducted by Amex 2017 stated that 2 out of 3 Singaporeans did not complete a purchase due to subpar encounters with customer service.
Two-thirds of Singaporeans indicated they would switch firms if they had 2 or more poor encounters with them, while a third said even one negative experience with a firm could be the last straw.
These statistics underline the importance of Customer 360 in uniting your marketing, sales, and customer service teams on one unified platform. By enabling your teams to stay connected, you can create personalized customer experiences that build stronger relationships.
- Sales teams will have clarity about their prospects, enabling them to have conversations with context to close deals quicker.
- Marketing teams can segment their audience and send relevant campaigns to attract the right customers.
- CS teams can set priorities for tickets and add notes to provide quicker solutions.
All these values of Customer 360 are garnering the right kind of attention. A new program based on the principles of Customer 360 introduced in Dubai aims to improve and automate government services. According to the Crown Prince of Dubai, ‘Services 360’ will assist the government in operating as a single cohesive organization.
Its goal is to improve customer communication to anticipate their demands better. Integrated data and systems will reduce customer data requests and connect databases across government agencies. Customers’ preferences will be considered while creating unified channels, which will be available 24/7. The requirements and expectations of customers are at the center of service enhancement and journey design.
The Benefits of Customer 360
Customer 360 can help your business grow in 4 ways:
1. Better analysis of the future
Customer 360 allows you to see what your customers have done, and it also predicts what they could do next. You can better forecast where a customer is going and what they’ll need in the future since you have a complete view of their accounts, transactions, etc.
2. Provide a more personalized shopping experience
Aggregated data can support your organization to provide customers with more personalized experiences during their shopping journey.
3. Launch strategic marketing and sales campaigns
With the accessible data, marketing and sales teams can avoid departmental silos, improve the alignment of goals across teams, and design more strategic campaigns.
4. Increase customer loyalty
Old or repeat customers are more important than new customers because they know your brand, and retaining them means you are on the right track. Investing in Customer 360 to understand your customers will pay off. Customers prefer to buy from businesses that fully cater to them. Customer 360 can ensure you offer improved service to keep customers loyal.
Though there are a few challenges that firms may have to face along the way, the benefits outweigh them easily. Customer 360 guarantees that the customer comes first. Customers are happy because their needs are being met, and you are happy because your business continues growing.
