Meeting customer expectations is a must for growing your business. In the past, meeting customer expectations didn’t mean much more than showing you were good at your job and being attentive to your customers’ needs. With the rise of social media, though, and the resulting awareness that customers have of your competitors, as well as the information they now have at their fingertips, the expectations of customers have shifted. Online customers have expectations that might seem over the top sometimes, so it’s important to understand how you can continue to meet their demands in this shifting landscape.
What Are Customer Expectations?
Customer expectations can be defined as the behaviors and processes that customers anticipate when they interact with a brand or company. So what do customers want when they come to you? According to a recent survey by Salesforce, around 66% of respondents expect brands to understand their needs, and a large majority of customers are very focused on customer experience. 80% consider the customer experience to be as important as the products and services they are looking to buy.
This means meeting customer expectations is about more than just offering quality service and competitive pricing. Thanks to social media and the internet, you have to go above and beyond to build customer loyalty.
How to Be Ready to Meet Customer Expectations
Most people head online when searching for information or a product/service to buy, and searching for information on insurance or for plans is no exception. So, if you want to meet the growing expectations of customers, you will need to adopt modern technology and capitalize on omnichannel marketing and automation.
Some ways that you can meet and exceed customer expectations include:
- Personalized service- To give customers a better experience in the digital world, you need to personalize your customers’ journey with every interaction. Don’t rely on a bot to answer them, instead talk to them yourself if at all possible. Offering a personalized experience will grow loyalty for your brand: 80% of customers say they are likely to patronize a brand if that brand offers personalized experiences.
- Stay on top of interactions- Customers who interact with businesses online expect instant replies that will help them solve their issues quickly. After all, the internet is all about instant gratification! Studies bear this out: according to reports, around 28% of customers expect a response on social media within an hour. Even better, you can anticipate your interactions with your customers by using email automation to help inform your customers about renewal dates and plans that might be right for them.
- Be straightforward- It’s important to make your website and social media accounts as streamlined as possible. No one likes to go to a website and have to search for their answers, or go through a lengthy process to find what they’re looking for. Customers look for quick and straightforward answers to their questions without having to scroll through your website or social media pages.
With the internet at everyone’s fingertips, customers are becoming less patient and are requiring more than ever from businesses. The best way to keep up with growing expectations from customers is to use marketing tools that will help you automate personalized responses, and create informative content that is easy to access.
In the meantime, if you’re looking for new leads and to grow your business, Benepath can help! We offer exclusive leads who are ready to buy – all you have to do is tell us when you are available to work with them. Benepath will provide you with better tools, more guidance, unsurpassed sales training, and techniques from the most successful agents and trainers in the industry, not to mention the best leads available. To get more information, fill out the form above, or call 866-368-0377.
