Customer communication management, or CCM, is suddenly a mission-critical business function for B2B and B2C organizations of all sizes. Consumer preference for digital communication has been steadily growing for decades, but the pandemic response has caused the demand for high-quality digital communication to skyrocket. Customers in all demographics have been pleasantly surprised by the convenience and efficiency of digital marketing and customer service communication — when it is done right.
Therein lies the problem: A lot of organizations are not doing it right when it comes to CCM. The accompanying resource reports that customers demand high-quality CCM but often find it lacking in over half of the businesses with which they interact. Furthermore, when customers have a bad experience, they are more than willing to take their business elsewhere.
The conclusion is inescapable: If a company’s CCM is less than outstanding, it runs a high risk of losing customers and losing the ability to attract new ones. So, what constitutes high-quality CCM, and how can a company achieve it?
In terms of what high-quality CCM is, several factors come into play. Many consumers want personalized communication; they want to feel that their unique needs are understood and taken into account. At the same time, customers want secure and private communication. While most shoppers probably understand that they must share private information to get what they want — personalized communication — they do not want their private information shared or stolen. The need for privacy and personalization means companies will have to work hard to deploy digital communication platforms and procedures that are highly robust and, depending on communication volume, highly complex and tightly integrated with other business operating systems.
Privacy and personalization are perhaps the most important attributes of strong CCM, but they are by no means the only ones. Consider interactivity. A mere five years ago, live chat was considered quite a novelty — and even if it didn’t work all that well, customers were impressed by the effort. Today, well-executed live chat has become an expected communication option in many verticals (for instance, online retail).
Also imperative — and something that ties all CCM activities together — is omnichannel communication: Customers may want to interact with your company on social media today, your website tomorrow, and through a series of text messages the day after that. Forcing customers into a single channel or making it difficult for them to tell you which channel(s) they want to use may soon be a major weakness.
For more insights and tips on creating best-of-class CCM in your business, please continue reading the accompanying resource coupled with this post. Courtesy of Conduent.
