When the Ambani brothers were together at the time of their ill-fated maiden telecom services launch, one of the brothers wanted total human intervention (hi-touch) for customer service while the other argued for automation almost entirely (hi-tech). The technological advancement since then has seen tectonic shifts, yet very few enterprises even indulge in such debates. Almost all of them seem to blindly embrace technology as a panacea for everything. As much as 75% of businesses say they use tech for marketing now.
Enterprises shouldn’t let tech be all-pervasive, especially when India has large unemployment and tech is not adding value where humans will. Look at how banks, insurance companies, telcos, credit card service providers and the like interrupt your dinner, alternatively irritate you with automated sales pitch for unwanted pre-approved loans or insult you by letting the tech auto dial your DND number and alerting the sales person to pick up the line only after you pick up the phone.
Hi-tech is good in many ways from productivity and data analytics to disruptive innovation but not when it increases the irritability quotient. Martech tools are good for data analytics and replace routine, repetitive work. But when customer calls are by automation, sooner or later prospective customers will exclude such companies from their consideration set itself.Tech companies have made you believe the more you spend on hi-tech to build your customer relationship, the better it would be. So, those big companies with deep pockets often deliver customer delight, right? And what has been your experience as a customer? Technology can never make relationships; it is just an enabler. People make relationships so the more you invest in hi-touch and processes you will be better in delighting customers.But when digitization mania hits businesses and software as a service (SAAS) becomes disruptive for enterprises to embrace hi-tech in a big way on the Internet, how do you balance hi-tech with hi-touch? Smart marketers have long known the value of long-term customer relationships. Customer relationship management principles when your customers are online, however, are not the same as when dealing face-to-face.Several companies have developed e-commerce software to assist online marketers in forging and maintaining customer relationships. Some of the key aspects of an effective CRM programme for Internet marketers include ways to keep the system user-friendly, more welcoming and easier to find customer service links. Here are a few observations for keeping customers from clicking away from your website or App, and waste that OTP:Frequent updates: One would imagine companies who are in the e-commerce space to do frequent updates of their websites. This is quite obvious to most customers who use multiple e-commerce sites. If you see the same site with no changes in the main page every day, if not hour, you know how that company may not be worth sticking to. Take travel business sites such as Makrmytrip, yatra or cleartrip. How many of them have made decent changes on a daily basis? Static screens send a poor message to customers. Be sure the web pages and app are updated frequently with relevant information, and that all pages are readable and work, as they should. At the bottom of the homepage, at least, list when the site was last updated.
Attractive homepage: Smart marketers know of the importance of first impressions. Poorly chosen colour combinations (grey may be elegant but poor in readability), too much or too little information, no or poor website search capabilities and poor menu presentation are just a few potential problems. Choose colours that are easy on the eye, and do not obscure menu choices. Remember to include company identification such as logos and trademarks.Caveat: Do not overdo it. Too much graphics, images or sounds that take too long to load will turn many prospects away unless they are all in 5G. Let them get to the point quickly; some customers may still have older computer equipment, browsers and poor Internet speeds that cannot download detailed graphics and other images quickly. Focus should be on what you need to sell.
Provide a good response: Answer customer questions clearly – use chatbots that are good and offer customers a choice between chat with a person or a call. And respond as soon as possible, because in the e-commerce world, every minute counts. Always send a detailed confirmation of the order, to email and phone.
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