What Do Customers Really Want From Brands?

WHAT do customers want from brands?  

During the COVID-19 lockdowns, product mishaps, technical glitches, and less-than-excellent customer experiences were tolerated by consumers. Their reason was a shared sense of community. We were battling uncertainties together and because of this, companies were given more elbow room to make mistakes here and there.

But now that this grace period is over, consumers expect to be blown away. They want extraordinary customer experiences. The brand differentiator?  

HAPPINESS.

A positive customer experience has been a benchmark for many global brands. In fact, departments and senior C-suite positions have been created specifically for customer experience alone. However, there seems to be an inconsistency between what brands and consumers think of as a “positive customer experience”.

In a report by BPO pioneer Conduent, a positive customer experience for consumers is a “strong relationship with the brand”. It’s the type that evokes a feeling of “happiness”. But companies and brands see it differently. Eighty-four percent believe that the most important feature of a customer experience is “consistent, high-quality experience at every touchpoint”.

As you read this, you may think that the difference is subtle. After all, why won’t customers experience “happiness” if they get excellent customer service across all channels at every step of the process”. But this difference can spell disaster when companies fall short of their customers’ needs.

Here’s what today’s omnichannel really means

People prefer human interactions – those that involve a living, breathing, human person in place of automated responses. This goes for voice, chat, email, or social media. Consumers ALSO WANT THE FLEXIBILITY TO CHOOSE WHICH CHANNELS and WHEN. They want to flip and pivot among the channels available to them.

So, the secrets all along have been these:

• Consistent experiences are not enough to make your brand stand out.

• Consumers patronize companies that treat them like a friend or family member. They want solutions and conversations that reach out to them.

Both of these require human connection. The strategy that works is one that offers unified experiences aligned across social media, chat, email, virtual assistance, and other touchpoints.  And when all of these work for them, when they feel that they aren’t just a number on a queue, happiness happens  –  so does spending and advocating for your brand.

Just because companies deliver omnichannel support doesn’t mean they’re giving what the customers want. When a chatbot just can’t solve it, for instance, moving to a live agent should be seamless. Seamless here means the customer shouldn’t feel like doing the process all over again. They shouldn’t be made to feel like starting from scratch.  

Success lies with your agent

Your agents are your frontliners. If they are expected to bring joy and happiness, (and not just solve problems), you need a highly-trained team that is supported by their management correctly. Our contact center must provide its agents with the right resources, tools, support, and culture to be brand ambassadors who interact with empathy. Looking to partner with a contact center? Inquire about their hiring process as well. As expectations for agents evolve, the way all these contact centers hire, train, and retain their agents certainly makes a difference for your brand.

Technology and human connection don’t have to cancel each other out. Customers are most delighted when omnichannel strategies, data tools, and trained customer service agents deliver personal, empathetic moments that people value.

The NEARSOL culture makes a difference

Talk to us.  

NEARSOL is a US-based BPO and service company that offers clients custom-design solutions.  With major hubs in Manila and Iloilo, it began operations in 2006 and has since gained a strong presence in the Latin American regions, the Caribbean, and the Asia Pacific, winning many awards for quality and service along the way. Most recent of which is its Great Place to Work-Certified™ Recognition, a global accreditation that tells stakeholders what employees think of the company culture.  

 Visit our LinkedIn to learn more about our company and our global footprint./PN