Hi Vikrant, tell us about yourself, your background?
Head of Operations with 12+ years of multi-functional expertise across Sales & Digital Marketing, Consulting, IT Operations and HRM at WeblineIndia. Having passion towards technology and with multi-functional expertise in a Software Development Company based in the USA and India, Vikrant loves sharing insights on optimizing the success and internet visibility of the customers’ businesses.
Online commerce was booming in 2020, and so did consumer reviews. – How can brands better utilize this data to improve their customers’ experience?
Reviews are influential. They have the power to influence consumer decisions and establish a company’s credibility. Consumer reviews are used to generate more buzz about your brand and turn your consumers into advocates. They also act as social proof for your products and services. Best utilization of Reviews is that it helps companies to systematically monitor their customer experience and take all necessary steps to enhance their services and products.
Vikrant’s tips for personalization
What tips do you have for companies that want to improve their personalization strategies?
Today, customer experience is more important than ever. Customers’ expectations when dealing with a business in the eCommerce space are very high. Also, consumers will only make a purchase again if they get a personalized experience. A few tips to improve personalization strategies are:
- Offering customer recommendations that showcase how you solved their problems.
- Observe the intersection points of a consumer’s journey, closely. It helps businesses know more about a consumer, determine future buying trends, make relevant changes and personalize the entire experience for a consumer.
- Leveraging Artificial Intelligence for effective personalization. It will help consumers make real-time decisions based on the up-to-date data available.
Do you think personalization and customer-centricity are going to become increasingly more relevant in the coming year? How so?
Yes, personalization and customer-centricity will become increasingly relevant in the coming years. Personalization of customer experience is booming as consumers are nowadays getting ample choices to explore before making that purchase decision. Brands can enhance customer experience and keep up with their promise by personalizing their products or services. Consumers are also looking for tailored experiences, which is possible through personalization.
Customer centricity, on the other hand, leads to high customer satisfaction. If consumers are not satisfied, they will most likely not return and will find an alternative. And a customer gone once is a customer lost for lifetime.
That said, increased consumer satisfaction leads to enhanced business performance. With the increase in consumer experience, they will not leave your brand for your competitors. Customer-centricity will also become increasingly relevant since consumer-centric businesses increase employee engagement, generate enhanced profits, and have more satisfied consumers.
Social media pages have become crucial for companies in most industries, especially in eCommerce. What’s the most common mistake you see in a company’s social media strategy?
Social media is one of the best things ever since it started. While there’s no right or wrong way to use social media, many firms think that social media marketing is an expensive affair. Still, some rookie social media marketing mistakes that eCommerce businesses commonly make are
- Too much self-promotion on social media platforms.
- Not having a social media strategy at all, and businesses just go with the flow.
- They have the same marketing and promotion strategy on all social media platforms. Your eCommerce business doesn’t need to be present on all social media channels; instead, it should have a strong presence on the most relevant platforms that are crucial for the business. For example, if a person wants to buy anything then he/she will not look for it on LinkedIn, but may instead go on Instagram. Similarly if a person wants to know more about a company then he/she will not go on Instagram, but may research more on LinkedIn.
What’s the most insightful book you read in 2020?
The Art of Thinking Clearly, by Rolf Dobelli.
It looks like working from home is going to stay with us for the foreseeable future. How should Executives gear up to the changing times?
The pandemic has entirely transformed the way executives used to work. Working in an office will become a status symbol in the coming future. To achieve efficient collaboration and communication while working from home, the investment needs to be shifted from real estate to new technologies to make remote working more productive and functional. Executives should also ensure that any information or data is not lost or compromised so need to ensure that the companies have better IT and Data security infrastructure in place.
Last but not least, what is your favorite CX metric?
Customer satisfaction score is one of the most popular transactional metrics and my personal favorite. It is beneficial in gauging consumers’ happiness and satisfaction levels as a result of the recent interaction they have had with a brand. It furnishes valuable information when businesses are making changes and want to track the outcomes. It further helps businesses dig into the qualitative feedback to comprehend the crucial attributes for the satisfaction of their consumers and the areas that need enhancement.
