In today’s society more and more people rely on their phones and internet to get the information they need on a day to day basis. This reliance on web and mobile technologies can be leveraged by businesses to better know and serve their customer base. In addition to building a brand and providing value to customers, a website and custom mobile application can provide a medium to small business with a plethora of data to enhance the decision making process.
SalesForce, a leader in the CRM and marketing industry, has stated that 70% of buying experiences a related to how a customer feels they are being treated. Additionally, 45% of users will abandon items in their cart if they cannot find the answer they need. Previously, little to no insight was available as to where customers became stuck or frustrated during the purchasing process. This is because many organizations make the mistake of setting up their systems and give little thought on how they should work together.
To counteract this problem, there are four prongs that must work together for a business to get the most out of their technology suite.
- Website
- Mobile Application
- CRM (Customer Relationship Management Software)
- Marketing and Analytics
When these four systems are working in tandem business can see a tangible boost in sales and customer satisfaction.
In a real world example of the abandoned cart we can examine how we can use the data being received to make process improvements and salvage some of the lost sales. Using a tool such as Google Analytics, we can now see where in the mobile application or website where users are having issues and navigating away from the page. Then using CRM tools, a campaign can be built to target the users that left with a full cart. To take it a step farther you can use the tools to try varying degrees of discounts to find a sweet spot to entice customers back to your business if they have had a negative experience previously.
While looking at data can be helpful at making improvements to improve the customer experience, it can also assist in predicting customer behaviors. Predictive behaviors is becoming a popular topic of discussion in the world of sales and marketing. There has been notable success in using a customer’s past behavior to determine the likelihood they will continue to utilize your services. With this knowledge companies can put additional focus on marketing to customers that are likely to return rather than taking a blanket approach to consumer outreach.