Changing people’s ways of working is difficult because they are always tempted to fall back on what is known and comfortable. However, due to the quarantine recommendations, many have been forced to transition to a digital workspace with no fall-back option. Because you no longer share a physical workspace, you have to collaborate digitally, and it becomes apparent just how essential access to quality data is. This article will take you through why gathering data about your customers is crucial to meet future service trends.

Data mining is key for getting to know your customer

Data mining is a term for extracting patterns and gain an insight by processing large amounts of data, in this case all the information you have about your customer. This is not limited to what is in your CRM, what transactions have already been made and what products your customer has bought but about their business as a whole. Other sources of information about your customer include tracking behaviour, analysis of how they use your apps on their phone and tablets, email data and information from Marketing Automation systems. This will help you understand the current challenges and opportunities of your customers and what is happening in their industry. It requires your sales staff to be knowledgeable not only about your products but also focused on the needs of your customers. Understanding your customer and offering timely support is essential for good customer service in the future.

Hyper-personalisation enables better customer service

Another trend that requires data mining involves personalising each customer’s experience and tailoring your offering to their specific needs. If you cannot change the product itself, what part of the transaction can you personalise for each customer to give them a sense of exclusivity? If data mining has given you the insight that they are heavy app users, you could customise an app solution for that particular customer. Hyper-personalisation may merely be a competitive advantage now but in the future, it will be expected. Therefore, businesses that have not already begun gathering insights about their customers are at risk of falling behind.

Self-service and bots on B2B sites

Most businesses offer a “My account” function on their website where customers can make certain changes on their own, mainly to their account details. This self-service function will play a bigger part in the future. By introducing a B2B e-commerce element to your website, you will enable customers to purchase items whenever it suits them. You are dependent on data in order to offer the correct products and make purchasing as easy as possible, which is why it is important to learn as much as possible about your customers.
You can also couple data mining with Artificial Intelligence (AI) to create a bot that understands the context of your customer’s query and provides great support. The AI will continuously learn while it gathers more data through interactions. This is beneficial for everyone as it can help you minimise time spent helping a customer and have customer support open 24/7.

Great service drives sales

Your service delivery is a vital part of building your brand and gives customers a positive impression of your organisation. Service can mean anything from having an easy-to-navigate website to customer service that responds quickly and effective aftermarket care. This is created from quality data about your leads and customers and will add value and build solid relationships. Apart from strengthening your brand, high-quality service throughout the customer journey will encourage customer retention and help you become their natural first choice. The companies that have mastered the art of providing first-class service are focused on their customers’ goals and prepared to go beyond what their core product offers. And by doing so, great service will drive sales.

At Stratiteq we help our clients become sustainable data-driven businesses. We do this by delivering technology and strategy implementation for smart decision-making. Contact us to discuss how we can help you meet these future service delivery trends or download our guide “It is time to digitalize your aftermarket – how to convince your board of a transformation”.