Johannesburg, 05 Sep 2023
Remember the last time you signed a new insurance policy? Did you rush home to tell your family or did you forward the policy on to your friends to show off all the wonderful terms or conditions? No? Thought not. Let’s be honest, getting an insurance policy for your new car doesn’t exactly spark the same joy as buying the new car itself.
Life is full of grudge purchases – those necessary evils we need to spend our money on rather than want to. This raises the question for insurance, banking and other seemingly “mundane” industries, which all offer similar services at similar rates – how do you set your business apart from your competition? How do you make sure customers choose you – and stay loyal to you – in the long run?
One way to do this is by offering excellent customer service – and having an effective CRM in place is the smartest, most efficient and cost-effective way to do this. “Building relationships with these customers is challenging, but with the right approach, strong customer relationships can be built and nurtured,” says Bruce von Maltitz, CEO of 1Stream, provider of cloud-based CRM solutions for medium and large enterprises in southern Africa. “A solid customer service strategy supported by a leading-edge CRM solution can make all the difference for these brands by delivering a meaningful customer experience.”
How your CRM can help wow customers
So, how exactly can a CRM make magic moments for customers, and why is implementing a CRM solution a no-brainer for organisations that are serious about their customer service strategy and are committed to putting their customers front and centre of their business?
First off, a well-chosen CRM allows you to be at your customers’ beck and call. That means they can talk to you when they like and however they like – whether that is by shooting off a quick WhatsApp, typing up an e-mail, sending a DM on social media or making a call. They aren’t limited to engaging with your company during office hours and they can be in touch whether they’re at home, in the office, on holiday on a remote tropical island, or on a business trip to Tokyo and in a completely different time zone. In the 21st century, omnichannel is everything when it comes to customer engagement, and a good CRM solution cuts through all those barriers.
Today’s leading CRM solutions utilise AI to deliver excellent service. This includes offering self-service solutions so that customers can quickly solve issues themselves – for example, requesting authorisation or downloading important documents – without having to rely on anyone else to deliver this service for them, while having the option of talking to a customer service team member for more complex issues. By offering your customers a variety of solutions, they feel like they are in control and aren’t being held hostage by slow processes for issues that can and should be resolved quickly and easily.
Another big win for customers – and for sales and service teams – is that service can be personalised to meet a customer’s specific needs. With all the information about your customer stored in one place, along with the customer’s purchase and service history, your team immediately knows who they are dealing with and can offer customer service solutions – and marketing material – that specifically matches their needs. It also equips your teams with the information they need to cross-sell and up-sell by giving them insights into, for example, the customer’s life stages.
The ripple effect of this will greatly benefit your business. When customers feel they matter, they’re more receptive to purchasing new products and services, they’re likely to remain loyal and chances are they will spread the word about the great service they receive from you – and we all know that word of mouth is the most effective form of marketing. The next time they need to buy an insurance policy, or if someone asks for their recommendation, you’re likely to be top of the list for all the right reasons.
And finally, a respected solution, like 1Stream CRM, monitors customer service and delivers detailed and relevant reports via easy-to-use dashboards, equipping your organisation and team leaders with all the information they need to fine-tune levels of service and make informed adjustments.
Knowledge really is power when it comes to delivering excellent customer service – when you know your customers and understand their needs, they feel seen. And while buying that insurance policy might not give them the same buzz they get from other more tactile purchases, if they feel like their custom matters to you and that their engagement with you is effortless and the service efficient, you can be guaranteed they will be back for more.
To find out how 1Stream CRM can help you wow customers, contact us today.
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