In today’s business world, real ROI and long-term profitability come from optimizing the customer experience –and a key part of this is effective communications. From marketing to servicing, through interactions across all touch points, you need to communicate in ways that resonate with your customers.
So how do you figure out what to say and how to say it to ensure customers respond, engage, and recommend you?
VOC and social media as tools for communications teams
A powerful new strategy for communications teams takes advantage of customer insights gained through Voice of the Customer (VOC) programs and social media networks such as Twitter and Facebook. A VOC program analyzes customer feedback from numerous data sources –call centers, surveys, social media, etc.— to tell you more about what customers think and want, alert you to service issues and emerging trends in sentiment, and more.
With or without a formal VOC program, today’s smart businesses pay close attention to what customers are saying about them in social media channels where negative opinions can quickly sway public perceptions. The valuable insights you can gain from these feedback sources can spark ideas on how to make your communications more effective, helpful, and engaging to better meet customer needs.
As an example, through VOC efforts, a leading bank discovered that a letter containing a gift card offer had left customers confused and even leery of a scam, resulting in high call volume. To reassure customers and avoid negative impacts, the bank quickly revised this and other communications (letters, email, phone scripts, etc.) to reflect best practices for writing customer-focused communications. A few tips include:
- Get to the point quickly, yet use a friendly tone that shows your business is approachable and supportive.
- Make it clear and easy for customers, with plain language that’s free of industry jargon and legalese.
- Help customers easily see what to do and when, with calls to action and key messages highlighted by a heading and bullets.
Monitoring social media and leveraging insights from a Voice of the Customer program can help you understand customer concerns and focus your communications to best meet their needs. By delivering effective communications that improve customer experience, you can build a customer-centric culture in your organization that continually works to strengthen brand loyalty and increase market share.