Personalized communication is integral to consumer trust
A study from Smart Communications reveals the shortcomings businesses must overcome to keep customers happy in a digital world.
Even before the COVID-19 pandemic forced many folks to learn how to operate large facets of their lives online, our world was already headed in a more virtual direction. With increasing digital knowledge comes higher expectations from consumers for digital services. A report released by Smart Communications explores how customers’ expectations regarding things like personalization and digital preferences are affecting businesses’ priorities. Here are their four key findings.
Customers prefer a digital-first approach
We live in a time of 24-hour news cycles and constant internet access, and that plays an enormous part in how people prefer to do business. According to Smart Communications’ report, consumers are big fans of having plenty of digital options from which to choose. In fact, 81% of customers surveyed said communications like email, push notifications and in-app messaging are important to their experience with a company. A two-way, interactive approach is imperative to doing business.
However, their study also found that while 64% of insurance business leaders believe they have very good or excellent communication with their customers, only 45% of insurance consumers agree with that assessment. More than half of the surveyed customers also told Smart Communication they would switch companies if the communication from their current one wasn’t up to par.
The takeaway from this, the report states, is that companies should invest in and prioritize technological solutions, and should make an effort to evolve and scale these solutions as customer needs change over time.
Getting channel preferences right can make or break the customer experience
As mentioned earlier, customers exist in a world that is “always on,” and they expect to have access to those they do business with at times and in ways that are most convenient for them. It’s no longer enough just to have good prices and quality products. Customers expect personalized interactions and proactive service, and Smart Communications’ report suggests businesses must focus on creating the appropriate channels for these customer service interactions to happen.
According to the report, 80% of customers listed email as their preferred mode of communication with companies, and 50% said they also liked interacting with them via text message. Businesses must tune in to their customers’ needs to determine the best way to engage with them. There is no one-size-fits-all approach, the report emphasizes.
Things customers told Smart Communications were most frustrating for them when interacting with a business included irrelevant messages and being bombarded with too many messages.
Customers are clear on the importance of choice and what matters most to them
As large a part as proper communication channels can play in the relationship between business and consumer, no amount of personalized text messages are going to make a difference if trust has not been established.
According to the report, 80% of insurance businesses either agree or strongly agree that they have fostered trust with consumers throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. On the contrary, only 19% of insurance consumers said communication through the pandemic increased trust in their insurance company, and 12% said it made them trust their company less.
Two qualities consumers told Smart Communications are integral to establishing trustworthiness with a company are personalization and timeliness of communication, but less than 50% said the communications they currently receive meet that standard. The report also suggests businesses should focus on ease of contacting their company, the strength of data security measures and transparency in order to instill trust in their consumers.
While consumers overwhelmingly prefer digital, businesses’ cloud adoption lags
Ease of use, the report states, is the overwhelming leader when it comes to factors that make consumers want to engage digitally with brands. Other factors they say lead to better digital-first interactions are timeliness, sustainability and customers having reliable technology at home.
Half of the companies surveyed admitted that while they do have some digital practices in place, they still have work to do. One-quarter of business respondents, however, said they’ve made the move to being fully digital.
Smart Communications says in the study that the way for businesses to scale their digital practices and maintain agility and speed is to invest in pure cloud solutions. Approximately 57% of respondents said they plan for at least half of their systems to be cloud-based in the next year.
Compliance standards, cost and interruption of critical customer communications, the report states, can make the transition to cloud-based operations intimidating, but the benefits of this shift can significantly outweigh the investment.
The biggest takeaway from Smart Communications’ report is that businesses must get to know their customers on a personal level in order to provide the communication, resources and digital channels that are right for them. Doing this can help establish trust and loyalty, and ensure customers have the best possible experience.