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Customers

The Personalization Revolution in Customer Care

January 27, 2023

Consumers often think of customer service interactions as a point of frustration. However, today’s focus on proactive customer experience means customer issues and the accompanying stress are only one touch point in your care efforts. Personalization gives your business the ability to provide customers with not only the solutions they need, but a tailored experience that delights. Data gathered from previous interactions can help predict and meet customer needs and wants in a friendly and personal manner.

64% of marketers consider customer experience to be one of personalization’s top benefits.¹

Benefits of Personalized Messaging for Your Customers

Feeling Valued

52% of consumers assume all messaging received from brands is personalized.² When customers come to you for support, they expect your business to already know who they are and what's important to them. And who can blame them? Being treated like an individual and feeling valued is more appealing than being just another support ticket. Personalized support can leave a lasting positive impact on a customer, and help to create a repeat buyer. If your customer service doesn’t make your customers feel valued, you’re at risk of losing them.

Personalized Solutions

76% of consumers get frustrated by businesses who do not offer personalized experiences.³

Personalized solutions can help create the ideal customer care experience using data the customer has already given you voluntarily. This means interactions like offering refunds, referencing previous interactions, and taking the time to understand what they’re looking for can often be handled by chatbots. These A.I. powered assistants have immediate access to all the customer’s information, allowing them to provide personalization for every situation.

When and Where to Use Personalization

62% of consumers say a brand will lose their loyalty if they deliver a non-personalized experience.⁴

While customers want a personalized experience, they also don’t want you to mess it up. When a customer has an issue, treating them like someone who’s important to your company can create a positive experience from their frustration. But getting the details wrong will just add more fire to the interaction.

That said, owning a mistake is a great time to personalize your messages. A recent study by Zendesk found 50% of consumers will switch to a competitor after one bad experience, and 80% will switch to a competitor after more than one bad experience .⁵ Recognizing where things went wrong and ensuring the customer gets what they need can be critical to keeping them as a consumer.

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Best Practices for Personalized Messaging

Provide Value

While personalization is important, it doesn’t matter if you don’t solve their problems. Both reactive and proactive customer service are all about solutions, so make sure your personalization is helping provide a quality solution. A personalized, quality answer to a customer's problem can go a long way to boost your customer satisfaction.

Include a CTA

Every conversation is an opportunity. Which means even in the context of customer care, your conversations should have an endgame. Whether you’re providing additional information, related product suggestions, or asking for feedback, a personalized CTA makes care interactions more valuable. In fact, HubSpot found that personalized call-to-actions perform 202% better than generic CTAs.⁶

A WhatsApp exchange between a customer and a business. The chat reads as follows: “I need to make a return.” “Hi Alice, I see you recently ordered the Outdoor Signature Sweater size small, is this the item you’re reaching out about?” “Yes, I was sent a large instead of a small.”, “Oh no! I’m sorry we sent the wrong size. Let’s straighten this out — If you follow this link, it creates a shipping label for the return, and I can send you the correct size free of charge. Is that okay with you?” “That’s perfect, thank you!”

Appropriate Tone

You don’t want your customers to feel like they’re just another number in the support queue. That’s why a big part of personalization is helping customers feel comfortable. But it’s hard to overcome a cold tone of voice. Conversely, being overly casual when your customers have a problem can lead to an assumption that you’re not taking their issue seriously. Identifying the correct tone for your brand and the situation helps put customers at ease and makes interactions run smoother.

Timing

71% of customers expect companies to communicate with them in real-time.⁷

Proactive customer care is incredibly important, and knowing when and where to offer that care is essential. Right after a purchase is made? Great timing. 6am when your customer hasn’t heard from you in months? Maybe not.

Understanding when and how your customers might need support further personalizes the customer care experience, helping create positive impressions. Alerting customers of delays, sending relevant product information, and creating personalized offers are just a few ways to offer personalized, proactive customer care.

Opt-Ins

While proactive customer care is a fantastic way to support your base, there are rules to the game. Opt-ins are required for commercial or promotional messages. Not only that, opt-ins help ensure you’re reaching customers who are most interested in your business. They’ve expressed that they want to communicate with you, and personalized conversations are a perfect way to capitalize on that interest.

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Personalization Going Forward

Almost 90% of online businesses already invest in personalization.⁸

Personalization is becoming a cornerstone of B2C interactions. But the risks of getting it wrong are real. Those risks have led some companies to be hesitant to adopt personalization, especially in customer care interactions. But rather than being a roadblock, personalization can help your care efforts delight and win over frustrated customers. Friendly, individualized service is the way forward, and your business could be just steps away from elevating your customer service experience.

Want to know more about customer care using the WhatsApp Business Platform? Check out these related resources: