Spice up your customer experience with these tips
The coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak coupled with self-isolation have led people to crave meaningful connections more than ever before, and yes, that includes your company and its products. The good news is there are multiple ways in which any B2B enterprise can season its products and services with a great Customer Experience (CX).
Developing a customer experience strategy is like cooking. To a certain degree, anyone can do it. But that doesn’t assure diners will love it. What’s certain is that CX is becoming the secret sauce among successful businesses and as we’ve previously discussed, the market is hungry for it. Considering the many options out there, you can’t be the only restaurant without some CX on the menu.
That being said, we’re opening our recipe book to share some of the strategies and tips we’ve dished out at CargoSprint.
Provide a culinary guide
A good menu not only shows the plates that are being served but helps open a customer’s appetite. So use all available means (social media, flyers, etc.) to keep your customers informed about your products, services, and updates. But don’t stop there, once engaged create user-friendly material (videos, presentations, and other documentation) to walk customers through your products.
When customers move away from menus, support teams have to jump into action as restaurant servers do; answering any questions or taking an order. Communication with the customer is essential, whether it’s through a phone call, video conference or through on-site training. These occasions are opportunities to build meaningful connections.
In our case, we love visiting our customers. Whenever we present SprintPass (our pickup and drop-off system) to a cargo facility, our team visits the site, “Boots on the ground” to understand how customers live their day to day and talk with all the staff. From directors, to warehouse personnel, everybody is involved. That way we can truly offer the best options and guide them through the products, and why not, even adapt them if necessary.
Refresh your menu
Despite having an award-winning menu, you need to innovate from time to time. That doesn’t necessarily entail making a new dish. Sometimes getting creative with what you already have works. Since its launch in 2012, many things have changed at CargoSprint.
Little-by-little we’ve improved our SprintPay platform to offer additional payment methods, adding facilities, making it faster, more secure and easier to use. Meanwhile our SprintPass system was updated to offer more customized features for all users. Another way to keep things fresh is by giving customers information beyond your company. Garnish your customer relationship by sharing articles, tips and material that’s relevant to their business.
From a stale service to old tech, innovating at all levels of a business is critical. After all, variety is the spice of life.
Great chefs have an experienced palate
Much like restaurants have chefs specializing in cuts or desserts, at CargoSprint we have industry experts in airfreight, trucking, and so on to help us develop the best solutions and guide customers through their journey with us.
They’d been hungry for good food and tasted various dishes as users before coming to CargoSprint. So they’ve experienced many of the customers’ needs themselves. Their backgrounds, help us connect better with our customers.
Perhaps you won’t always have an experienced specialist on your team to guide you on the market needs. Nevertheless, remember that customers are already seated at your table and waiting to be heard.
Add a dash of customer feedback
Feedback is the fresh ingredient your business needs to continually improve. So, encourage your users to talk about their work, your products and even their lives. It’s a way of better understanding how you can make a difference beyond their job.
Solutions like SprintPass are meant to go beyond efficiency and optimization, they also enhance the human experience. Reducing stress and workloads for cargo facility staff, as well as giving truckers a seamless experience so they can get back on the road and to their families sooner.
Customers are genuinely surprised when you take the time to chat with them. Furthermore, these discussions can yield unexpected results. Some of the features for our SprintPass system emerged from listening to our users.
Hey, who knows, maybe your next big dish will come from a customer’s recommendation.
Build a great experience for everyone
A great dining experience isn’t just about the food. It’s also about developing a great experience for each and every one of your customers. That’s why we create specialized solutions adapted to our users, regardless of whether they’re freight forwarders, cargo facilities or trucking companies. What’s more, we try to connect everyone. A simple tool like a chat system between drivers and front counter agents can enhance the relation and optimize the process.
Today, with the COVID-19 outbreak the challenge is bigger as we all have to collaborate to create a safer atmosphere. In that sense our digital solutions are reducing points of contact and crowded waiting rooms. Our Driver app, for example, provides truckers with notifications on their cargo’s status and turn in line. Similarly, our Scheduling tool facilitates booking options to reduce exposure time.
From the chef to the valet
The customer experience is an end-to-end process in which everyone within a business has a role to play, even when you may have specialized teams, in a good CX strategy, everyone in the company is part of the experience. So, nurture a company culture that’s customer-centric. In our case, we’re all about improving the human experience within the cargo industry.
There are tons of tips and ideas that have been rolled out. But always remember, there’s no surefire recipe for a successful CX strategy. Each company is different and customers’ expectations vary. What’s important is that you test out different approaches, so diners come back to your table.
By Mariana Lopez
