Out of the rubble came an emergent dynamic that gave customers power to control the communication channels and engagement through clicks, subscriptions, mentions, and more. Now, the best customer engagement software gives businesses the capability to manage, track and convert these interactions into revenue.
Why Is Customer Engagement Software Important?
In the digital age, consumers have transitioned from physical to virtual space. This transformation has altered the customer engagement environment and created the demand for software to analyze the digital data.
Prior to the rise of the internet, consumers were within physical environments and engagement was comprised of direct interaction between the business and its existing customers, frequently on the company’s terms. This manifested itself in product testing, consumer surveys, and focus groups.
With the virtual world, consumers are active participants and partners in the conversations and innovation process. This virtual engagement facilitated a continual dialogue between customers, companies, and customers-to-be. The power landed squarely in the hands of the customer and put business focus on the customer experience.
The value of the virtual marketplace was the development of a customer-centric culture that easily captured the customer’s footprints. Feedback is easier to collect, and consumer demands more easily identified and met. According to Gallup, the digital environment has three primary categories of consumers:
- Fully engaged. Loyal consumers who serve as brand ambassadors.
- Indifferent. Consumers who are neutral to a product or service.
- Actively disengaged. Consumers with no emotional attachment to a product or service and easily switch brands.
Obviously, engaged consumers produce the most profits. Gallup found that a fully engaged consumer carries a 23 percent premium in revenue, profitability, share of wallet and relationship growth when compared to other consumers. An actively disengaged consumer carries a stark 13 percent discount in the same measurements.
The best customer engagement software offer tools that allow your business to optimize consumer engagement through the process of tracking, prompting and analyzing consumer sentiment and behavior. You can then use this data to augment your engagement strategies, deliver customized customer service and program intelligent marketing automation.
It is crucial to consider that the best customer engagement software for your company may not need every tool available. Some solutions focus on a single touchpoint or type of consumer engagement. Others focus on various areas including:
- CRM
- Live chat
- Social media
- Personalization
- Public relations
- Self-service
- Multi- and omni-channels
With the latest technology, the communication modes by which consumers and companies engage with each other will be forever evolving. With each transformation, new tools will be available to help businesses stay ultra-competitive in an ever-changing marketplace. The best customer engagement software facilitates this capability.
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