Personalization at scale

Let’s face it, new businesses have been popping up which has led to a saturation in the market. This saturation has left a lot of customers feeling both excited to explore what each business has to offer, but has also led to a form of buyer's fatigue.

How can we address this? How can we take care of our customers while also standing out from competitors? Through personalization, of course.

What is personalization?

Personalization is a way companies approach customer engagement. It focuses on using customer data to deliver meaningful custom-made experiences to both customers and prospects.

In today’s competitive market, it isn’t enough to send out generic messages offering discounts on certain products and services. You have to tailor each experience for each customer. You have to personalize at a scale.

Why is it so important?

Imagine this.

You’re on the lookout for a product, a really specific product for someone’s birthday. What’s the first place you’re going to think of? Probably the well-established shop, right?

But say you’re on your way, there’s a local shop that’s caught your eye. You take a chance and you go in to explore. With a smile, the clerk introduces themselves, and asks about you.

“So, Ryan, what is it you’re looking for?”

“I’m looking for a gift for my wife. It’s her birthday”

“Happy birthday to her! What’s she like?”

After this back-and-forth, you narrow down some options, you’re about to pay up, but then you remembered you wanted to explore what other stores had to offer, and tell the clerk you’d come back, so you put the items on hold.

Then, you arrive at the well-established department store, where you have a bunch of clerks approaching you. Overwhelmed, you hastily tell one of them what it is you’re looking for, and they offer you the same products. They didn’t ask for your name, they just asked who the present is for and offered the same generic products.

You walk away disappointed, but then you receive a text.

It’s from the local shop-

“Hey Ryan, just a reminder that the item you’ve put on hold is still available to purchase. Make her birthday memorable with this product.”

They greet you with the same warmth you received when you first entered the store. You buy the product, and they offer complimentary gift wrapping to you, because hey, it is a birthday after all. And you leave, relieved that you’ve found a new go-to, and excited to hear what your wife has to say about her present.

So, tell me, which store do you think created the more lasting impression?

Big businesses can now emulate the warmth of smaller ones

The demand for personalization is at an all-time high. Like with Ryan’s case, the shop that offered generic experiences was the forgettable one, while the local shop left more impact.

Let’s take a couple of keynotes from this example.

When Ryan enters the store, the first thing they ask him is his name. They made sure to never forget it.

They ask Ryan who the product was for. Ryan mentions it was for his wife. They ask what she was like and create a buyer persona based on Ryan’s description. They kept the flow of conversation going so it felt less like a survey, and more like them getting to know Ryan at a personal level.

They offer products tailored to the wife they’ve never met, based on the personas they created and on Ryan’s input. If Ryan didn’t like it, they try again with another product, keeping Ryan’s feedback in mind.

When Ryan walks away, the interaction didn’t end. They made sure to send out reminders, reminding Ryan to “make her wife’s birthday memorable,” which urges him to come back.

Ways to personalize at scale

Personalization is what happens when you combine excellent customer experience practices with big data. To master the art of personalization, you have to understand the science of how personalization relates to data.

Personalization is what happens when you combine excellent customer experience practices with good data. You have to understand the science of how personalization relates to data.

Here are a couple of things to keep in mind when personalizing at a scale:

Language

According to Oliver Martin, Lacoste’s E-commerce merchandiser,

If a brand wants to be global, it must learn to speak local.

With Ryan’s example, the only reason why the connection between Ryan and the clerk was so smooth was because there was no barrier of communication. Customers feel more compelled to open up when they’re comfortable, and language plays a huge role in that.

Consider implementing multilingual chatbots to connect with customers on a global scale.

Going digital

Unfortunately with the COVID crisis, we do not have the luxury of in-person visits anymore. We have to explore ways to emulate the same warmth but through digital means.

We have to remember that the landscape of every industry has shifted from analog to digital, so we have to start implementing digital CX tools.

Data

Chatbots offer a great first point of contact when engaging with new prospects or returning ones. Use chatbots to create the buyer persona by extracting information through surveys conducted in a conversational manner.

While Ryan’s example is great, it doesn’t really consider human error or scalability. What if the local shop grows at a larger scale? How will they remember each interaction with their customer?

The right CX tools is the answer.

A tool like Engati will provide a one-view of every customer interaction you’ve had. You’ll be able to access information like names, birthday, earlier interactions.

The more information you feed the chatbot, the more it learns. This results in your buyer personas becoming bulletproof.

The human touch

You can’t emulate warmth without the human touch. Consider integrating live chat capabilities into your digital customer experience toolkit. After having access to the customer data that the chatbot has accumulated, the live agent has the ability to deliver tailored experiences, perfect for your customers.

The solution is simple

With digital customer experience platforms like Engati, you get a one-view of all customer data. Which gives you the power to create personalized experience. Use Engati’s intelligent chatbots to automate simple customer queries and gather data about your customers. And use live chat to further develop the connection between your customer and your brand. It’s that simple.

Treat your customers like royalty, and explore Engati’s offerings today to get started.

Originally published at (https://www.engati.com/blog/personalization-at-scale)