{"id":9870,"date":"2014-07-17T06:00:18","date_gmt":"2014-07-17T13:00:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/?p=9870"},"modified":"2014-07-17T06:00:18","modified_gmt":"2014-07-17T13:00:18","slug":"personalization-ideas-from-the-experts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.questionpro.com\/blog\/personalization-ideas-from-the-experts\/","title":{"rendered":"Personalization Ideas From the Experts"},"content":{"rendered":"

It shouldn\u2019t surprise you the personalization came up as a customer service<\/a> trend for 2014.\u00a0Today\u2019s internet and social media technology make personal interactions with your customers so ridiculously affordable and low-tech, that this is a trend you should start looking at implementing right after you finish reading this article. I\u2019m going to lead you through it, so relax and enjoy the ride.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s dig into some of the personalization strategies that were offered up by other small business owners and customer service experts:\"Fresh<\/p>\n

Donna Drehman\u00a0 from Listen Learn Live<\/a>,\u00a0 is both a customer service expert as well as a small business owner.\u00a0 Her take on personalization is to put a system in place that makes your customer feel and know that they are special to you.\u00a0 She recommends both high-tech solutions such as a CRM as well as low-tech solutions such as a filing system or simple database.<\/p>\n

Since I\u2019m sure that you have more files than you know what to do with, let\u2019s take a look at a few CRM solutions that can be ideal for a small business:<\/p>\n

Nimble<\/strong><\/a>:<\/strong>\u00a0 If you are a socializing or persuasive style of marketer, then you should take a look at Nimble.\u00a0 This is what\u2019s called a \u201csocial CRM\u201d application that is ideal for those businesses who generate customers via social media channels such as LinkedIn, Facebook or Twitter.\u00a0 Nimble allows you to leverage those relationships and NOT lose them.\u00a0 If someone recommends you or asks for your advice via a social media channel.\u00a0 You can use Nimble to keep that conversation alive and show the person that you are responsive.<\/p>\n

ClaritySoft:<\/strong>\u00a0 I ran into ClaritySoft while I was helping one of my manufacturing clients look for a CRM that was easy to use and focused on the lead generation, nurturing and project management component of customer service.\u00a0 We ended up choosing them because they were very affordable and allowed us to profile customers, manage each step of the development process and create targeted sales and marketing campaigns in a snap.<\/p>\n

Another terrific personalization tip came from Chris Anderson, Co-Founder of Breezi.com, a new and amazing DIY web site tool.<\/p>\n

Chris recommends using Live Chat<\/strong> on your web site.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving a website with your customer support information posted is one thing, but offering live chat takes it to the next level. <\/em>Many customers dread having to get on the phone and wade through a convoluted sea of automated messages and extensions, in hopes of finally reaching a real person. This is what makes Live Chat such a great solution.\u00a0 <\/em>Live Chat isn\u2019t new, but small businesses have been slow to adopt live chat, and it’s becoming a critical channel in order to remain competitive and strengthen customer loyalty. The immediacy of live chat is the biggest advantage, where you can connect with a human being almost instantaneously. <\/em><\/p>\n

If you want to use Live Chat, try tools like \u00a0<\/strong><\/em>\u00a0oLark, <\/em>Volusion<\/em>, <\/em>Velaro<\/em> or <\/em>LiveZilla<\/em>.\u00a0 Each of these is inexpensive, easy to use and will make you personally accessible to your customers.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Live chat is a fantastic personalization options for those creative or analytical personality styles who may not feel comfortable engaging via phone with customers or for small businesses who operate online either as a software business or other service where you need or are primarily used online at the time service is needed.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m ready to get personal \u2013 now what?<\/strong><\/p>\n

If you\u2019ve read through this article and decided that you want to implement a personalization customer service strategy for 2014.\u00a0 You\u2019re probably swimming in overwhelm right now.\u00a0 That\u2019s perfectly normal.\u00a0 First take a breath and then follow this simple to-do list to get yourself started.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Ask your customers.<\/strong>\u00a0 Before you go off spending time, money and effort, ask your customers how they prefer to interact with you.\u00a0 You could do an online customer survey<\/a> and just ask the question \u201cHow do you prefer to interact with us?\u201d then list email, phone, live chat, etc.\u00a0 Make sure you let them pick more than one answer.<\/li>\n
  2. Test the responses.\u00a0 <\/strong>Take the answers that you\u2019ve gotten and test them out on a small community of customers.\u00a0 So if your customers said they would like \u201clive chat\u201d \u2013 then try it out with a beta group of customers and see how that works.<\/li>\n
  3. Implement one simple tool at a time.<\/strong>\u00a0 I know, you\u2019re going to get all excited, but contain yourself.\u00a0 Implement one tool at a time.\u00a0 If it\u2019s \u201clive chat\u201d for example, work with that for a few months.\u00a0 Then look at other options.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    I could go on and on \u2013 and I will in future articles.\u00a0 For the time being. Don\u2019t be shy \u2013 use the comment sections below to share YOUR top three market trends in customer service for 2014.\u00a0 If you have questions about specific customer service tools, share them in the comments and let\u2019s have an ongoing conversation about building profitable customer relationships in 2014.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    It shouldn\u2019t surprise you the personalization came up as a customer service trend for 2014.\u00a0Today\u2019s internet and social media technology […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":128,"featured_media":9872,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[180],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nPersonalization Ideas From the Experts | QuestionPro<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"It shouldn\u2019t surprise you the personalization came up as a customer service trend for 2014.\u00a0Today\u2019s internet and social media technology make personal\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" 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