The challenges and opportunities of digitalizing customer relations

Digital technology has rapidly made its way into our daily lives, driven by increasingly innovative technologies that are profoundly changing our requirements and behaviors. More than companies, hyper-connected consumers are setting the pace thanks to the web and social networks. The multiplication of communication tools has turned the notion of customer relations on its head, as it becomes increasingly digitalized. This is driving companies to integrate the management of these contact points, with the aim of delivering a seamless, instantaneous and qualitative customer experience. With so much at stake, companies are deploying appropriate digital strategies to develop a customer journey aimed at delivering unrivalled levels of satisfaction, boosting sales tenfold and building customer loyalty. Discover the challenges and opportunities of digital customer relations.

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What is the digitalization of customer relations?

The digital revolution has led to the creation of a variety of tools for staying connected in mobile situations (smartphones, tablets, etc.), but also to the multiplication of communication channels (social networks, e-mailing, etc.). Consumers are constantly on the lookout for information, and their level of expectation is rising, as they become accustomed to consulting and sharing opinions, but also to obtaining information in record time. The digitization of customer relations means that a consumer can use several points of contact to enter into a relationship with a company, establishing new consumer habits, expectations and demands induced by the democratization of digital tools.

Today's companies must take into account the challenges of digitalizing customer relations, with the aim of ensuring quality service throughout the customer journey. This new situation calls for a structural reorganization that fosters cooperation between all departments in order to deliver an optimal digital customer experience.

The influence of digital on customer relations

While digital technology has changed consumer behavior, it has also brought with it new ways of working and thinking about customer relations within companies. Today, customer relations encompass all interactions between a prospect/customer and a brand, before, during and after the sale. Companies are now gearing their strategy towards the consumer, whose experience is at the heart of their concerns. Consumers can benefit from in-depth knowledge of a company through the opinions of other Internet users, while at the same time having the power to influence with their own opinions, across multiple channels.

It is therefore essential to offer a sufficient level of service to guarantee satisfaction, at every stage of the sales process. Companies now have the opportunity to stay in constant touch with their customers via all available contact points (mobile, e-mail, telephone, Internet, social networks); the challenge is therefore to establish a close relationship that is conducive to their image and development. Since a good customer relationship is above all personalized, it's in companies' interest to collect customer data in order to offer a tailor-made service to satisfy customers and build loyalty. After all, what customers want is a humanized relationship that makes them feel unique.

What are the advantages of digitalizing customer relations?

The changing habits and expectations of consumers have transformed their relationships with companies, who have no choice but to adapt to these new challenges in order to stand out from the competition and remain competitive. The buying process has been profoundly altered by the possibility for consumers to form an opinion well before their first interaction with a salesperson in a physical outlet, thanks to the many channels available for consulting opinions and comparing products and services. As consumers become better informed, they also become more demanding and volatile: their attention is increasingly difficult to capture and maintain.

Digitization provides concrete answers to the needs of consumers, who expect a close relationship and genuine interactivity with a brand, for the benefit of their satisfaction. Providing a satisfying customer experience is the key to standing out from the crowd with a high value-added offering, to boost performance, brand awareness and customer loyalty.

How to digitalize customer relations?

The digitization of customer relations has revolutionized practices and given rise to new ways of working, geared to serving the ever-changing customer. It is a lever for growth, which requires a response to sales objectives and the company's global strategy. Identifying and prioritizing the information to be digitized therefore remains essential in order to develop the right tools, steer the project's progress and monitor its results. This deployment is based on 6 methodological axes, which can be adapted according to the company's activity:

• Analyze the fit between target and products/services ;
• Analyze the digital behavior of the target and the company;
• Identify existing sales channels and those that customers want;
• Analyze current customer journeys and those to be developed;
• Define a coherent, fluid and customized digital strategy;
• Measure performance and customer feedback.
  
  

To successfully digitalize customer relations, it's essential to use technological tools and solutions. The choice must be carefully considered among the various offerings, and each requires specific technical expertise that should not be overlooked:

• CRM: CRM software makes it possible to use customer data to manage customer relations in a personalized and satisfying way;
• Marketing Automation: a technology designed to automate repetitive marketing tasks - newsletters - and personalize the messages sent to enhance the user experience;
• Une équipe Customer Success : des équipes flexibles et agiles dédiées à l’amélioration de l’expérience consommateur au cours du parcours client permettent d’offrir une qualité de service à la hauteur.
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The opportunities offered by digitalizing customer relations

The digitization of customer relations provides companies that place it at the heart of their development strategy with an opportunity for growth, given the increasing complexity of the purchasing process. The aim is to offer their prospects and customers new communication channels to develop their satisfaction and loyalty. The digitalization of customer relations is based on the principle of omnichannelity, i.e. the multiplication of points of contact between a company and a prospect/customer.

The development of an omnichannel strategy gives companies the opportunity to mobilize new sales channels and solutions to reach new customers and capture their attention. For example, a retailer can integratedigital signage at the point of sale, to create a relay for its digital storefront.

Digital in-store offers a unique immersive experience, and is one of the most effective and attractive solutions for generating in-store traffic. Cenareo supports companies in deploying innovative means of communication with its dedicated digital signage system.

Easy to access, the Cenareo solution makes digital signage an innovative, high-ROI communication channel to meet the needs of digital customer relations.

Omnichannel offers a seamless experience from one channel to the next, and a global vision of the customer journey, to create a qualitative relationship and a premium level of service. What's more, data collection provides companies with a wealth of information on their customers' habits and desires. Combined with a clear definition of the company's target and positioning, all this data forms a valuable base of information for understanding the customer journey and responding to it in the best possible way.

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Are you now aware of the importance of digitalizing customer relations, and want to deploy high-performance tools to enhance customer satisfaction? Take your customer-centric approach to the next level with Cenareo, and generate greater commitment from your customers. Cenareo offers tailor-made support to help you deploy a powerful omnichannel strategy to attract, satisfy and retain your customers.