In today’s fast-paced digital landscape, managing and maintaining your client’s has increasingly moved online. Automated chatbots, AI-driven support, and self-service portals have become the norm. Yet, in the midst of this digital transformation, the “1 percenters” can still be the differentiator. I believe empathy and genuine interaction are the cornerstones of great and resilient relationships. I’ve explored why maintaining the “personal touch” is vital and how you can still (and should) balance technology with the personal touch.
Balancing Technology with a Personal Touch
Technology is a powerful tool that can enhance service we provide to our clients, but it will never replace the empathy and understanding that only people can provide. So, how can you find the balance between leveraging digital tools and maintaining personal connections with your clients?
Strategies for Integrating Technology Without Losing the Personal Touch:
- Use Technology to Enhance Personal Interaction: Employ chatbots to handle routine enquiries, allowing people to focus on more complex and emotionally charged interactions. For example, let the chatbot answer “What services do you offer?” while your people handle “What availability do you have for your venue in July?” moments.
- Personalise Digital Communications: CRMs (Customer Relationship Management) are very powerful these days and go way beyond just maintaining the name and contact details of your clients. Most will integrate with your other business systems and can be used to personalise communication to your client preferences and behaviours. CRMs can also help you segment your data to help “serve up” more relevant content. It’s 2024, using only “Hi [First Name]” is so 2010…let’s go bigger!
- Provide Multi-Channel Support: Offer multiple channels for support, including phone, email, live and AI driven chat, and social media, allowing clients to choose their preferred method of communication. A example of providing support when a client needs it is offering choice of when to be contacted – Apple do this very well with the support. I also had a very good experience with Google the other day where I could choose to have a Google Meets call with the support who I “screen shared” with to resolve the issue I was experiencing. Two big brands serving both B2C and B2B and lots of money to invest BUT it ain’t that hard to achieve…
My colleague Tony wrote an article in May 2024 highlighting the importance of building genuine connections with your audience – (ICYMI take a read) “Digital Marketing Beyond Ads: Building Genuine Connections with Your Audience.” Technology should support and enhance these connections, not replace them.
Key Elements of a Successful Client Service Strategy
Creating a successful client service strategy involves more than just answering queries. It’s about making clients feel valued and understood. Here’s a few to keep in the back of your mind:
Personalisation and Attentiveness:
- Personalised service makes clients feel special. According to Epsilon, 80% of consumers are more likely to do business with a company if it offers a personalised experience. It’s like getting a handwritten thank-you note instead of a mass email—much more memorable! My first Mortgage Broker sent personalised happy birthday cards until he became too busy and stopped …maybe he figured he couldn’t scale it so why bother doing it or perhaps didn’t care as much anymore. Wonder if he knows you can still add a similar personal touch without any more work…
- Be aware of your clients needs and preferences. Less talk. More Listening. Use data to tailor your conversations and provide relevant solutions.
Training and Empowering Client Service Representatives:
- Through training, enable your team to handle various client scenarios with empathy and professionalism. Make sure they know it’s okay to say, “I don’t know, but I’ll find out for you.”
- Empower your team to make decisions that can resolve issues swiftly and satisfactorily. Give them the tools they need and trust them to use their judgement.
"When a client complains, they are doing you a favour; they are giving you another chance to serve them to their satisfaction. You will appreciate the importance of this opportunity when you consider that the client's alternative option was to desert you for a competitor." — Seymour Fine
Heeding Client Feedback:
- Regularly collect and analyse client feedback to identify potential areas for improvement. It’s like having a GPS for client satisfaction—don’t ignore the “recalculating” signals.
- Implement changes based on feedback to enhance the client experience continually. Remember, a simple change based on feedback can turn a disgruntled client into a loyal advocate. Remember, good news travels quick. Bad news travels quicker…
In my blog titled, “The Evolving Landscape of Customer Expectations: Adapting Your Business for Success,” adapting to client expectations is crucial. Technology can provide valuable insights, but it’s the human touch that interprets and acts on this data effectively.
Building Trust and Loyalty through Interaction with People
Trust and loyalty are built through genuine connections with people. While digital tools can help these interactions, they cannot replace the authentic relationships that actual people create.
Techniques for Fostering Genuine Connections:
- Empathy and Active Listening: Understand and empathise with client concerns. Show that you value their opinions and are dedicated to resolving their issues. We’re all people and we all deserved to be heard.
- Consistent Follow-Up: Ensure that clients know you care about them by following up on their enquiries and resolving any outstanding issues. A quick “Just checking in to see if everything is sorted!” can work wonders.
"You don't earn loyalty in a day. You earn loyalty day-by-day." — Jeffrey Gitomer
In Tony’s October 2023 blog titled, “Elevate Your Processes with dovetail digital: Meeting Evolving Customer Expectations,” he emphasised the role of actual human interaction in building trust and loyalty. The “1 percenters” of the “personal touch” is still the foundation of strong client relationships.
Consequences of Neglecting Client Service in a Digital World
Neglecting client service will have dire consequences. In a world where clients have countless options at their fingertips, poor service can quickly lead to lost business.
Negative Impacts on Brand Trust and Customer Loyalty:
- Clients who feel neglected are likely to take their business elsewhere. Research from Salesforce found that 52% of consumers are likely to switch brands if a company doesn’t make an effort to personalise communications. That’s like inviting someone to your party and forgetting to greet them at the door.
- Negative experiences can lead to bad reviews and damage your brand’s reputation.
Example of a Company That Failed to Prioritise Client Service:
- Optus’ Customer Service Crisis: Optus, one of Australia’s largest telecommunications companies, faced significant backlash due to poor customer service. Complaints about long wait times, unresolved issues, and lack of personal interaction led to a tarnished reputation and loss of customer trust. This incident highlights the importance of prioritising customer service and the consequences of neglecting it
Learn more about the Optus customer service crisis: Optus Customer Service Issues
Companies that ignore client feedback and fail to adapt their service strategies risk losing their competitive edge. Don’t be the next cautionary tale!
Meeting Evolving Client Expectations through Processes
Streamlining processes to enhance client experience is essential. At Dovetail Digital, our goal is to help our clients adapt their processes to meet evolving client expectations effectively.
We Help Businesses Adapt Through:
- Process Optimisation: We identify inefficiencies and implement streamlined processes that improve client service.
- Technology Integration: We leverage technology to support, not replace, empathetic and effective client service — high tech and high touch.
Conclusion: Prioritising the Personal Touch in a Digital World
Another way of looking at it is through the lens of sport and understanding the difference between good sporting teams and great sporting teams. The experts will often tell you it’s the “1 percenters” that make good teams, great. The great teams practice the things that other teams may not because they don’t think they are as important or because they feel they are doing all things they think are good enough…
While technology may play a bigger role than in the past to exceeding client expectation, it will never replace the “1 percenters” such as the “personal touch”. Empathy, understanding, and genuine people interaction. These are essential for building strong client relationships and maintaining loyalty. Our business, Dovetail Digital, is committed to helping businesses find the perfect balance between technology and a “personal touch”.
While technology may play a bigger role than in the past to exceeding client expectation, it will never replace the “1 percenters” such as the “personal touch”. Empathy, understanding, and genuine people interaction. These are essential for building strong client relationships and maintaining loyalty. Our business, Dovetail Digital, is committed to helping businesses find the perfect balance between technology and a “personal touch”.
