What Does Personalization Mean for Customers?

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Today, personalization — offering customers tailored experiences that keep them engaged — requires a far more robust and strategic approach, and is essential to remaining competitive in a crowded and increasingly savvy marketplace.

Remember when seeing your name in an email subject line seemed like a revolutionary advancement in digital marketing?

Customers today are gravitating toward brands that feel like they listen to them, understand them, and pay attention to their specific wants and needs. That’s where personalization comes in. It’s a way for brands to contextualize the messages, offers, and experiences they deliver, according to each visitor’s unique profile.

Think of it as an evolution from marketing communications to digital conversations, with data as the starting point. Collecting, analyzing, and effectively using information about consumer demographics, interests, and behaviors will help you create campaigns, content, and experiences that resonate with your target audience.

What is Personalization?
How Does Your Business Benefit From Personalization?
What is Personalization in Customer Service?
How Can I Provide Personalized Customer Service?
What Does Personalization Mean in Marketing?
Can Your Brand Benefit From Personalized Marketing?
What Are Some Examples of Personalized Marketing?
How Can You Create a Successful Personalized Marketing Strategy?
What is The Meaning of Personalization in Business?
What is The Difference Between Personalization And Customization?
How do You Personalize a Customer?
Why do we Need Personalization?
Do Customers Like Personalization?
What is Personalization Strategy?
What is The Process of Personalization?
Why is Personalization Important in Customer Service?
Why is Personalization Important in Sales
How do You Deliver Personalized Customer Service?

What is Personalization?

Personalization is the act of tailoring a service or a product to accommodate a specific individual or group. As the name suggests, personalization is centered on the person, fulfilling a particular customer’s needs and reflecting them in the product or service.

Read Also: Customer Experience Trends 2022

Personalization can be rolled out across many design disciplines. But thanks to new technology, personalization is having a particularly big impact in digital design (website and apps) and marketing communication. Here, personalization means products and services can be adapted to appeal to different modern-day customers who favor individuality and uniqueness.

A wide variety of organizations use personalization to improve customer satisfaction, sales conversion, branding, advertising, marketing as well as to improve website metrics.

It’s worth noting, though, that there’s a difference between personalization and customization.

In personalization, the business is the one designing the changes using customer data and predictive technology, e.g. the ads chosen for you to see on Instagram. With customization, the customer designs the modifications, e.g. Nike By You sneakers.

How Does Your Business Benefit From Personalization?

Personalization is important as it can enhance a business’ internal and external operations.

Increased engagement

The modern world is inundated with marketing messages. But personalized comms can cut through the noise, and speak directly to a customer by honing in on their needs.

And customers love it. In fact, 72% of consumers will now only engage with personalized marketing messages. Email campaigns, social media marketing and banner ads can all be tailored to suit a certain demographic or individual profile.

In digital design, a truly personalized website or app interface will feel like it’s starting a dialogue with the user. Their name will be visible, as will a history of their previous activity. There’s even the opportunity to pull in tailored content, designed for their needs. Together, this amounts to greater engagement.

More sales

Unsurprisingly, good marketing personalization also boosts conversions and sales. Econsultancy reported that 93% of businesses saw an increase in sales from personalization.

Automation of marketing personalization also enables marketers to identify which channel customers engage with, then automatically follow up across channels as part of an omnichannel approach. This makes the sign-up process more intuitive, as customers feel they are being spoken to individually; encouraging prospects along the funnel.

Measure success

Personalization allows a business to test the propositions really connect with consumers.

In a marketing context, personalization gives a business the data they need to not only track their campaigns, but how the business is performing as a whole. Knowing what customers buy, search for, and engage with is paramount to making strategic decisions and painting a clear commercial picture of the business.

However, there is a fine line between targeted marketing and being intrusive. Good campaigns will subtly capture the consumer’s needs, without violating their privacy. We suggest familiarizing yourself with privacy laws around the gathering of data to avoid ending up in the junk folder.

What is Personalization in Customer Service?

Personalization has been table stakes in marketing for years. Personalized emails with curated product recommendations. Cross-platform ads based on the exact products you’re actively searching for.

And when it comes to getting customer support, customers have the same expectation for tailored, individualized experiences. Almost 70% of consumers want companies to personalize their communications, underscoring the importance it is for customer service.

Personalized customer service boils down to remembering who your customers are and treating them as individuals. It tailors experiences to a person’s past interactions and leverages user data to take into account a person’s specific profile attributes to customize the experience.

It can be as simple as greeting a person by their name, pulling up their order automatically by an email or phone number, or more complex by implementing proactive customer care.

How Can I Provide Personalized Customer Service?

Personalization in customer service can take many forms. Here are the seven most effective strategies to provide personalized support.

1. Greet customers by name.

The easiest way to personalize your customer service is by greeting a customer by name in emails, chats and phone calls. While this seems obvious, many companies are failing to do even this. In our Customer Service Benchmark reports, we’ve analyzed the personalization of customer service for various industries.

We’ve found that only 68% of eCommerce companies and 49% of telcos greet a person by their first names in customer service emails. For global travel and hospitality brands, a whopping 28% of companies did not respond to a customer by their first name in email responses or on social media.

2. Keep customer data trails and look up information on the back-end.

When you use a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) platform, you’re able to holistically look at a customer’s entire relationship and history with a company. You’re able to access preferences, past orders and interactions with customer service so you don’t have to ask a person to repeat themselves.

As soon as you’re able to identify a customer by an email address, phone number or order number, you should never have to ask them for basic information. As much as possible, try to limit the questions you have to ask a customer and never make them repeat themselves.

3. Ensure fluidity across channels.

There’s an increasing number of support channels. In an environment where channel preferences change based on the type of issue, frustration breeds when a customer’s context is not carried forward as they move between channels.

A single customer profile should exist across channels, and especially if a person has to reach out on multiple channels for the same issue, they should never have to restart the conversation or repeat themselves.

4. Ask for feedback.

One way to show customers that they are appreciated and valued is by asking for their opinion in Customer Satisfaction Surveys. It’s not just enough to ask for feedback with binary and scale questions but inviting customers to provide open-ended responses on their experience and what could have been improved.

Personalization comes from truly listening to feedback and implementing changes based on what your customers are saying. As a result, you can expect to gain customer loyalty: 97% of consumers are more likely to be loyal to a company that implements their feedback.

5. Empower agents to personalize the experience.

Whether signing off using their own name or simply asking about a customer’s day as they are pulling up information, empower your agents to humanize their interactions. Don’t force them to stick too closely to a script, but encourage them to have human-like interactions.

Zappos, well regarded for its customer experience, says on its website that “Customer interactions often include personal topics, such as weddings, pregnancies, graduations, birthdays and anniversaries. It’s not uncommon for customers to be pleasantly surprised days later by a mailed greeting card from their new friend at Zappos!” We love this personal touch.

6. Deploy intelligent self-service.

Self-service is becoming more and more common in customer service via robust online knowledge bases and AI chatbots. Intelligent self-service leverages machine learning to deliver the content that’s most relevant to the individual customer based on their purchase history, browsing history, where they are in the customer journey, and more. Using data-driving insights, you can help people become better and more efficient at solving their own issues.

7. Be proactive.

Solve issues before your customers realize there’s ever an issue in the first place or has to interrupt their day to reach out to you. This predictive hyper care makes your customers feel like you’re really looking out for them and have their best interest at heart.

Let’s look at an example. Makeup brand Glossier is often recognized for its top-notch customer service. There are countless stories about the brand going above and beyond to wow customers and show customers they are valued and appreciated.

One such customer recounts a time when, during the busy holiday season, her order was delayed. Before she had a chance to inquire on the status, Glossier proactively reached out, letting her know that they noticed a delay and had already sent another order on rush.

Not only did the Glossier customer service team alert the customer to a potential issue, but it provided a solution all without the customer having to ask. Can customer service get more personalized than this?

What Does Personalization Mean in Marketing?

Personalized marketing (or one-to-one marketing) can be defined in a number of ways, but at the most basic level, it can be explained as follows:

Personalized marketing is the implementation of a strategy by which companies deliver individualized content to recipients through data collection, analysis, and the use of automation technology.

The goal of personalized marketing is to truly engage customers or prospective customers by communicating with each as an individual.

Can Your Brand Benefit From Personalized Marketing?

There are numerous advantages of personalized marketing, for both businesses and consumers. When strategies are implemented successfully, the following benefits come into play:

Improved Customer Experience. Customers are more comfortable providing personal information to their favorite brands if they get something in return. They fill out forms, download whitepapers, participate in surveys to get discounts, and indicate their favorite purchases or preferences. So, what’s the catch? With all of this customer data being offered, the consumer expects brands to protect any sensitive information and offer more personalized experiences when they come back.

Drive Revenue. By identifying and responding to the preferred channel for each customer, companies can increase ROI. With the right automation technology, marketers can identify which channel customers engage with, then automatically follow up across channels as part of an omnichannel approach.

Increase Brand Loyalty. When consumers provide information and data, they expect to be treated as unique individuals with specific preferences. Businesses that dedicate time and resources to implement successful personalized marketing strategies will benefit from a competitive advantage in both brand loyalty and customer satisfaction.

Create Consistency Across Channels. Consumers are interacting with brands across a number of channels, including email, social, mobile, etc., sometimes all in a single day. For this reason, it’s more important than ever for brands to create consistency across various channels. The in-store experience should match the app experience, which should match email messaging. You get the point.

What Are Some Examples of Personalized Marketing?

Nowadays, the average consumer is fully expecting personalization in every campaign your brand runs. Here’s a look at some examples of personalized campaigns that can lead to a great deal of success.

Targeted Emails

Marketers are using personalization to jumpstart their email campaigns. Through personalization, marketers can create and send individualized emails to a specific group with certain needs.

Getting a better understanding of your audience is key to increasing the relevancy of email content. One way to start collecting customer information is through sign-up forms.

When someone signs up, they would fill out a questionnaire with details about themselves that could range from their birth date to particular interests. For example, a clothing retailer might send emails based on age and interests to potential customers to determine what clothing styles they would like best.

Custom Video Messages

Did you know that the average online reader loses interest in about? Leveraging videos with custom messaging can be a very effective approach to keep customers engaged.

Perhaps you’ve seen the dancing holiday elves before – you can add a picture of yourself and friends, then watch as the elves boogie down with your faces on them. Or, social media videos that show your name and personalized information that you might’ve included in your profile.

Although this type of personalization is memorable for your audience, it can be time-consuming without the right automation technology in place. So, be sure that you have the tools and resources needed to make this as scalable as possible.

Product Recommendations

This is a pretty common tactic and for good reason – it works. This type of campaign uses data collection to determine what type of product, service, or offer a user is most likely interested in and tailor’s recommendations accordingly.

Say the last three movies you watched were all drama, it wouldn’t make sense if you were recommended the latest Adam Sandler film. Similarly, customers have the ability to rate these campaigns and provide feedback based on whether they enjoyed it or not. This allows customers to filter through what they like and don’t like much easier without having to go through the trouble watching everything.

Social Media Marketing

Interacting with consumers and potential customers across social media networks can help increase customer satisfaction and brand loyalty. Not surprisingly, social media has quickly become the backbone of multichannel initiatives and has helped continue conversations online that keep brands in the minds of potential customers.

By sending highly personalized and relevant social media messages through automation, marketers are able to collect responses and customer data from social media channels, which in turn helps improve communication and drive conversions.

Fear of Missing Out (FOMO)

Want to know what really drives conversions? Fear – or fear of missing out to be exact. As humans, we aggressively seek out information that could be deemed vital and get an uneasy feeling when we sense we’re missing out on something special.

By showing how many other people are currently looking at this same product or have bought it recently, e-commerce sites are incorporating FOMO personalized messages as a way to convince customers that they need to make a purchase before leaving. These messages are oftentimes brief and to the point, while requiring very little effort from a marketers’ standpoint.

How Can You Create a Successful Personalized Marketing Strategy?

No one said it was easy. When launching a successful personalized marketing strategy, the following should be considered:

Compare. To start, if you’re not using any kind of content personalization engine, you should be. If you are already leveraging a personalization platform, make sure to compare your existing solution against any other that claims to offer more value.

Capture. Typically, the implementation of this type of solution is fairly easy (requiring only a few lines of code on your webpages). Once code has been added to your website, you can start capturing data, including clicks, time on site, abandoned shopping carts, purchase history, and much more.

Analyze. Capturing data, building analytical capabilities, and developing adaptable websites are all beneficial to an organization, but they are most valuable when fully synchronized with each other. After just a few short weeks, your personalization solution should be able to provide relevant content recommendations to customers. This is when you should run an A/B test to validate the performance of your system vs. a control.

Act. Data collection and analysis inform your marketing decisions, but you should still let the machine do the heavy lifting. Don’t play with the calculation method more than necessary (for example new promotions, out-of-stock products, etc.)

What is The Meaning of Personalization in Business?

According to Gartner, personalization is “a process that creates a relevant, individualized interaction between two parties designed to enhance the experience of the recipient.”

More simply put, we would say:

Personalization is the act of tailoring an experience or communication based on information a company has learned about an individual.

Just like my friend had a notebook tailored based on information she has learned about me over the years (my favorite color and songs), companies can tailor experiences or communications based on information they learn about their prospects and customers.

Tailoring Experiences

What types of experiences can be tailored? Most of the channels in which customer interactions take place can be personalized. Some of the main ones include:

Websites
Mobile apps
Emails
Web apps (like a SaaS application)
Online ads
In-store/in-branch communications
Online chats
Call centers

Acting on Information

What kind of information can be acted on to tailor experiences in those channels? It’s basically an unlimited list that contains any information a company can collect about its customers and prospects. But some of the most common include:

Geolocation
Source (such as search, email, social, paid ad, referring site, etc.)
Firmographic information for B2B (such as industry, company, revenue, employee count, technology stack, etc.)
Buyer persona
Buyer status (e.g. customer or prospect)
Time of day
Browser or device type
Number of site visits, logins or pages/screens viewed
Active time spent
Time elapsed since last visit, email open, call center interaction, etc.
Purchases made, articles read, videos viewed, etc.
Lifetime value (LTV)
Mouse movement (scrolling, hovering, inactivity)
Affinity toward content and products along with their characteristics (categories, tags, brands, colors, keywords, etc.)
Email opens and clicks
Push notification dismissals or clickthroughs

What is The Difference Between Personalization And Customization?

This definition of personalization may sound similar to another concept, customization. But there is a clear difference. With personalization, a company modifies an experience without any effort from the customer. Customization, on the other hand, allows the customer to intentionally modify the experience himself.

For example, when you adjust your Gmail settings to indicate the number of messages you want to see per page and add a signature, you are customizing your email experience.

But when Gmail displays advertisements to you based on your interests, it’s personalizing your experience for you. In the first example, you’re intentionally changing the experience. In the second, you’re receiving more relevant ads without taking any action yourself.

Let’s explore another example we’re all familiar with: online shopping. Many e-commerce sites allow you to filter the products shown on a page to help you more easily locate the ones that meet your specific criteria.

That’s customization. You are intentionally customizing the products you see on that page to help you find what you’re looking for more quickly.

But a site could deliver a similar result — helping you find the product that best meets your needs — without requiring you to take any action yourself. Instead, the site could sort the products on the page and list those at the top that meet the preferences you’ve demonstrated by your behavior.

For example, if you regularly shop and purchase home decor in black and brushed nickel, it might display those items toward the top of the list. This way, you can find those products more quickly without needing to scroll through pages of irrelevant gold or white decor first.

In another example of customization vs. personalization, let’s consider email frequency. Often when you sign up to join a company’s email list (or when you attempt to unsubscribe), companies offer you the option to modify your preferences to dictate how often you’d like to receive emails (daily, weekly, etc.)

This is another example of customization; you’re telling the company how often you’d like to hear from them.

But you could reach the same end result (more or fewer emails) with personalization too. In that case, the company would pay attention to how often you tend to engage with their email communications and adjust the frequency of email sends accordingly.

Recipients who tend to open and interact with more emails will receive emails more frequently, while those who only interact occasionally will receive emails less frequently. That’s personalization.

With both personalization and customization, the end result is a more relevant experience for the customer. But the difference is whether the customer does the work or not.

How do You Personalize a Customer?

Personalized customer service is about treating people as individuals. In an age where customers can buy into your products and services from almost anywhere in the world, this has become increasingly complex. Although there’s no one-size-fits-all solution, the following 10-step plan will provide a framework that will allow your contact center to adopt a more personalized approach to customer care.

1. Develop customer profiles

One of the most important parts of delivering personal service involves taking the time to understand who your customers are. Your company’s marketing department should be able to supply demographic data and customer information.

From there, sit down with your best service reps and discuss the types of customers they commonly deal with on a day-to-day basis. In combination, this process will allow you to ‘flesh out’ a series of profiles based on your typical customer’s needs, wants and expectations.

2. Create a customer-focused vision statement

Defining your customer service principles in a vision statement provides a strategic reference point. The easiest way to create a customer-centric vision statement is by focusing on key expectations identified in your customer profiles.

Once in place, every rep in your business should know the vision statement by heart. This way, its principles can act as guiding values for your entire service department.

3. Train employees to be customer-facing

Training customer-facing reps how to deal with customer emotions is crucial to creating personal experiences. No customer wants to feel ‘processed,’ and how reps respond to someone that is angry or upset is crucial. In this situation, the last thing any customer wants to encounter is a robot-like agent taking their cues from a script.

4. Give customers choice

Customers don’t think in terms of channels. In today’s hyper connected world they expect to access customer service in the manner they find most convenient. It doesn’t matter if it’s talking face-to-face, by phone or email, via social media or live chat, customers expect your business to be there when they need you. If you’re not providing an omni-channel service experience, your customers will happily switch to a competitor that does.

5. Develop a self-service experience

Self-service provides information that customers can use to help themselves. In a service environment that’s now defined by speed and convenience, self-service reduces frustration by allowing customers to find the answers they need quickly and easily. Suitable materials for self-service portals include FAQs, explainer videos and step-by-step solutions for common problems.

6. Offer support via social media

J.D. Power reveals that over two-thirds of consumers have used a company’s social media channels for customer service. Social has become key to multichannel initiatives because it’s a good way to engage with and listen to people. As such, social channels provide a valuable source of information and insight that your business can use to personalize customer experiences.

7. Empower your sales and service reps with a well-implemented CRM

Customer relationship management (CRM) systems improve your service offering in several powerful ways. For instance, CRM systems provide a suite of interactive voice response (IVR) options, plus real-time, customer-centric data such as personal information and call and purchase history.

As a result, a well-implemented CRM system can empower service reps to deliver more personalized greetings and responses.

8. Use customer feedback

Feedback loops are a great way to listen and learn from your customers. Creating a systematic approach to collecting feedback gives your business a unique opportunity to hear what your customers think you could be doing better.

Used effectively, this means you can optimize your customer service to ensure it’s as personalized as possible. A well-integrated CRM can also help you implement automated tools such as post call IVR surveys that provide even more insightful feedback.

9. Seek regular employee feedback

As the eyes and ears of any contact center, service agents are crucial to delivering personalized experiences. They’re also the ones speaking to your customers every day, which means they’ll be the first to notice trends that can help improve your customer service offering.

Providing platforms for them to offer ideas and constructive feedback can therefore help stimulate small changes that make a massive difference.

10. Evaluate your service offering regularly

As their needs and habits evolve, the customer profiles you develop will change. Consistently reviewing your customers’ preferences and seeking feedback from every available source is the only way to ensure you keep offering a personalized experience.

It’s crucial to keep learning and building knowledge so the insight you glean can be used to develop increasingly personalized interactions with your customers.

Why do we Need Personalization?

First and foremost, the most important thing is understanding the key benefits of personalized marketing, and how it can help your business in the long run.

Exceptional customer experience

Having friendly customer agents to help out your customers is great, but it isn’t enough anymore. You have to provide exceptional customer experience throughout their entire journey with you – and that includes social media interactions, automatic emails, recommendations and much more.

In fact, more and more consumers are expecting a personalized and unique journey with companies. Research conducted by Salesforce has found that customers are willing to provide more data in exchange for personalized marketing, with 58% of respondents saying that a personalized experience is very important when purchasing from a company.

In addition, 52% of consumers are somewhat likely to switch brands if a company doesn’t provide enough personalization, and 57% are willing to share personal data in exchange for personalized offers and discounts.

Increase revenue, sales and conversions

Providing a personalized service just makes business sense. If customers are getting reading suggestions and product recommendations that speak to their interests, they’re more likely to consume it. If they’re happy with the service they get and the communications they receive from you, they’re more likely to stick with you over your competitors.

It stands to reason that personalizing your services and offering a customized experience will boost your sales and conversions, and the figures support it: 75% of consumers prefer buying from a brand that knows their name and purchase history, and analysis by Forbes shows that marketers that deliver personalized web experiences are getting double-digit returns in marketing performance and response.

Boost customer retention

Customer retention is vital. Increasing customer retention by 5% can increase profits by 25% up to 95%, and it’s well-known that it’s cheaper to retain existing customers than to acquire new ones. Adobe’s Digital Index shows that 40% of eCommerce revenue is generated by 8% of repeat customers, and marketers in the US and Europe must bring in between 5 and 7 new shoppers to equal the revenue of just one repeat customer.

Your chances of hitting these numbers increase if you provide a personalized experience: according to research by Segment, 44% of customers are likely to become repeat buyers after a personalized experience with a company, whilst 49% have purchased a product they did not initially intend to buy after having a personalized experience.

Do Customers Like Personalization?

You may have seen the statistics, but the power of personalization never fails to impress. Check out this array of statistics from various research studies across the web:

71% of consumers feel frustrated when a shopping experience is impersonal. – Segment
70% of millennials are frustrated with brands sending irrelevant emails. – SmarterHQ
74% of customers feel frustrated when website content is not personalized. – Instapage
47% of consumers check Amazon if the brand they’re shopping with doesn’t provide product suggestions that are relevant. – SmarterHQ
36% of consumers say retailers need to do more to offer personalized experiences. – Retail TouchPoints
91% of consumers say they are more likely to shop with brands that provide offers and recommendations that are relevant to them. – Accenture
80% of consumers are more likely to make a purchase from a brand that provides personalized experiences. – Epsilon
90% of U.S. consumers find marketing personalization very or somewhat appealing. – Statista
72% of consumers say they only engage with personalized messaging. – SmarterHQ
80% of frequent shoppers only shop with brands that personalize the experience. – SmarterHQ
56% of online shoppers are more likely to return to a website that recommends products. – Invesp
63% of consumers will stop buying from brands that use poor personalization tactics. – Smart Insights
66% of consumers say encountering content that isn’t personalized would stop them from making a purchase. – CMO by Adobe
42% of consumers are annoyed when content isn’t personalized. – CMO by Adobe
More than 50% of consumers are willing to share information on products they like in order to get personalized discounts. – Retail TouchPoints
83% of consumers are willing to share their data to create a more a personalized experience. – Accenture

In recent research from Innovid, 40% of consumers have made a purchase in 2020 as a direct result of a personalized ad. Respondents said they were more likely to click on a number of ad types if they were personalized:

41% are more likely to click on personalized ads for events that interest them
38% will click o personalized ads for products they’ve shown interest in
34% will click on ads for new products or services they may like

Additionally, 32% of consumers like personalized ads, but 3 in 10 like brands more when they personalize ads. A further 43% of respondents agree that it’s important that ads are personalized.

Consumers also appreciate context in their personalized ads. Approximately 4 in 10 (39%) like ads that speak to the context of the moment such as the website they’re on. A further 3 in 10 (31%) appreciate ads that use their demographics for personalization and 29% want to see behavioral ads that understand their online activity and preferences.

Consumers are most receptive to personalized ads in retail.

Channels consumers prefer to see personalization in include:

18% – Social ads
17% – Video
17% – TV
13% – Banner ads

When it comes to sharing personal information, 23% of consumers stated they are more willing to share their information with brands than they were 1-2 years ago. In fact, consumers are most willing to share their personal information to receive ads that are more relevant based on:

What can brands do to make consumers feel more comfortable sharing their data? 35% of consumers stated they would like to dictate data collection preferences and 12% want brands to share their official data collection policy.

In a recent survey by the Advertising Research Foundation, 93% of respondents said they would be willing to share their gender with a website, but that dropped to 90% if it meant the data was used to create a personalized experience. Approximately 91% said they would share their race or ethnicity, but that dropped to 86% for a personalized experience.

What is Personalization Strategy?

Personalization is a powerful way to communicate empathically with your customers and tailor your business to their particular needs. A personalization strategy allows you to identify segments of visitors with distinct preferences or needs, then create targeted experiences for them.

More than 70% of customers feel frustrated when their experience is impersonal, but what can you do to personalize it? Here are 9 strategies to help you get it right:

Marketing Personalization

1. Use data to enhance experiences
2. Send personalized emails
3. Create meaningful Opt-in forms & Thank You pages

Sales Personalization

4. Turn unknown visitors into hot leads
5. Chat with prospects in real-time
6. Personalize sales follow-ups

Customer Support Personalization

7. Provide context-based support
8. Target customer needs with a Knowledge Base
9. Solve customer complaints immediately

What is The Process of Personalization?

Personalization is a process that creates a relevant, individualized interaction between two parties designed to enhance the experience of the recipient, according to the Gartner market research. To build an effective process for personalized customer journeys, consider the following 4 essential steps.

Step 1: Who

To whom do you want to personalize the content? Create segments with real-time behavioral data from the site and set up as many as you like. You can create similar groups or create individual user experiences for new customers, VIP visitors, or based on demographics. When creating segments, the only limit is your imagination!

Step 2: What

What content do you want to show your segments or individuals? Downloadable case studies, discount codes, or maybe recommendations for recently viewed products? At Frosmo, these are known as modifications. Recommend and personalize products and content using machine learning algorithms to increase conversions.

It’s always good to verify, which modifications work better by A/B testing or algorithm-based optimization. Read how our customer Clas Ohlson is experimenting to make more educated, data-driven decisions.

Step 3: Where

Where do you want the personalized content to appear? On the homepage, on a category page, or perhaps on the checkout page? Identify these placements and display modifications on any screen and device.

Step 4: When

What is the most ideal point in the customer journey for the content to be shown to the segment or individual? Use Frosmo triggers to detect particular events, such as specific views and clicks, and show related content accordingly.

A good time to show personalized content can be, for example, after the visitor has spent some time on the site, is about to exit, or after they’ve signed up for a newsletter. Combine triggers to create, personalize, and implement entire user journeys.

Personalization is becoming an ever-important differentiator when competing against the giant corporations that dominate our web experiences and device interactions.

Why is Personalization Important in Customer Service?

Personalization in customer service is the route to establishing trust and confidence with customers, which in turn leads to repeat business, loyalty, and brand advocacy from them.

The need for personalization in customer service has become more pronounced now since customers are now a more demanding and fastidious ‘breed’. They expect to be treated well and receive individual attention – with so many competitors for a single company, customers know that companies will comply.

Customer needs vary – we know that no two customers are alike and hence they cannot be served by an ‘umbrella’ kind of service, leading to the need for personalization. Customers have evolved – are more involved, have a wider knowledge base and are unwilling to compromise on the standards they set.

With such wisdom and experience in dealing with companies, it has become tough for companies to give them anything but the best. Higher expectations of standards in service have led to companies aiming for personalization in customer service in every interaction, with each customer.

Personalization in customer service leads customers to feel more connected and engaged with a company. These feelings ensure reduced opportunities for strife and customer churn – customers would feel proud to be associated with a company and would do their bit to let others know of their happy experiences.

Positive word of mouth would attract other potential customers to explore business relations with a company – this is a more potent form of advertising than any other method. Through personalization in customer service, companies gain a better and more in-depth understanding of their current and potential customer base.

The greater the understanding of the customer needs and expectations, the more individualized products and services a company can create for its customers. The demand for such products would definitely be greater, leading to higher sales and profits for the company.

Customers are a discerning lot – when they perceive genuine efforts towards personalization in customer service, they are sure to reciprocate the company’s efforts.

With consistent efforts on the part of the company, customers willingly take on the role of brand ambassadors and actively spread good things about the company and its offerings. Since people are more likely to become customers when they read reviews and comments of current customers, such brand advocacy bodes very well for a company.

Personalization in customer service also encompasses customized messages and content for customers. With so many choices and an overwhelming amount of information available to customers now, it becomes difficult for them to choose. In order to cut through this ‘noise’ and confusion, messages and content that are precise and lucid, hit home better with customers.

Such messages also ensure that information passes to customers speedily and is readily usable. Speed, reliability, and usefulness are three extremely important factors for customers when deciding who they remain associated with and for how long.

Through personalization in customer service, companies display their knowledge about the customer’s preferences, previous buying behaviour and history and their relationships with the company’s competitors.

Customers in turn, reciprocate by willingly sharing information about them, which tells a company that a customer feels engaged and connected with it and would be happy to contribute to its success.

Companies that believe in the efficacy of personalization in customer service would invest in technology and systems that would enable them to process customer information more rapidly and efficiently. Customers expect that companies would make the effort to utilize such resources such that they can consistently develop tailored and customized products and services.

In addition, the ‘feel’ of personalization in customer service must extend to online experiences as well. Customers now have a plethora of means to communicate with a company and can choose to buy either online or in store – they expect that their experiences in both realms would be the same – personalized and focused on them.

Personalization in customer service, therefore, now has increasing impact and importance and those companies that recognize this have a better chance at success.

Why is Personalization Important in Sales

Personalization in sales refers to the act of tailoring a pitch so it acutely addresses the pain points, needs, and challenges of the customer, all while making them feel appreciated.

In other words, personalization in sales is all about ditching a generic message for one that does a better job of addressing the specific pain points of the individual or organization.

Here are 5 reasons why personalization is important in sales.

1. Stand out from the crowd

Did you know that 347 billion marketing emails are expected to be sent daily by the year 2022?

This means your emails are going to face a lot of competition and a “one size fits all” approach just isn’t going to cut it.

Instead of assuming that this should lead to a significant jump in quantity, you should see this statistic and think “how can our email be the one that gets opened”.

And thankfully, personalization offers a route you to add quality to your emails so people are more likely to open and read them.

For tips regarding personalization strategies for higher levels of conversion, take a look at the tips below:

Include the customers’ name in the subject line. (A study found that including a personalized subject line increases the open rate of an email by 41%.)
Send them an offer on their birthday. (Keep in mind this entails creating a customer profile so you know when their birthday is.)
Reference their location or the time of year (I.e. “Here’s some deals that will make your holiday season a success.”)
Triggered emails based on the customer’s journey (A good example is sending a reminder email to a customer’s inbox whenever they still have an item in their cart.)

2. Adds a human touch (Less robotic)

When you call a customer support line and are met with a robot, it likely causes you to brew with frustration as you punch buttons in an attempt to get a human on the line.

Now, why is it that people are so averse to speaking with robots?

Because it leads the person to feel like their problems aren’t being taken seriously. This helps explain why adding a human touch is so valuable when trying to build the relationship that leads to a sale.

People are so used to receiving emails or calls that seem robotic and emotionless that they’ll be pleasantly surprised by a sales method that makes it feel like they’re speaking with an actual person versus an automated machine.

3. Gives the customer added confidence you understand their pain points

At the end of the day, sales is all about throwing enough value in the face of your customers so they’re motivated to buy.

Your customers are busy people with their own lives, so you must convince them that you thoroughly understand their issues in a short span of time.

While this is no easy feat, sending a personalized email gives the impression that you’re willing to invest time into the customer. And this is accomplished by actually doing the research and stating a hurdle that’s commonly shared by customers in your specific target audience.

4. Helps you better understand the company

A natural side effect of personalization is it allows you to learn more about the company you’re marketing to. And by learning about the brand, you’re able to adjust your message accordingly.

For example, if you’re selling to a tech company filled with young workers that dress casually and have tattoos, that message will look different than the pitch to the formal company with a strict suit and tie dress code.

So before you type that email or make that call, take the time to thoroughly research the company as well as their message and values.

5. People want to be entertained and be apart of an experience

The good part of the internet is that it helps you reach whoever it is that you need to reach, and the downside is that you’ve got loads of competition in the form of articles, videos, other salespeople, etc.

But this is no reason to be intimidated. By learning how to build emails that not only inform but entertain readers, you’ll put customers at ease and will increase the odds of them finishing the message.

A good strategy is to include a little video that explains your brands’ benefits in a funny way or to even include gifs. Whatever you do end up choosing, just don’t be crude or spend so much time being funny you forget to offer the customer any value.

How do You Deliver Personalized Customer Service?

Personalizing your customer service experience can have a number of positive benefits for your business including: increasing customer satisfaction, engagement, loyalty, retention and revenue. Personalization is an important strategy for your team to implement now as customer expectations continue to rise and competition remains stiff.

Here are 5 successful ways you can deliver a more personalized customer experience today:

1. Address customers by their name

Research reveals that human brains react differently when you hear your own name called. This implies that hearing your name prompts a very specific brain function. This could explain why customers feel more valued and find interactions with brands who refer to them by their name more memorable.

In order to accomplish this, make sure your customer service software has customer recognition capabilities across all channels so agents know who they are speaking to the second the customer reaches out.

Learning your customer’s name and using it when addressing them may sound too simplistic to even make an impact, but this gesture goes a long way in terms of connecting with them and establishing trust. Additionally, having agents use their own name when speaking to customers, whether it’s over the phone, on chat or on email, is equally as important.

When customers know they are speaking to a real person, it adds a level of humanity to the interaction and establishes a more meaningful connection between you and your customers.

2. Recognize & reward loyalty

Let your loyal customers know you appreciate them by thanking and rewarding them for their business. It can be as modest as sending an occasional handwritten thank you note, offering a spontaneous discount, or a complimentary product or service.

If you collect your customers’ birthdays, wishing them a happy birthday or giving them a discount on such an occasion is also a thoughtful way of acknowledging them on a more personal level.

Essentially, whatever you’re offering, it should communicate that you value them as a loyal customer. Failing to recognize your customers for their loyalty puts your business at risk of losing customers due to perceived indifference.

3. Offer several customer service channels

Some customers have preferences when it comes to channels while others simply use whatever channel is convenient to them in the moment they need assistance. Providing your customers with choices when reaching out to your customer support shows your customers that you’re considerate and mindful enough to recognize their preferences and needs.

Implementing several ways to get in touch imparts a sense of personalization and lets customers use whichever mode they prefer. However, it’s important to mention here that you must be able to respond and resolve customer inquiries within all of the channels you offer.

Otherwise, you will be making your customers switch away from their preferred channel, which creates an unenjoyable, burdensome customer experience.

4. Leverage customer data

One of the most important aspects of delivering personalized customer support is being able to make your customers feel like you know them, their history with your business and their preferences. No customers wants to have to repeat themselves or feel like another ticket number to your business, customers actually want to feel like your business cares about them individually.

In fact, 75% of consumers are more likely to buy from a retailer that recognizes them by name, recommends options based on past purchases, or knows their purchase history.

In order to accomplish this and make your customers feel valued, you must be able to leverage the data you currently have on your customers while assisting them (conversation history, order history, tracking, lifetime value etc.). This means implementing customer service software that can display relevant customer data from your other systems to agents.

Additionally, more and more customers are now growing to expect this level of personalized service and even become frustrated when they are confronted with anything impersonal or irrelevant to them. A recent study conducted by Microsoft found that 72% of respondents expect agents to already know who they are, what they’ve purchased and have insight into their previous engagements.

5. Empower agents to give recommendations

A great way to empower your agents and offer your customers with a more personalized support experience is by giving agents the freedom to navigate the conversation without having to stick to a script.

This allows for a more natural, human interaction to occur and enables agents to offer customers with relevant product recommendations based on their previous purchases and preferences. It even gives agents the opportunity to upsell and contribute directly to sales, which makes them feel more connected to their company and fulfilled as an employee.

Encourage agents to engage with customers when appropriate to spark a more personal tone. Asking questions regarding how a customer enjoyed their previous order not only gives agents valuable insight into what other products they may enjoy, but it also shows the customer that your business is acknowledging them as a loyal, return shopper.

All these small interactions reveal a tremendous amount about how a business thinks of their customers, which can become a competitive advantage for some and a detriment to others.

Summary

Everyone wants to feel important, and personalization can accomplish just that for your customers. As long as you’re doing your research to best understand your customers’ industry, you’ll be well on your way to creating a path to profit for your sales team.

Customers today have made it quite clear that they deeply value a personalized customer experience, including customer support. Not only are they willing to pay more for such an experience, but they are also more likely to tell others of their experience and remain loyal customers as a result.

By tailoring customer service interactions based on a customer’s needs, preferences and previous interactions with your business, you can establish stronger bonds with your customers that will bring your business more value over time.