Here’s a startling but important business statistic: surveys show that decreasing customer churn by a mere 2 % is equivalent to cost-cutting by 10%. Recovery from the global pandemic had business leaders guessing – would we be facing a recession, or would commerce bounce back? As it turns out, a little bit of both – and it tends to vary by sector – but ultimately, many organizations are challenging their teams to trim the fat.
This requirement calls for a strategic, well-thought-out plan. Let’s face it, some companies may resort to cutting costs across the board and all departments. A blanket approach of this type can be a death knoll to an organization and C-suite leaders must recognize how value is created in their business. When economic conditions deteriorate, even though cutting costs may be called for, it needs to be implemented in ways that minimize the impact on your most valuable resource: your customer. Let’s not forget – according to a BrandZ survey, companies that deliver superior CX experience five times greater growth, not to mention recover from recessions much more quickly.
Let’s look at some ways that smart organizations can maneuver through a bear market and come out on top.
What do your customers value?
When you’re trying to be strategic with your precious resources, you need to make every effort – and penny – count. This means focusing on what matters to your customers – what do they want, and what are they willing to pay for? Doing this kind of deep dive will not only strengthen your customer loyalty, but it will also differentiate your brand from all competitors. In other words – win/win.
Implement technology to enrich the customer experience.
In order to take advantage of the incredible tool that is technology, it’s critical to first ensure that your CX and associated processes are where they need to be. New technologies are reimaging the customer support model – AI, chatbots and ChatGPT can provide superior support when a system is operating at its full potential. That said, they can be costly and largely ineffective unless your CX foundation is strong.
Communication counts. Always.
During a recession, organizations tend to look inwards as part of ‘survival mode’, when, in fact, the opposite approach is the smart one. Teams need to be motivated – from the top down – to interact with customers in the best, most authentic way possible. Challenging times call for extra attention on CX to deliver a next-level brand experience and deepen customer loyalty. An unrelenting, uniquely crafted focus on the customer can yield astonishing results – even in a soft economy.
These are just a few CX fundamentals that help steer an organization’s ship through a challenging bear market. But it helps if you re-frame the challenge and use it as an opportunity to really examine your business model and focus on the element that has gotten you this far: your customer. Another way to ensure that your customer-centric strategies are being maximized is to look at customer service outsourcing companies as potential partners. Considering that businesses need to build an emotional connection that anticipates customer expectations, partnering with a customer service outsourcing company like Anexa could be a stroke of genius. Anexa can help your business deliver on ambitious aspirations by representing your company as you would – implementing insights, first contact resolution and going the extra mile for each one of your customers. We understand that customer service is more than a feeling, more than a department, and more than a phase in the customer journey. It should be the culture of your organization, and with our customer specialists’ support, it will be.
Contact Anexa today to find out more about our customer service specialists.