Conversions occur when you become relevant to your customers. If what you offer and the way you present your offerings is relevant to your visitor, they will become buying customers. But the only way to make your business relevant is to first know who your customers are and what they are looking for. For online...
Conversions occur when you become relevant to your customers. If what you offer and the way you present your offerings is relevant to your visitor, they will become buying customers.
But the only way to make your business relevant is to first know who your customers are and what they are looking for. For online business, gathering customer feedback in real time is generally considered the best way to find out. This feedback will shed light on not only who is visiting your website, but also provide insights into the strengths and weaknesses of your business.
What the Evidence Shows
Numerous studies show the better you understand your customers wants, needs, and expectations, the more likely you are to create a personalized experience free from friction, an experience which builds long-term loyalty and success. Here’s why:
- Fully engaged customers (those with a strong attachment to a brand) deliver a 23% premium over the average customer in terms of spending, profitability and revenue. (Capgemini)
- 40% of consumers buy more from retailers who personalize the shopping experience across channels, with personalization seen as one of the most effective ways to engage consumers. (Marketwired)
- The majority of consumers (57%) do not mind providing personal information if it will be used responsibly and to create more relevant experiences. (Janrain)
- Nearly three-fourths (74%) of participants in a national study expressed frustration with websites that deliver offers, promotions, and advertisements which have nothing to do with their interests. (Janrain)
- In-house marketers who personalize their web experiences and who are able to quantify the improvement see, on average, a 19% uplift in sales. (Monetate)
The benefits of delivering a more relevant customer experience cannot be overstated. Customers seek personalization, and business which avoid a blanket approach to interacting with their customers uniformly come out ahead.
Actionable Insights Deliver Results
Gathering real-time customer feedback has never been easier and is the most efficient way to find out what you need to do to deliver the right kind of experience to your customers. Whether you deliver a feedback survey via email, onsite, or mobile, there is no better way to start a conversation with your customers.
Feedback surveys enable you to elicit the knowledge you need to design a more relevant experience which boosts conversions and keeps customers coming back for more. Here, one business reports that it was able to boost conversions by 200%, using customer feedback to remove from its website unhelpful offers and page details in order to focus on a single, simple conversion action.
To deliver a more valuable experience, consider asking your customers the following actionable questions:
To find out what your customers want:
- What did you come to our website to do today?
- Were you able to find what you were looking for?
- What features could you not live without?/What is the one thing that we should never stop doing?
- What’s one thing we could do to create a better experience for you?
To find out what they need:
- Was there anything that prevented you from purchasing today?
- What convinced you to purchase from us today?
- Was your issue resolved to your satisfaction?
- Is there anything else we can help you with?
To find out what expectations they have about your product, service, or brand:
- How was your customer service experience? Below expectations? Met expectations? Exceeded expectations?
- Is there anything you would change about the service you received today?
- What is one thing we do better than other companies you do business with?
- How likely is it that you would recommend our company to a friend or colleague?
It Pays to Know Your Customer
Creating a personalized experience to improve conversion rates requires more than just using a customer’s name and email. It requires creating a completely custom shopping experience that is tailored to their wants and needs.
Taking a thoughtful approach to their wants and needs will help you optimize and grow your online business. Gathering and analyzing information about each customer allow you to build deeper and more rewarding relationships with them as you will be better positioned to target your products, services, and overall customer experience to their desires and, thus, bring them to the next level: conversion.
