3 ways to take proactive comms to the next level

Have you ever had a problem with your parcel but couldn’t pinpoint its whereabouts? Have you been sitting, twiddling your thumbs, and waiting for it to arrive, but it never does? We’ve all been there.

In today’s day and age, an email confirming an order is now considered a basic expectation in the customer journey. Customers now want so much more than that when it comes to communication.

Our research found that surprisingly, 87% of retailers don’t offer an advanced post-purchase experience. That’s a hefty number, especially when the solution is so simple.

Here are just three of the ways you can take proactive comms to the next level.

So what really makes customers tick? A seamless customer journey is about being able to communicate through the channel of the customer’s choice, not the other way round, the retailer’s preferred channel. Whether this be SMS text, an app notification, or live chat, customers simply want options. Yet we found that only 49% of retailers have multiple channels for communications. Meaning over half of brands limit themselves to just a single channel.

Retailers are missing a trick here and failing to create immersive online experiences for customers. This is where multi-channel servicing comes in to play to kick CX up a notch. By owning the delivery experience you can give customers the option to receive timely updates through their channel of choice. Being wherever your customers are and giving them a hassle-free experience is now key for keeping them engaged with your brand.

Many retailers have said goodbye to the days of automated tracking being a ‘nice to have’ option. Much like fast WIFI or running tap water, live tracking is now expected by the consumer. Surprisingly, we found that only 36% of retailers offered branded tracking.

What this means is that nearly two thirds of retailers are handing such an important part of the journey over to a third party brand. If carriers are doing all the work, then how can brands truly be proactive with comms if you don’t even own this part of the journey? Even worse, how can you get proactive without access to the delivery data in real-time to closely monitor any disruption to deliveries? It’s time for you to get the ball in your court.

With branded tracking and automated comms, the customer can know about any changes to their delivery without your customer teams even having to lift a finger. Customers are kept informed, and a huge weight is lifted off the customer service team’s shoulders. Not to mention the boost to those all-important CX metrics; NPS, CLV and CSAT.

With self-serve, customers can enjoy greater autonomy over their post-purchase journey at a click of a button, getting the answers they need straight away. On top of that, if disruption should occur (…something we’ve experienced A LOT of lately with COVID, Brexit and ‘pingdemic’ challenges), customers can follow their parcel’s journey at every touchpoint.

In our recent survey, we asked customers what their biggest pains are with deliveries and ‘contacting customer services for information’ came out on top. So self-serve tracking and having the option to avoid customer service teams all together is clearly a big winner for both customers and brands. Leading retailers, like musicMagpie, have dramatically reduced WISMO (where is my order) queries by 63% with SortedREACT, taking the pressure off teams and keeping customers happy at the same time.

A simple email no longer cuts it – proactive communications instead relies on connecting with your customers through multiple touchpoints, and multiple channels. To provide that 5* post-purchase experience, you need to own every touchpoint of the customer journey and have all delivery insights to hand to be able to support customers, alert them when anything goes wrong, and protect CX.