While they are traditionally passive when transacting with businesses, customers have become more assertive. They now expect companies to give them more control over their transactions. And your startup company can benefit by giving that opportunity.
But how do you do that exactly? That is where customer empowerment comes into play. Let’s look closer at how it works and how you can make it happen with the help of Virtua Solutions.
Understanding Customer Empowerment
Simply put, customer empowerment is helping people succeed in their efforts. That involves providing them with the necessary tools and information to make the right decisions and bringing them closer to their goals. Customer empowerment offers the following benefits for your startup company.
Greater Customer Success
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Driving customer success is a primary goal for many businesses, as it helps in increasing sales. Customer empowerment helps accelerate that success by giving people an easier path. And when they achieve their goals, people are more likely to return to you, creating a continuous revenue stream.
Greater Customer Loyalty
Returning customers are also more likely to be loyal to you. That is because they know that you will take care of them. This increased loyalty stabilizes your revenue stream and gives you more opportunities for additional revenue.
More Successful Customer Referrals
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Your loyal customers are more likely to recommend you to others. But how sure are you that such referrals would bear fruit? Customer empowerment also helps you here. The experience your customers gain through it gives them additional materials to convince their peers.
The Elements Of Customer Empowerment For Your Startup Company
Now that you know what customer empowerment can bring, you are ready to explore how to make it happen. For that, you should know the elements that make it up. You might already be familiar with these as separate areas of customer service. Your goal is to bring these into a single strategy that you can employ.
Self-Service
The most critical of these elements is self-service. 80% of customers prefer working on transactions on their own first before seeking assistance. Your self-service tools should be able to give it to them effectively.
Here, your goal is to cover the entire customer journey. Remember that some customers prefer complete independence when doing their business. A few of the tools you want to prepare for them include.
- Knowledge base: Go beyond basic questions and tackle more advanced topics customers might want to delve into in the future.
- AI-powered chatbots: These let customers ask questions and get their answers faster, without connecting to agents.
- Community forums: These online portals are a great way for customers to share knowledge amongst themselves. That also serves as a means of establishing a community around your brand.
Keep in mind that these self-help tools need regular maintenance to be reliable. Virtua Solutions can handle that work for you. Our team will ensure that everything works as intended to provide uninterrupted service for your customers.
Social Media
Before, customers had a hard time reaching out to brands. Either these companies take a long time responding or customers would have to wait in a queue. Social media changed everything. Customers can now quickly send a message to your company’s social media page and expect to get a reply within a few minutes.
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With that level of empowerment, you need to be ready to respond at their beck and call. Don’t just be a reactive brand. Be more proactive in reaching out to customers on social media and engaging them. People will be more drawn to your startup company and be willing to do more business with you.
Customer Review And Testimonials
The internet has also made it easier for customers to share what they think about a brand through online reviews and testimonials. Others can also easily access these. This sense of mass empowerment has a significant influence on the overall perception of your brand.
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Thus, take these testimonials and reviews seriously. Have an effective way of monitoring and responding to them. Encourage customers to write these reviews to get feedback from them. They become more willing to do this when they hear that from you.
You can also explore other ways to get feedback from your customers. Ensure that these methods are simple and well-integrated into the customer journey. People will be more encouraged to provide that to you through these.
Customer Onboarding
The last element of an effective customer empowerment strategy is onboarding. Your goal here is two-fold. The first is to get them acquainted with your product, Your second one is to help them discover more things they can do with it.
As such, you want your onboarding process to be efficient in teaching customers. You should always consider the methods through which they want to learn. Give them multiple options to allow them to study on their own.
Empowerment Strategies Your Startup Company Should Use
While you might already have the above elements in place, it can take a bit more effort to encourage customers to take action. Here are some key strategies you can do to give them that push.
Choose Customers Your Startup Company Can Empower
Okay, let’s be clear. Customer empowerment is for everyone. But not everyone might be willing to take on that opportunity. To increase the success of your empowerment strategy, you need to apply it to those who are.
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Here, you need to know two things: what a customer wants to achieve and how they want to do it. While customers might want the same thing, they may differ in the ways to achieve it. One customer might want a simple process for using your product. The other customer might prefer getting full support for optimizing it to their needs.
By comparing the two, you can determine who can benefit more from your empowerment efforts. You can then refine the strategy to help them better. That way, you will be able to see both succeed in their respective paths.
Celebrate Wins
One nifty trick to empower customers is by drawing their attention to the successes they gain from using your product. The idea here is to emphasize your product and business’s impact on their lives. That helps deepen the emotional connection between your startup company and them.
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But be careful here. You don’t want to look like you are tooting your own horn. Instead, focus on how they achieve that success. Your product should be seen as the tool used to achieve that win. This helps both them and the public to see your startup company as an empowering brand, drawing more possible customers.
Time Your Startup Company Upsells
Because empowered customers see the value in your product, they are more likely to buy any upsells you offer. But be strategic when doing these upsells. People don’t like being constantly bombarded with offers.
Instead, do these upsells during the moments when customers need them. We can help you look into the online conversations they have and determine these moments. And when that moment arises, you want to talk about the specific benefits that will help their current goal. But make sure that these products work as intended. This minimizes the gap between their perceived value and the actual one they provide.
Ask What They Need
This is a simple tip but is something that many businesses often forget. They think that analytics alone is enough to give them the info they need. But there is more to good old asking than just getting more feedback. You also show that you are dead serious about empowering customers.
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Of course, asking customers what they need is just the first part of the move. You need to make good on that implied promise to give them what they need. Virtua Solutions can help you respond faster by providing a comprehensive service team to augment your company. With that, you are ready to respond.
Empower Customers And Get Them Embracing Your Startup Company
Empowering customers requires a significant amount of investment. Your startup company needs to build a system that enables them to do what they want and accomplish their goals. We at Virtua Solutions are always ready to help you in this effort. Contact us to learn more about what we have to offer.