Data is transforming every industry, from retail to manufacturing, and has been a critical factor in customer experience delivery. As customer expectations continually increase, manufacturers’ focus has shifted from competing on delivering the best products to competing on customer experience (CX) delivery. To meet these customer expectations and stay competitive, it’s critical to understand and leverage data’s vital role in improving CX delivery.
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Companies capable of effectively harnessing and strategically using customer data are better equipped to optimize their CX processes and improve CX delivery outcomes.
Why Data Is Relevant for Efficient CX Delivery
Data has become a valuable asset for asset-intensive companies, especially as companies compete to provide exceptional CX delivery.
Manufacturers with the most updated and consolidated customer data make better-informed decisions and provide customers with the best services. They understand customer pain points and preferences better and work swiftly to provide valuable solutions.
With valuable insights from customer data, companies can also deliver personalized service and save customers the stress of searching for related or complementary products. Manufacturers can segment their audience according to demographics, purchase history, or shared interests, enabling them to make accurate recommendations or offers and communicate with them in the most suitable tone or voice.
Additionally, data enhances continuous service improvements. Manufacturers can leverage customer data insights to improve their products, optimize supply chain services, and improve self-help services, enabling optimal CX delivery unmatched by their competitors.
Ways Manufacturers Can Use Data to Improve CX
Data provides diverse opportunities for manufacturers to improve CX and drive increased revenue. However, the ability to use the available data resources effectively to achieve CX goals differentiates successful manufacturers.
Several methods exist to improve CX, increase profit margin, and future-proof an organization with data-backed customer experience delivery.
Unifying Customer Data
According to a Zendesk report, 56% of manufacturers said they have more data than they know what to do with. One of the major issues is that their data exists in disparate systems, preventing customer support teams from making data-driven customer experience improvements.
Manufacturers can integrate their front and back office systems to unify their data, have a 360-degree view, and deliver seamless CX. An integrated and efficient ERP-CRM system ensures customers have a seamless omnichannel experience. It enables them to start transactions in one channel and complete them in another without reinitiating the process.
With complete visibility of all customer data, customer support teams can offer personalized services and provide a better customer experience.
Supply Chain Visibility
Data is also vital for manufacturers to deliver excellent supply chain services. Customers want accurate product inventory and order delivery status information to effectively plan their operations. When manufacturers fail to provide updated inventory and delivery information, it could lead to a loss of trust, making customers look elsewhere for more reliable services.
With real-time updated data, manufacturers are better positioned to give customers complete visibility into their delivery network. This increases customer satisfaction and reliability, leading to increased sales and referrals.
Enhance Personalization Services
Savvy manufacturers can leverage data to enhance customer communications. Customers love it when companies proactively address their needs and preferences. They want to have products and services tailored to specific needs.
By using shared data across all channels, companies can offer recommendations, provide customized products, and suggest complementary products. These personalization services increase customer satisfaction, giving them an overall excellent experience with your company. This can significantly boost average order value (AOV), customer retention rate, and lifetime value.
Improved Self-Service Tools
Manufacturers can leverage customer data to improve the efficiency of their self-service tools, offering customers the immediate support they need. AI-powered self-service systems like chatbots and virtual assistants can be trained to provide accurate and prompt answers to common questions.
By examining frequent queries on customer service channels, companies can train self-service systems better to handle these queries and related ones in the future.
Predictive Maintenance Services
Manufacturers can forecast service needs using data from IoT-enabled devices and other smart devices. Proactively addressing potential service issues before they lead to downtime enables a company to avoid downtime, lost productivity, and lost revenue. Manufacturers who offer this service become invaluable partners to their customers.
Enhanced Product Development
While the competition has shifted to the quality of customer experience, product quality remains a priority for customer-centric manufacturers. This is because it forms the basis of the entire customer experience delivery. Customers want quality products, and constantly delivering poor-quality products will have them looking elsewhere.
Fortunately, customer data is a valuable resource for improving product quality. Growth-intentional manufacturers can leverage customer feedback and complaints to improve their products and design new products that better meet customer expectations, improving their overall experience.
Leverage Data Efficiently to Improve CX and Drive Revenue
Since a significant portion of revenue generation is tied to customer experience and satisfaction, delivering exceptional CX is essential for companies that want to remain in business. Delivering great CX isn’t rocket science. It’s easier when companies consolidate and harness the potential of their database.
Leveraging data enables purpose-driven manufacturers to deliver an exceptional customer experience by addressing customer needs, providing their preferences, and meeting their most important expectations. The availability of digital CX systems makes these data easily accessible and usable. Adopt data-backed decision-making and processes to improve CX, stay ahead of competitors, and enhance revenue.
