Marketing
The new brand loyalty: How CX value is becoming a powerful brand differentiator
Today's customers are no longer blind brand loyalists, at least not in the ways we once defined loyalty. In fact, the very notion of brand loyalty is shifting.
April 11, 2023 by Elizabeth Tobey — Head of Marketing, NICE FluenCX, NICE
This shouldn't be a big surprise: the latest data shows that most customers aren't as brand loyal today as they were pre-pandemic. Research from the Kearney Consumer Institute indicates that in 2021, just 22% of consumers in the U.S. and U.K. said they would never switch brands.
Today's customers are no longer blind brand loyalists — at least not in the ways we once defined loyalty. In fact, the very notion of brand loyalty is shifting.
At NICE, our consumer behavior insights indicate that customers are spending more money and time with fewer brands. And they're spending that time and money across an increasing number of channels. The big winners will be the companies that prioritize proactive service and build concierge-like relationships across multiple interaction points. Quality, function, and service are no longer enough; automation and AI-driven service are now table stakes for brands looking to thrive in the future.
What does loyalty-inducing customer experience look like in a post-loyalty world? We know customer service is key: 95% of consumers told NICE that customer service has an impact on their brand loyalty, citing easy access to digital channels, online self-service, and professional agents as important factors. Gartner said within customer service it's all about "value-enhanced" service interactions.
Gartner found value-enhanced activities created customers that weren't just less likely to be disloyal but also more likely to advocate, renew, and spend more. Gartner's analysis of thousands of interactions showed that customers who receive value-enhanced service interactions (currently only 15%) are far more likely to stay customers even if they are actively considering defecting and regardless of the barriers to switching brands.
While value-enhancement opportunities will look different for every organization, Gartner identified five that are particularly effective when enhanced with advanced artificial intelligence (AI) tools and customer experiences.
1. The opportunity: Validating customers' purchase decisions
Reassure customers that their purchase decision was a smart one.
The activation: Add "buyer's remorse" to your sentiment recognition and scoring. AI that is trained to recognize and score sentiment (a proven predictive indicator of customer satisfaction) allows your organization to analyze customer interactions to uncover areas for improvement and mobilize automation for agents most effectively. AI can identify signals of buyer's remorse and then prescribe and orchestrate an experience designed to validate the purchase and deepen the brand relationship.
2. The opportunity: Anticipating customer needs
Predict what features your customers may find valuable in the future based on their current needs.
The activation: Employ AI-enabled analytics to predict and surface customer trends and to unlock accurate, consistent customer insights by analyzing unstructured interactions across multiple channels. The output is prescribed, proactive, AI-driven conversations — all happening before your customers even need help.
3. The opportunity: Helping customers achieve a goal
Outline the product features customers should use based on their goal for partnering with you.
The activation: Let your customers co-design their service experience, from dictating communication preferences to establishing higher-level goals. Advanced AI capabilities should be used to combine customer usage data (both real-time and historical) with customer input to create unique and tailored experiences that encourage customers to achieve more with your product or service.
4. The opportunity: Educating customers on better uses
Rather than focusing on how customers have been using the product incorrectly, teach them how best to use it.
The activation: Make high-quality content-creation a core capability. Content should be authored using customers' words, terms and phrases, and then published in self-service portals. Make use of rich media, visual aids, embedded tools or videos, and include integrated access to assets like chat, product documentation, and user manuals. Leverage feedback and usage analytics to identify content gaps and high- or low-performing content.
5. The opportunity: Advising customers on new uses
Introduce customers to newly introduced or untapped product features.
The activation: Use AI to automate repetitive work or make it self-service. This frees your human agents to perform higher-level advising and generate a better customer and employee experience. The pandemic significantly shifted your employees' attitudes about work (according to Gartner, 56% of employees said that the pandemic made them want to contribute more to society, and 52% said it made them question the purpose of their jobs), and automation supercharges service work by allowing your employees to focus more on the areas where they have purpose and impact.
Brand loyalty is earned and must be nurtured. This is not a one-time activity, but an on-going action plan. Smart organizations are adopting AI-led capabilities that capitalize on value-enhanced opportunities at the ever-accelerating speed of customer needs. Organizations seeking loyal customers need to act now. Customer expectations are going nowhere but up, and the world keeps spinning a little faster every day.
About Elizabeth Tobey
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