7 Ways to Improve Customer Engagement
Do You Know What Your Customers Really Want?
And are you able to deliver it?
For expert insight on building amazing customer engagement, we turned to JP Pagluica, Director of Customer Success at Mission. Mission is an AWS Premier Consulting Partner that helps companies manage their cloud services, and they’re a great example of a company that has customer engagement figured out.
JP leads a team of Customer Success Managers who act as dedicated account reps to over 175 cloud services clients. Here are the top tips that came out of our conversation:
1. It’s about quantity...and quality.
Measuring Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) is crucial to gauging customer engagement and success. Mission uses Net Promoter Score (NPS) and customer satisfaction surveys, along with company-specific metrics. They also assess customer sentiment based on qualitative responses. Sometimes a conversation tells you something that a survey score can’t.
2. Engagement isn’t just overhead.
Leverage customer engagement to identify cross-sell and upsell opportunities within your current client base. If a Mission rep is able to sell additional services that make the customer more successful, everybody wins.
3. Reporting adds and reinforces value.
Provide monthly or quarterly reporting to your customers to help them see your value—not to mention that reviewing accomplishments and highlights keeps all that good stuff you’ve done together top of mind. Regular check-ins also give you an opportunity to bring up pricing adjustments or renewal dates proactively.
4. Close feedback loops.
If you aren’t going to do something with the data you collect from customers, don’t bother spending the resources to gather it. Mission has a close-the-loop process for each level of NPS score (Promoter/Neutral/Detractor). Detractors are addressed in a weekly customer escalation meeting, and Neutral scorers are monitored for downward trends.
5. Use insights to take action.
Turn to customer feedback for improving processes, creating new offerings, or identifying opportunities to expand in a new direction. Rather than addressing customer dissatisfaction in a one-off way, ask “What is the business improvement we can make here?”
6. Don’t take criticism personally.
It’s easier said than done, but try to find the value in (warranted) critical feedback. Mission trains its Customer Success Team in how to handle tough conversations and be open to feedback. Start the learning process for yourself with a read by Stone & Heen.
7. Learn how to listen
JP’s #1 piece of advice: “You really have to force yourself to listen to the customer. It’s easy to talk, and think, over and around them. But if you sit back and force yourself to listen, you might be able to adapt and adjust to their needs in a way that benefits everybody.”
Bottom line: customer engagement matters. Without it, you’re building a business without knowing if anyone’s interested in what you have to offer.
If you’d like to design or adjust your customer engagement strategy, contact us to speak with one of our consultants. We’ve got the tools and experience to build a system that’s right for your company—and your customers.
