The Barriers to Creating a Memorable Customer Experience (and How to Overcome Them)

Want to bring all your business data together on one platform in order to create an exceptional customer experience, but worried about the expense of it all? 

This article runs you through the kind of locations customer data is commonly held, and how to break down barriers in your workplace to create a better customer journey.

In the past, it has often been too impractical or too expensive to put all your customer data into single database.

As your business grows, you will find a variety of data across numerous locations including:

1. CRM database

This is where you store your personal and transactional customer data.

2. Web analytics data

Google Analytics software, for example, this is mainly behavioural based data on website visitors.

3. Tag management systems

These systems help manage different marketing tags (cookies) that track your marketing campaigns.

4. Data management platform (DMPs)

These are filled with a collection of audience intelligent data by online advertisers and agencies. This data can enable better ad targeting in subsequent campaigns.

5. Social media management platforms

Social media management platforms enable you to run campaigns across multiple social networks from one dashboard.

6. Email marketing automation systems

Facilitate automated triggered emails, lead scoring and nurturing

Providing a seamless customer experience

Housing relevant data on your business in one place should no longer be a problem. In today's world of consumers expecting a seamless brand experience, businesses need to integrate their data as much as possible to get a full picture of a customer journey.

If someone calls up your support hotline, that support agent needs to know everything about that customer there and then. Having access to data relating to their order history, their personal preferences and their previous calls with the company will allow your agents to know exactly how to handle that call without interruption.

• Has the customer had multiple phone calls with your support agents?
• Is this likely to be regarding an ongoing issue?
• Do they live in a certain region where you have a promotion running that you could offer them?
• Is English their first language?

Giving your staff this data in a matter of clicks can only be achieved by unifying as much data as possible.

Now, you may be trying to achieve this already. You may be integrating your CRM software with your email marketing software and your billing platform, for example.

Most likely you will be paying subscription fees to multiple companies and integrating the data from these different platforms. You may also have an IT team that helps maintain these integrations, adding even further costs.

This is a very common way of reducing data silos - pockets of data that are found in a business that are separate to every other bit of data - but it also works out to be incredibly expensive, especially as your business grows. Which is why, in the past, bringing all your data together in one place has been seen as impractical, time-consuming and not very cost-effective. 

But how do you provide this level of customer experience, without breaking the bank?

A New Way of Thinking

Over the past few years, there has been an emergence of all-in-one business management platforms... like Fortifi, for example. 

These platforms give you everything you need to run your business, without the need for multiple applications. 

Platforms such as this will provide users with a variety of components, from your CRM, to your marketing campaigns, to your customer support and your finances. 

For small businesses, bringing all your data together early, before data silos begin to form is vital for continued success and providing that unrivalled customer experience. For small businesses, the service and experience you provide is your biggest asset in the battle for competitive advantage.

For larger businesses, with already built-up data silos, getting that data cleansed and brought together can be vital to continued success. You will often find that with your existing integrations, once new versions of one software are released, it can take more maintenance to ensure all the platforms continue to work together.

The latest research from Gartner found that more than two-thirds of marketers say their companies compete mostly on the basis of customer experience. Customers desire and demand better experiences from the brands they interact with and that involves providing a consistent experience wherever consumers engage with a brand.

PwC's research "Experience is Everything" helped identify the quantifiable value in a good customer experience. The research found that 42% of consumers would pay more for a welcoming experience. On top of that, 52% would pay more for efficient customer experience.

The same research also found that 60% of consumers surveyed would stop doing business with a company if they experienced an unfriendly experience.

Conclusion

In today's markets, companies in virtually every industry need to start being smart with their data. Disconnected systems cause productivity issues and your customers suffer. 

Integrated business management software is transforming the way organisations are run and are helping them break down the barriers that previously held them back from taking their business to the next level.

To find out more about all-in-one business management platforms, check out our website today or get in touch by emailing info@fortifi.io