Close to 90% of consumers say that even a single poor customer service experience will cause them to stop doing business with a company.

We know that, no matter what industry you work within, great customer service is your top priority.

But the truth is that today’s customers expect a higher level of service and attention than ever before. “Going above and beyond” is the new normal — and anything less than that is frowned upon.

Think you’re already providing great customer service?

You might be surprised by even more ways you can – and should – enhance customer experience across the board.

Read on to learn how to improve customer experience in the new year.

1. Study the Customer Journey

If you don’t know exactly where your customers are getting confused and where your site’s problem areas are, how can you understand how to improve customer experience?

The customer journey helps you to learn what’s working and what’s not on your company’s website. It does this by “mapping” every step the customer takes on your website from their first click to their final purchase.

Tools like Ecrion Software can help you to get a “birds-eye-view” of the customer journey.

You’ll be able to see where consumers are most likely to abandon your website, understand what may cause them to leave items in their carts without completing the purchase, and more.

You’ll even gain insight into your most popular products, web pages/blog posts, and even where your website traffic comes from.

2. Provide Live Chat Support at Problem Points

You know you can seriously improve customer experiences by providing support on social media when a customer reaches out with an issue. (In fact, research shows that more than 40% of shoppers expect a response to a social media complaint in an hour or less.)

But what if you could make sure that you did everything possible to prevent those complaints in the first place by providing great customer service during, not after, the buying process?

With live chatbots, you can.

These are digital sales agents that make suggestions to consumers based on their needs. They can also answer basic questions about products, help shoppers to choose the correct products, and even tell them a bit more about the benefits of your bestsellers.

Using the research from your customer journey mapping, you’ll be able to know exactly when to “deploy” a chatbot — at your main problem points. These chatbots can also connect shoppers to a live agent quickly when required.

3. Enable Omnichannel Communication

Especially in today’s world, customers have more platforms to communicate with your company than ever before.

You need to make sure that you can communicate with these customers through the channel that they prefer by enabling omnichannel communication. This means customers can reach you through phone, social media, chat, email, and even in-person.

What’s more?

You also must be certain that customers are able to “pick up where they left off” on any channel when continuing a customer service inquiry.

No one wants to have to explain the same issue three different times to three different customer service representatives.

4. Personalize Communication

What’s one surefire customer service tip?

Personalize as much as you can.

Studies show that over half of consumers say that the lack of a personalized email alone would cause them to do business with another company.

In other words?

Even if you have basic personalization strategies in place already, you’re likely not doing enough.

Remember, personalization isn’t just about including a consumer’s name in the subject line of an email or sending out a coupon on their birthday.

It’s about analyzing consumer behavior and adjusting your approach to specific consumers based on that behavior.

For example, maybe the consumer prefers telephone calls to emails when it comes to customer support. Maybe they buy only when you’re having a sale. Perhaps they buy a specific product, and want to know when you restock or offer something similar.

Segment your market according to what your data tells you, and always take the extra time to add a personal touch.

It makes an enormous difference in your conversions, customer retention, and brand reputation.

5. Follow Up

You know that you’ve provided a great customer experience to consumers from start to finish.

However, it’s important to remember that the customer journey doesn’t end when a product has been purchased or delivered. Proper follow-up and a consistent demonstration of customer appreciation turn one-time buyers into long-term clients.

Plus, sending a follow-up email after a transaction is an excellent way to encourage customers to leave your business a review — or even offer valuable insights into how you can improve.

You can also secure future orders by including a percentage off coupon for their next purchase. Include a link for customers to sign up for email newsletters if they haven’t already, as well.

Following up ensures you have properly met consumer expectations and proves that you’re willing to go the extra mile for your clients.

Ready to Provide a Great Customer Experience in the New Year?

If you follow the advice in this post, we feel confident that you’ll be able to provide not just a great customer experience next year, but a better one than ever before.