As the holiday season gears up this month, retailers are preparing for the increase of shoppers in their stores. Many of these shoppers will use mobile apps developed by their stores to enhance their shopping experience.
Besides retail, workers in the logistics, construction, and manufacturing industries are using mobile apps to improve engagement with their customers. As the gap between these industries and their customers continues to close, enterprises are adopting mobile apps to improve collaboration between employees and increase productivity and interaction with customers. Here are five ways enterprises can improve customer engagement:
Answering Inquiries
By providing an easy-to-find guide that allows self-service with the answers and information that customers need, the customer service experience is further enhanced, leading to increased sales and satisfaction. Customers that have up-to-date, real-time information from their mobile apps will keep them informed and engaged, without the lag time of waiting to get their simple questions answered.
Branding
Great customer service helps build an organization’s brand and builds loyalty. By merging customer service inquiries and requirements with personalized communication, a company’s mobile app can be successful. Real-time customer behavior data and in-app messaging can encourage immediate conversions and purchases. In the retail industry, marketing messages can be tailored depending on the user, including mobile loyalty programs providing discounts and incentives for frequent shoppers. For logistics, personalized notifications and tracking shipments on a mobile app can keep customers and vendors notified when essential parts or equipment arrive to their destination, leading to a more personalized brand.
Collaboration
Large organizations with multiple departments have diverse needs and multiple solutions to resolve customer issues. Some departments are going to need past performance data, others need real-time pricing, while another department may need details that affect shipments of important equipment. A construction firm could use a mobile app to track project management information while field service teams need alternate part information, equipment specs, or product data in order for their operations to run smoothly. Retailers may need to quickly find out if a product is available at another store if they run out at their location. A mobile app that unites all of this information in one place is essential to answer inquiries or solve any problems that may occur.
Leveraging Data
On the employee side, mobile apps can utilize content, workflow, and other productivity tools to engage with customers. Employees can use this data to streamline and distribute across different departments and refocus their customer solutions, providing the most value. Customer service workers can make the distribution and collaboration of content a seamless experience when answering questions and obtaining information. For example, a retailer’s sales associate can track inventory and immediately answer if a product is available for a customer with the tap of an app.
Dedicated Content
People use mobile apps to meet specific needs and goals and to quickly access information needed to make a purchase or learn more about a product. An app with engaging information and resources that can only be accessed by users of the app, encourages interaction and increases customer engagement. These apps give users a feeling of uniqueness, giving them an incentive to download their app. Retailers can now give users of their mobile apps detailed product information when they scan a QR code on their product labels or packaging. Customers can now gain insight into product specifications, price comparisons, and reviews that may have otherwise been unknown to them.
Customer service is more than keeping your shoppers happy, it can make the difference in sales or the operations at a manufacturing plant. A mobile app that combines data and real-time operations is the most successful way to improve customer service and customer engagement in an organization. Click here to download our eBook, “10 Elements of a Successful Mobile App Strategy” to learn how a successful mobile strategy can help improve customer engagement and customer service for an organization.