Customer Experience evolved from buzzword to mainstream strategy in a short amount of time.
In early 2019, I wrote this intro a previous blog: “You have probably heard it dropped in a few blog posts, at conferences, or even during your monthly marketing meeting. Customer Experience (CX) is going to change the way we market and how we interact with our customers. It is an integral part of your CRM and how you should run your business.
All of your marketing efforts should be centered around creating an amazing Customer experience for your clients. Why? Because customer experience pays off.”
Now, marketers who aren’t focused on CX are simply left behind. Key business objectives focus on building stronger relationships with customers, which leads to enhanced lifetime value and greater loyalty for those who make it through your sales funnel.
One of the most efficient resources to achieve greater revenue and better customer relationships is Salesforce’s Marketing Cloud platform. The Salesforce Marketing Cloud (SFMC) helps the user understand the consumer, tailor the experience and interact with them across different channels using a digital marketing software.
How can Salesforce Marketing Cloud help automate your customer experience?
Through Journey Builder, you can create personal 1-to-1 consumer journeys. With Email Studio, you can create and send personalized emails campaigns. Social Studio allows for in-depth engagement with your customers across several social media platforms. Take it to the next level with Mobile Studio: send texts, push notifications and group messages.
Technology used without the customer in mind won’t be effective. If you craft a thoughtful customer experience, your customers are more likely to be a repeat and loyal customer. They, in turn, can be some of your biggest advocates. Or they can have a terrible customer experience and their perception of your brand will be tainted. And you can be sure they will tell everyone about their terrible experience.
What does an automated customer experience in Salesforce Marketing Cloud actually look like?
To further explain how you can use Salesforce Marketing Cloud technology to enhance the customer experience, here’s an example I experienced firsthand with my dentist’s office. Yes, I said my dentist. I know right? Who had a good experience there? Well, I did. It was exceptional, and it all started with an email.
“Hey Ryan,
Guess what? We have an appointment coming up and we can’t wait to see you. Are you still able to make it? “
I was busy that day so I clicked the reschedule link that took me to a page that displayed a calendar of days and times that I could choose to fit my schedule. I choose a month out on Tuesday at 9am. A few seconds later I received an email with updated calendar links and I quickly added it to my Google calendar.
The week before my appointment, I received another email reminder. This time it included a picture of the dentist and the hygienist that I would be seeing. There was a friendly message along the lines of “Quick reminder, your appointment is next week. We are looking forward to seeing you”.
My dentist then extended this experience into another channel – text. I received a text a few days later with the same warm message. I arrive at the dentist office and I am greeted by the secretary. She calls me by my first name. Hi, Ryan. It’s good to see you. Alicia will be with you soon.”
Less than 5 mins later, I am greeted by Alicia and she walks me to the room and I sit back in the chair. The whole time she cleaning my teeth she is asking me about my boys were doing, how the job hunt was going. She seemed to remember all the details of our last visit. It was like we were good friends catching up on our last visit. After the cleaning, Dr. Freeman comes in says hi, asks about the family, job, etc. and signs off on the cleaning. I felt like a million bucks.
The next day I received an email from Alicia “Thank you for coming by yesterday. We really appreciate your business and are excited you chose us to be your dentist. “ It was followed by a few reminders that we had talked about during my visit.
The email ended with my next appointment details and a personal note from the dentist. “Good luck on the job interview!”
Now that’s a great customer experience! I enjoyed my experience so much that even when I moved, I would still drive 40 mins to go to that dentist’s office. I am a loyal customer. Imagine
What if I told you that 90% of that customer experience was automated?
Let’s look at how Salesforce Marketing Cloud worked behind the scenes.
- On my initial visit to the dentist, I filled out a questionnaire on an iPad. This is how SFMC captured my information such as name, phone number, email, and other relevant information.
- Through SFMC and Journey Builder they are able to Automatically send out emails on scheduled dates and times as well as text messages. This is how I was able to receive my appointment notifications. Salesforce Journey Builder is a feature of the company’s Marketing Cloud that manages the customer life cycle: the progression of steps a customer goes through when considering, purchasing, using and maintaining loyalty to a brand.
- Before each visit, the dentist reviews any previous client notes in SFMC, and records new notes after the visit. This is how they are able to remember all the small personal details about the kids, job etc.
Salesforce Marketing Cloud can help automate and drive your customer experience!
So, what now?
- Read our article on Salesforce Marketing Cloud and winning with customers
- See how we can help with our expert SFMC consulting!