Netflix did not kill Blockbuster. The horrible late fees did. Uber & Lyft did not kill the taxi business. High prices and smelly cabs did. Apple did not kill the music industry. Being forced to buy full albums with unwanted songs did. Airbnb did not kill the hotel industry. Limited availability and confusing pricing did. Amazon did not kill other retailers. Horrible customer service and customer experience did.
Technology by itself is not the “killer” of business. Being non-customer centric and not catering to the consumer is the biggest threat to any business. The business world is a perfect example of evolution. Only the best products and services survive. We as consumers make choices on what levels of customer service we will sacrifice for cheaper prices.
Walmart is a great example of sacrificing customer service for lower prices. Amazon has realized they can compete with Walmart by utilizing technology to provide better customer service even when their prices are the same or even higher than Walmart. Sadly, Walmart thinks price is the ultimate deciding factor on where consumers shop and started offering 2-Day shipping in an effort to take back some of their lost sales. However, they did not make any strides to utilize technology to improve their customer’s experience or and are struggling to take any of their market share back from Amazon.
I have these conversations with my clients on a frequent basis. Price, while is a decision-making factor, is not the sole factor in a consumer making a purchasing decision. Answering consumer phone calls and emails in a timely manner is a huge way to stand out from the competition. Having live chat installed on your website and staffed with highly trained chat operators provides a level of service that your competitors are not providing. Using technology to automate notifications and marketing can help with the process of providing outstanding customer service.
While there are expenses with using technology to provide better customer service to consumers, businesses who embrace and utilize technology are seeing the benefit with increased sales and profitability.
The entire team at SurfYourName is dedicated to our client’s success. We KNOW communication and personal service is a big portion of our success over the past 10 years. We have personally witnessed and taken part in our client’s success and want to help others realize their businesses potential. While we provide web design, eCommerce services, marketing solutions, social media management … everything we do surrounds making our clients successful.
We would love to hear from you about how technology is helping small businesses provide better service to their customers. We would also like to hear how technology can make the communication between business and consumers less personal. Scroll down and join the discussion! OR if you are interested in knowing how we can help your small business, give us a call at 910-452-6345!
