Creating a streamlined repository of customer data can be a tedious task. Especially when you consider the number of channels where your customers are present, including online channels as well as offline stores. But in order to best serve your customers, it’s in your best interests to combine online data with offline data sources into one repository and to manage it over time.
The classic example of a customer buying a car details the reasoning behind this point perfectly. Many customers will begin their research online, narrow down their searches, and then test drive cars from the offline stores. They might then do further online research once they’re familiar with the cars and equipped with more knowledge about each one. They might make a phone call to the dealership to ask further questions, or even send an email or a Whatsapp to the salesperson. They are constantly learning about the car until they’re happy to make their purchase.
In order to offer a complete customer experience, you want to be able to pull all of the data from this research and each point of contact into one customer profile. In doing so, the car dealership can offer a personalised experience that reaches out to the customer at specific touch points, showing that they are fully engaged in this relationship and ready to serve the customer’s needs at every turn.
The key to doing this effectively is in the collection of data.
Map Out A Data Collection Strategy
Regardless of where the data is collected from, it all needs to exist in one place for it to be effective. The customer views the car dealership as one business, not as multiple separate touch points. So, in order to maintain that cohesive exterior, a data strategy needs to be implemented. This must include the proper acquisition of data, the management thereto, as well as strict data governance.
Data Available To The Team
Data is useless if you are not using it. Making data available to the team is imperative so that anyone connecting with the customer has full access to their profile and preferences. This includes making the data available to the marketing team, support team, and all other employees, including sales and service team members.
In the case of the car dealership, this data can be used even further down the line. Customers can be greeted by name when they come back for a car service or tune-up. The history of the vehicle can be recorded with the customer details so that any follow ups that need to be made on specific issues are raised and dealt with. Attending to problems that this particular customer has had is so much easier to manage with the full repository of data and history of the customer. Any new data that comes to light in the offline service centre is recorded under the customer profile for future follow ups and courtesy calls.
It sounds logical and it sounds simple… so why isn’t your business merging online and offline data. If you don’t know how to get started, call us and we’ll get you going.