The old ways of doing business just don’t cut it anymore. To be competitive in today’s market, telco retailers have a bit of work to do.
You’ve heard this before and I’ll say it again, providing a positive customer experience is the most effective way for telcos to separate themselves from their competition and keep their customers loyal.
Retaining and Entertaining Customers
What does an engaging, entertaining, seamless telco experience look like? Here are the key areas telcos need to focus on to win the customer retention battle in the next five years:
Enlist device gurus. How many times has a customer needed help with their device, but the one person who knows the solution isn’t there? The best telcos have a fully-realized, in-store guru program. This could be in-store staff, or someone over FaceTime or Skype. Implementing this method guarantees customers receive help they need and it gives your staff goals to work towards.
Engaging store models. When was the last time you modeled your store to make it more visually appealing? Get rid of those dummy devices – the more interactive your displays, the more apps and games you provide for people to try, the more sales opportunities you will create.
Self-service kiosks and apps. Now, who wants to wait in line to pay a bill? Nobody. A self-service program lets customers help themselves for those fast, easy transactions. For more complicated issues, connect them to a call-centre.
Educate. Educate. Educate. Show your customers all the wonderful things the tech you’re selling can do. Demonstrate the potential of IoT and how it will enhance their lives.
Fix it. Your customers will have technical issues. If you can’t fix it, they will have to ship it away for repair, or go somewhere else! Help customers by putting a managed repair service inside your store. Openly fix devices from elsewhere and you’ll win-over even more customers. Have your repair staff wear white lab coats to differentiate them from your sales staff. This is a growing trend globally, it cuts your logistics time, and you can monetize it!
Measuring Success
So, once you’ve invested and implemented these ideas into your business, you will also need to change how you measure success. This means modifying your KPI’s to be customer-focused and finding new ways of rewarding staff. It’s not always about the sale.
Which of these ideas will work for you? And which might increase your return on investment the fastest? All important discussions you should be having with your management teams.
In my next blog, I will review some examples of digital-only retail environments that are radically changing the in-store experience.