What new ways have you found to maintain and grow customer engagement since COVID?
For example, turning physical offerings into digital ones, increasing touch-points, etc.
Best Answers
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I think increasing touch-points is an approach that need to be thought through really well in todays complex times as we believe that most people are worried about health and other topics so that from our experience it woudl be wrong to increase touchpoints. I would even recommend verifying if all touchpoints are needed dependent on the Geo. I think lots of people on the world have bigger issues than getting in touch to buy. But: we have seen more engagement on digital as everybody, and reviewed our general offerings and launch strategies. As outcome we moved existing projects to the top of the priority list that are dealing with digitalization and digital offerings. The reasoning is two-folded: On one hand we believe clients will strategically appreciate this focus. On the other hand some projects now run on high-priority will even help short term. And all of this without losing sight of our general strategies. And we also have to be aware that some Geos and industries are seeing companies moving 100% of their workforce back into offices in July and they need the same support as in the past. But: maybe also those will benefit from you launching digital products that were in the pipeline faster.
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There is a principle we use a lot at TSIA. Helping will Sell, Selling will not help.
There is no doubt that having an engagement strategy is important in todays business environment, particularly in the XaaS world. Our data shows that there is a strong correlation between constant contact and retention rates. Having said that, there are nuances to being effective. Not everyone wants to be touched constantly. A customer in a crises needs time to deal with the issues on the ground.
Alexander indicated a need to respond to the Virtual and the Digitization conversations. We see a significant up-tic in these topics and in inquiries associated with the topic of moving from On-premise solutions to Cloud / SaaS solutions. Your customers are needing to address this dynamic just as you are, and helping your customers understand how you can help them on this journey with your products and services is a productive "touch" or contact strategy. 1) it maintains relationship. 2) it provides solutions THEY care about and will ultimately help you grow your business with them.
We recommend that you think customer, understand the big weather patterns at play, and craft your engagement strategy in discreet "plays" that help each segment address their specific business problems. Covid has winners and losers today and each market needs something different. It's not just about call volumes or email volumes, but about the context of the communication engaged.
You may find this blog interesting as well. https://www.tsia.com/blog/the-impact-of-a-customer-contact-strategy-on-churn-rates
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