Have all your touchpoints been created equal?
Every contact we have with a customer influences that customer’s future decision whether to buy from us again.
EVERY contact.
It’s not just about when you or your team are in contact with your customers. It’s about your customers coming into contact with any part of your business, your team, your messaging, your brand …
I hear a lot about showing up consistently – especially on social media. If you start blogging once a week then you have to keep on blogging once a week. If you start posting on Instagram every day, then you have to keep on posting daily. It’s true – you’ve started to create an expectation amongst your growing group of followers that this is what you do. Hopefully they’ll start to look out for your posts because they’re useful, they’re enjoyable, they like getting to know you.
Consistency, consistency, consistency
But it’s not just about being consistent in terms of time.
It’s about being consistent on brand.
It’s about being recognisable and being true to your values.
Most brand values have something within them that will define how you deliver what you do.
You’ll have developed your tone of voice – the way you communicate that helps give you authenticity.
Are you witty? Professional? Kind hearted? Passionate? Plain speaking? …
Do you strive for high quality in everything you do? Do you do all you can to maintain a high level of service?
What does ‘great’ mean to you?
Is everyone aware?
Does everyone you work with know that? Sharing that information and making sure everyone’s aware of it is going to increase the likelihood of being consistent.
Don’t think it’s just those in your team that interact with your customers regularly. Are there any messages being sent from your business that haven’t been looked over by you or your marketing team? You know, the forgotten password email from your website, the emails sent by your finance team – I’m not just picking on them, but it’s easy to set up automatic emails on a website when you first create it and then forget about them, or know that another team communicates with customers and assume that what they’re doing is on brand and up to your standard.
Ever had an email from a business with an amazing website, engaging content, great email newsletters, fantastic customer service that doesn’t fit with everything else? It’s just a plain white background, no logo, different font, no personalisation, standardised message – like the inside of a cereal box compared to the outside.
Mapping your customer touchpoints will help you see what your customer sees. Plot them across your customer journey. Get copies of what gets sent out to your customers. Collect feedback from your customers about your touchpoints. Make sure your touchpoints are what you expect them to be – and at least what your customers expect. Ensure that you are being great every time.