In the competitive business era where customers know exactly what they are looking for, the importance of using a competitive customer intelligence platform cannot be ignored. This is especially the case when you want them to make the correct purchase decision.
Imagine you are facing a problem with a product/service and wish to talk to customer service. You explain the issue; however, they are reluctant to comprehend or assist.
Here, you would probably lose trust in the company and stop interacting with the same brand. In fact, according to studies, 32% of customers believe that they would walk away after one bad experience. In a study, 90% of people who read online reviews said it influenced their decision to make a purchase. In the same study, 86% of people said that they were swayed by negative reviews.
To minimize bad customer experiences, businesses need to utilize a customer intelligence platform. The good thing about the customer intelligence platform is that it enables businesses to scrutinize customer interactions and provide actionable insights that improve customer journeys.
Before moving ahead with the reasons that made customer intelligence very popular in the last few years, let us, first of all, understand the term – customer intelligence.
Definition of customer intelligence
Customer intelligence is the process of collecting and processing customer data to interpret for best results. Customers online create multiple points- their online habits, browsing behavior, favorite stores, and more. Customer intelligence helps use customer information to drive better strategies, improve customer targeting, and personalize preferences. These customer insights and business intelligence can be used to enhance customer experiences in the long run.
Customer Intelligence + Customer Relationship Management = Customer Success
If you combine the customer intelligence insights with customer relationship management strategies, you can improve customer success and lead to customer retention.
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Reasons why customer intelligence has become very popular in the last few years
Customer intelligence has gained prominence due to the sheer need to understand customers better. These insights that come from customer intelligence help prepare better plans and strategies.
1. Help in creating a loyal customer
Customer intelligence insights can help create loyal customers. To ensure customer loyalty, you need to understand customers better. This can happen when customer insights are available. What are their choices, what are they browsing about, and how to approach them for better results? Customer intelligence insights allow you to better plan a customer retention strategy and keep customers happy and loyal.
2. Help in building a more relatable customer persona
Customer intelligence insights will help create a better idea about the customer. You know what the customer likes, what they search for, what can trigger them, what they are confused about, and more. This gives you a better idea of how to contact them, connect with them, and ensure they are satisfied.
3. Help in monitoring the changes in the market as they occur
With customer intelligence insights, one can gain a better understanding of the market. A lack of market knowledge means less understanding of the customer. Customer intelligence offers data to give users a better experience. You can get information about the customers and even the industry. You can make better decisions for customers. You can incorporate predictive and prescriptive analytics into your strategy as and when the market changes occur.
4. Help in improving your sales efficiency
Customer intelligence helps with customer retention. This is because you can monitor buyer journey and sales journey to understand areas of improvement. With that, you can improve customer engagement and communication. You can also target users for specific areas. Sales efficiency is when there is repeat business. That can be done with customer intelligence. You can improve productivity and create a streamlined process that enhances customer success.
5. Help in giving flexibility to your strategy
Customer intelligence insights are dynamic. This means they can help you alter your strategy to something that works. This helps create a locus of activities that can help customers get better. You can improve your strategy to meet specific needs. For example- If customers are interested in a certain trending topic, you can weave that into your strategy based on who and how many are searching.
1. Builds strong business relationships with your customers
A customer intelligence platform helps you enhance your relationship with customers. You can understand them better. You know what areas they face trouble in and how you can reduce that. This creates faster resolution of issues. You can also forge stronger bonds with customers since you know them better.
2. Gather comprehensive understanding through analytics
The customer intelligence platform helps you put numbers behind the information. You know better about the customer or company since you have data available. Customer activity, customer information, and strategy are all available to you to devise strategies accordingly.
3. Build a social connection with your customers
Lastly, you build a social connection with your customers. You know them for the people they are like. Customer personality, traits, likes, dislikes- you know them all. You see them as individuals, which can go a long way in retention. This creates a personal connection with customers and enhances the trust factor.
How will SmartKarrot help you with customer intelligence in your business?
SmartKarrot’s customer intelligence or account intelligence is an interesting feature that lets you know your customers better. This is an active intelligence platform that helps with easy account management.
The key features of SmartKarrot’s customer intelligence platform are as below-
- Easily identify red flags with the platform. You get all at-risk information in advance so you can work accordingly to reduce or minimize damage.
- Optimize time since you need not hunt for information. You get real-time updates on account changes.
- Identify growth opportunities when customers use the product positively.
- Transparency in communication as everyone in an account knows of the changes and updates
Concluding Thoughts
If you wish to gain the upper hand over your competition, you need to contemplate using an innovative customer intelligence platform like SmartKarrot to make consistent decisions.
The insightful information that you get by scrutinizing this intelligence will go a long way in enhancing your brand loyalty. It will also have a positive impact on your overall sales.
It will make your business always be ready to address any changes occurring in your industry proactively.
So, when do you plan to start using customer intelligence in your business?
Dattatraya Shetty is an IT Professional with 2 Decades of experience in areas of Product Development, Implementation & Service Delivery Management. As the Head of Implementations and SOC Compliance in Smartkarrot he is on a mission to provide relishing customer experience.
Published November 22, 2021, Updated May 15, 2023
