Major changes are anticipated due to the manufacturing and retail business around the world. Disruptions in the social, economic, and demographic spheres made possible by technological advancements are among the strong forces causing this transformation. However, despite the rapid pace of change, equipment manufacturers need to focus more than ever on the service they provide to their current clients. Those who do will survive the emergence of this upcoming era.
To become a top product and service provider of the future, OEM brands and dealer networks must improve and digitize the customer experience they offer.
Online shopping has altered consumer expectations and behavior. The expectation that shipping would be included was the first clear indication. The prospect of quicker shipment times came in second. Both were requirements set by Amazon, which the rest of the market had to follow to have any chance of competing with the behemoth.
As a result, Amazon has assumed the role of an industry leader and is on target to overtake UPS as the top shipper by the end of 2022. Amazon improved the industry, and as a result, it received the best incentives. However, there are some standard tactics that OEMs and dealers may use to improve customer service and make money from the transition.
5 Lessons From Amazon’s Customer Service
Constantly Aim To Improve
It’s our daily responsibility to make every key component of the customer experience a little bit better, says Bezos in a quotation that appears in the website headline for the Amazon employment board.
With a user-friendly website and a 92 percent customer satisfaction rating, Amazon caters to every area of the customer experience. With more than 304 million active customer accounts globally, Amazon is aware of the need to provide services that are user-friendly and promptly, compassionately, and in the customer’s best interest to respond to concerns. OEMs should work on their platform to serve their clients better and build an attractive digital customer experience.
2. Completely Inform The User
You should put upfront effort into initially understanding your clients for two reasons. By first showing consideration for customers’ requirements, you can reduce stress. Second, you develop a strategy based on the broadest information you can compile over time, provided by those same customers.
Once you have a strategy, you must put it into action, and the first phase of every plan implemented by Amazon customer care agents is to inform the client of the plan’s details. One of the key ways that Amazon stands apart from its rivals is by keeping its customers updated.
Amazon sends confirmation emails after receiving purchases and the second one with tracking information practically instantly. This happens even when there are no issues. So, the consumer is free to follow their incoming purchases throughout the entire path.
It would be prudent for you to follow in their footsteps by stating the procedures you intend to take to address any customer issues. Next, OEMs can ask customers if the outcome will satisfy their complaints after outlining the steps they’ll take. This final section is crucial. You should not be in the customer service industry if your goal is not to satisfy your clients.
3. Make It Easy For Your Customer To Stay In Touch
Since more than half of consumers already use their devices to make e-commerce purchases, mobile commerce has passed the tipping point. Given the company’s enormous selection of products and categories, it is impressive that Amazon’s mobile-first strategy has become the industry norm. Amazon’s website’s search and categorization tools are slick and simple to use. The buying experience is convenient thanks to auto-fill, recommendation engines, 1-click ordering, and other features, which are crucial for today’s mobile shoppers. As you cultivate loyalty and gratitude by always keeping the mobile customer experience in mind, follow Amazon’s example and meet your customers wherever they are.
4. Do Not Fear Unsuccessful Experiments
Most of your experiments as a startup or expanding business will fail. That is how innovation is done. There is no room for improvement without failure. You could say that Amazon was founded on failure because of how many of its products and projects failed.
There were numerous unsuccessful marketing campaigns, A9 Search and Amazon Auctions, to mention a couple. Don’t be scared to experiment with new marketing strategies and take chances. Many will fail, but some will be a gold mine.
Take only calculated risks at the same time. For instance, if you redesign your newsletter, test it on a subset of your list before sending it out to the complete list.
Even though your OEM and dealer network might not grow to be as successful as Amazon overnight (or at all), the Amazon empire should serve as an example for companies of all sizes.
5. Construct A Course Of Action With An Anticipated Outcome
In all cases, a team member must develop a strategy to deliver results after learning about and comprehending the client’s issue. Ascertain whether the result will satisfy the client. Ask them what the outcome will be if not. They might not want to pay for the return freight, for instance. If you made a mistake with the order, that is not entirely unreasonable.
Even exaggerated stories about Amazon’s customer service have been circulated. Customers might, for instance, spend hundreds of dollars on gadgets, request a refund, and never really return the item.
That’s stealing! However, Amazon will permit some consumers to get away with that conduct. We’re not suggesting that OEMs need to fly that high. That’s not logical at all. However, it does demonstrate what Amazon will accomplish on behalf of its clients.
If you simply stay plugged into the Amazon solution, buy stuff and see how their promotions and marketing campaigns work, you’ll have a clear path to success. Platform and customer experience success is easy to find online, and you should model much of what is possible over those that have led the way for years.
About EquipmentFX
Over the years, the services we offer have evolved to meet each client’s unique needs. We like to lead with our proprietary A3 assessment to really understand the gaps and opportunities. From there we can discuss follow-on services that we can customize together.
After each assessment, the two questions clients usually ask us are “Can you just do this stuff for us?” followed by “We have marketing people—how can we make them and our processes more efficient?” And sometimes we simply deliver the road map and provide support as needed.
At the end of any engagement, you will have a formal framework and internal audit process to improve your program or build a program from scratch to create more new customers and sell more to existing ones.
To find out more about the EquipmentFX A3 assessment, digital marketing, or technology consulting services, please contact us.
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