The most significant change of this new era is that the customer defines the service strategy: they indicate where the brand should be present and also demand that it be active when needed. Therefore, to stay connected with this new type of user, businesses must transform and adopt new technologies to offer an unparalleled customer experience.

For a long time, especially when online sales were not a reality, telemarketing (or telesales) was very important. Calls, whether passive or active, were one of the alternative sales channels to physical stores. Changes in the world, however, have somewhat weakened this model. Digital transformation is forcing companies to change their business models and adapt to the new reality of the market driven by the customer.

Today, companies’ active calls are no longer perceived as attractive to consumers, changes brought about by technologies, social media, smartphone usage, cultural changes in consumption, and even post-pandemic habits have completely altered expectations. This is demonstrated by the 2021 research report on the state of Conversational Marketing, which states that general frustration with digital experiences is increasing, a consequence of brands’ difficulties in orienting their service strategies around them. This research shows how consumer patience has worn thin when interacting with B2B companies:

Frustration with accessing basic commercial information has grown by 20%
Frustration with website navigation has increased by 25%
Frustration with forms continues to grow by 27%

Consumer frustration with certain brand behaviors, and consequently how they abandon them, demonstrates the negative impact of not designing a real customer experience that focuses on their preferences and needs. Therefore, they must now adopt a less invasive and more convincing approach. Calls are no longer the main focus from which to design the experience and instead focus on proposals that meet current user needs.

A series of practices that brands must adopt to connect with customers and potential customers.

Personalize your cross-selling offers
Companies no longer just compete with each other. At every step, they are compared to intelligent tech giants like Google, Amazon, Netflix, or Spotify, all of which have long mastered the art of personalization in cross-selling. This means that companies need to get the timing and targeting of their cross-selling messages right. As HBR warns: “In this new era of digital competition and customer control, people are increasingly buying due to the relevance of a brand to their needs at the moment.” Therefore, the goal with this strategy is to provide various possibilities for products not yet planned by the consumer but related to the initial interest, so that they have several complementary products available – which they can choose to buy or not. It’s a way to improve the consumer experience while also increasing the average ticket of the business.

Use Conversational Marketing data to predict the next purchase
Data-based analysis is essential for determining which product customers are most likely to buy next. The reason cross-selling efforts often remain ineffective is that products in which customers are interested are not offered. Therefore, by analyzing advanced data, such as conversations or interactions, we can predict that they will eventually be interested.

One of the digital tools that is helping to generate better experiences is Advanced Speech Analytics (ASA), software capable of analyzing phone conversations or digital channels in a matter of minutes. Knowing this information makes it possible to identify patterns and categories of different behaviors and actions, such as feelings, experiences, and user needs to make better decisions.

Messages shouldn’t just be about sales
It is true that deepening relationships with customers can generate cross-selling opportunities. But that doesn’t mean communication should be limited to offers. On the contrary: sometimes, a meaningful exchange will do much more to build trust and improve the experience and will be worth it later. Therefore, respond to your customers (Close the loop). If we collect their feedback, we should follow up after they have given us their opinion.

By responding, we are letting them know that we are paying attention and listening to them; this helps strengthen the connection between users and companies and understanding their experiences. Reach out to customers who responded to a survey or left a comment on social media. Regardless of whether it’s negative or positive, you should let them know that you appreciate their feedback and how you plan to act accordingly.

As we can see, the consumer sets the pace, methods, and communication strategies, so companies must keep these changes in mind to always be at the forefront and, above all, connected with their customers.