Technology has changed the way we do business completely. Not all for the better. Yes, tech has made it easier to take a product to market.

Yet this simplification of the sales process has also gone a long way towards leveling the playing field. Large companies can no longer rely on their massive marketing budgets to leverage market share. Even the smallest company can now compete on an international scale.

So how do we position ourselves within the modern commercial arena? We need to work smarter, especially when it comes to nurturing our existing customer base. Engaging with customers both new and existing is proven way to improve revenues. Below, are five tips for ensuring that your business is doing all it can to engage with its customers.

Embrace the Entire Customer Journey

It’s easy to front-load the customer journey, applying more resources to sales and marketing than post-sales processes. However, when it comes to keeping existing customers engaged, customer satisfaction is key. There is a need to give as much weight to customer support and other post-sales touchpoints along the customer journey, as there is to filling the sales funnel.

Build Trust and Authority

Take a look at the most successful brands. Apple, Campbell’s, Hilton, all of these brands despite working in vastly different markets, have one thing in common. Their customers trust them to deliver the best products/services every time. How many new Apple iPhone models are sold simply because people upgrade automatically due to brand trust?

This is where authority ties in. It is hard to refute that when it comes to manufacturing mobile devices such as tablets and smartphones, Apple is at the top of its game, at least that’s how consumers see it.

Choose the Right Channels

Wind the clock back a decade, and high street sales were still the main way that many retailers generated revenue. If you were buying a new TV, you would walk into a retail store, and one of the sales staff would regale you with the benefits of different models.

Fast forward today, and over the counter, retail sales in many markets have almost disappeared. As consumers, we now prefer to buy online. We are also more likely to gather pre-purchase information from our peers via social networking sites such as Facebook.

Therefore, in order to engage with customers, we need to target the channels they are most inclined to use.

Offer Added Value

Let’s drag the Apple example back into focus here. When you buy an Apple product, you receive much more than the physical device. You gain access to the whole Apple iCloud platform.

Finding ways to give customers something a little extra, which helps to tie them into your brand, is a fantastic way to keep them engaged.

Act on Customer Feedback

For businesses that embrace Customer Experience Management (CXM) as a working methodology, finding any and every reason to fire off a customer satisfaction survey is the norm.

However, if we do make an effort to capture customer feedback, it is vitally important to make sure we act on that feedback. This lets customers know that their opinions are valued.

In Conclusion

These are just a handful of ways that we can begin to improve customer engagement, there are many more. Consider for a moment that an engaged customer can easily become a brand ambassador. Recommending your company and its products to friends, family, and acquaintances. Similarly, a dissatisfied, unengaged customer becomes the opposite, actively discouraging people from buying your products/services.