Proximity: the key to a trusting customer relationship
In a number of sectors, brands are increasingly valuing proximity with their customers. This is a way of building customer loyalty, but above all it is a way of meeting a need for a personalized customer relationship where listening, responsiveness and availability are the keywords.
The trend of hyper-personalization
In highly competitive markets, a company's ability to cultivate customer commitment depends not only on price but also on the quality of the relationship formed between the brand and the customer. For each expressed need, there is a very wide variety of solutions and services, leading to a form of versatility on the part of the customer that is not conducive to a loyalty objective.
Nevertheless, the Covid crisis has shown that with the distance and the omnipresence of digital, there was a real desire to deploy a more personalized offer as well as support that was closer to the customer and their needs. A priority that stems from the expression of a stronger demand from consumers who, for 88% of them, attach great importance to the quality of the customer relationship according to the ESCDA 2021 barometer. Also, this approach of proximity via hyper-personalization starts before the sale and continues after it. And if data and a reinforced presence of the brand on numerous communication channels are central to the success of this objective, companies mainly perpetuate this link through human contact.
This "customer centric" vision is inherent to the world of concierge services which, due to the nature of its services, must rely on proximity with its customers in order to build a relationship of trust, which is essential to survive in this field.
"At John Paul's, listening is paramount and quality and relevance take precedence over the speed and number of responses given to the customer. Our Concierges are committed to taking the time to respond appropriately rather than responding quickly." Caroline Kaye, VP Communication.
Pampering, or the art of catering for your customers
Today's customer no longer tolerates the coldness of call centres, where the human element (customer as well as advisor) is marginalized throughout the value chain. On the contrary, they want to be taken care of, and for the brand to have a good knowledge of their (future) needs. The notion of "pampering" responds to this trend, and this can take the form of small or large attentions, such as calling the customer personally, formulating a tailor-made offer, remembering their tastes, or taking into account their feedback on a product or service. This information is known because it is collected by data, which is structured to constantly improve the quality of services offered to Members.
"We carefully monitor and judge the quality of the response provided by our Concierges to our Members (responsiveness, handling, satisfaction rate, etc.). This is an important requirement that we place at the heart of our business because it guarantees results and offers our clients indispensable transparency." Hubert Choplin, Data & CRM Director.
Inevitably, the main selling points remain the quality of the product/service and the price, but a company's ability to bring more humanity and a personal touch to the way it treats its customers will consolidate their commitment. However, care must be taken not to overdo it and to adopt an approach in which customer support is distinguished both by its quality and by the subtlety of the actions deployed.
