Digital Engagement and the Human Touch: Why it’s essential to strike the right balance between high tech and high touch to boost your customer success

Nowadays, companies worldwide have made digital engagement the cornerstone of their burgeoning customer success initiatives. It makes sense. Today’s technology allows for fast and expedient interaction with customers. They increasingly ask for fast access to insights and guidance via self-service provided by high-tech and virtual applications like messaging apps, interactive dashboards, and content portals. However, while digital engagement is critical in supporting your customers’ success, it is important to retain one key element of that ongoing client interaction: the human touch.

According to a study by PricewaterhouseCoopers , 64 percent of U.S. consumers and 59 percent of all consumers feel that companies have “lost touch with the human element of customer experience.” Additionally, 71 percent of Americans “would rather interact with a human than a chatbot or some other automated experience.” The study notes that “automated solutions should ‘learn’ from human interactions, so those experiences also improve.”

Clearly, striking a balance between high tech and high touch in ongoing customer interactions is crucial in your customer success efforts, which ultimately are designed to help your customers meet their success objectives. And it all starts with perspective.

“I see digital engagement merely as engagement. If we can engage with our customers often and effectively, and in a way that makes the most sense for them, then we can offer a higher level of support and build trust as we assist them with their transformation efforts,” says Tony Pante, Global Head of the Digital Engagement Hub for SAP’s customer success organization. “Fortunately, the technology we can use to connect has progressed so much, but the key is to show customers not only that we understand them, but also that we truly want to help them.”

The right blend of today’s advanced technology and your dedication to human interaction can help you do just that. In fact, when you find that balance, you can do three critical things that are pivotal not only to your customers’ success but also to your own.

1.?????Get Engaged with Everyone

When clients are in the process of adopting a software solution or implementing a new product, they will hit stumbling blocks along the way. They will need guidance and support. You have to be able to anticipate their needs while also delivering solutions to their challenges on demand. And you need to do this with every customer, regardless of size. From the largest companies to the smallest businesses, you have to be present and engaged at all times.

“Digital engagement can be used as a tool for leveling the playing field across the board,” Pante says. “Today’s technology gives you an ideal way to provide relevant content at scale. It allows you to automate some of your communication while giving customers easy access to the information they need when they need it. When you can do that with every customer 24 hours a day, seven days a week, the impact you have on their business can be significant and really transformative.”

2.?????Get Personal Across the Customer Journey

Customers do not want generic instructions or information flowing from the digital mediums you use to communicate with them. The content you provide to support each client has to be pertinent and applicable to their needs. You can use today’s technology in innovative ways, combining automation and personal connection through mediums like video calls, chat features, e-mail, and more. Of course, no matter what information you provide to a customer, it must be personalized.

?“When you’re asked a question, you have to respond with content that addresses what you are being asked,” Pante notes. “For instance, if you just send a 50-page presentation as an answer, it’s not going to work. But if you send a short video that directly addresses the issue, that will make a difference. When we make that kind of an effort, we often hear from customers who say, ‘Thank you for making it easier for me to do business with you.’”

3.?????Get Creative to Deliver Valuable Experiences

Today’s tech tools allow you to get creative with your content and truly set your company apart. When you provide customers with something they have never seen before, the impression you leave helps them make a connection with you, as they see your company as one that makes an effort to deliver real, straightforward solutions that make sense and save them time. They will also be more likely to watch or read the content you provide if it is presented in a clever and easy-to-digest format. There are countless creative options for delivering valuable content, from customized one-pagers to short videos.

“You want your customer to have a good experience, and you want them to be successful,” Pante concludes. “For that, you have to find different ways to apply new things and make them interesting, human, and relevant.”

We will delve deeper into these three digital engagement opportunities in our Digital Engagement and The Human Touch blog series. Stay tuned in the coming weeks for best practices for getting engaged, personal, and creative with your digital engagement customer success efforts.

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