5 top tips for engaging with your customers

We sat down our Director of Customer Success, Benjamin Jones, to have a conversation about Customer Engagement.

Ben, over to you

Thanks for having me. This is a topic I could talk about for hours. There’s no disputing it — I’m customer obsessed. I’d go as far as to say that it’s the single biggest factor to winning in a competitive market. 

I’d love to share some tips I’ve had success with: 

1. You’re evolving, your plan should too

Brainstorm these three questions — if you’re anything like me, this will involve a whiteboard and a strong coffee. 

• When are you contacting your customers? 
• How do you contact them?
• What do you contact them about? 

Now think. If you were the customer and this communication was your only impression of a business, would you be impressed? Would you still buy? It’s okay if the answer isn’t a clear yes. That shows there’s room to improve. 

This is an exercise you and your team can, and should revisit as you’re constantly evolving. Build, measure, learn, repeat. Then repeat again. 

2. Be human because your customers sure are

Your customer doesn’t think about your business nearly as much as you do. But at a certain point, they thought about you. And… they chose you. Amazing. Out of a million options, you were selected. Why did they choose you? 

Capturing when, how, and why your customers picked you is a game-changer. It allows you to tap into their true needs ⁠— and what they value. We all like to think we know our customers fairly well. But often we only scratch the surface. Dig deeper. 

Once you’ve got a clear idea of your customer, keep them in mind with each time you reach out. They’re not some unknown entity, they’re human. 

3. Having the best product isn’t enough

You’ve built something special. Sure, that’s great. But it might not be enough. If there is one thing I’ve noticed, it’s that you can’t rely on the product or price to seal the deal.

The service you provide your customers sets you apart from your competitors. And service is changing too. It’s not just human, it’s that tone-deaf autoresponder email you’ve never got round to changing. It’s too much contact, or too little. 

When connecting with your customers it’s not just an opportunity to solve a problem, it’s a way to add value. Personalise it and provide an experience. 

4. Listen to your fans, listen to the haters; but more importantly — listen to the feedback 

Listen, and take action. We fear negative feedback, because it hurts. In reality though, all feedback is useful. A customer who goes out of their way to give you feedback ⁠— even negative feedback ⁠— is engaged.  

Don’t stop with listening. Use it to shape your products, your services, and to anticipate what the future may hold. If you can’t action the feedback immediately, put it somewhere you can easily access. A diligently collected resource of customer feedback will only get more valuable as you grow.

On the flip side, listening to your customers isn’t just about finding out what’s not working. Reach out to your advocates and find out what is working.

5. Stop playing guessing games

Why guess when you could base your decision on something solid? Gone are the days when we couldn’t track anything. We have more options than ever before. 

I’d recommend you keep data top of mind. Look at how you’re capturing and using your customer data. Quality data allows you to make decisions based on what’s actually going well, not what you think is going well. We all have our own biases, me included. 

In the restaurant industry, I’d go as far to say data is the most valuable asset you hold.

It was key while we were building Mobi2Go, that our clients owned their customer data. It’s their brand, their store, they should be able to access and use that data. Customers are your business. Why would you give information to a 3rd party when it holds so much value to you?

Data is the fuel for building a lasting, personalised, and proactive engagement with your customers. If you’re lucky enough to have the opportunity to capture customer data, then use it. 

Reach out if you’d like to chat more

Look, no business is perfect, there are always competing priorities. It’s easier than ever to lose sight of the customer. But there’s so much opportunity for any business that manages to keep the customer in mind. 

I love talking all things customer obsession. You can reach me directly through my LinkedIn.

If you’d like to know more about how Mobi2Go can help with your online ordering experience, fill in the form here, and we’ll connect you to the right person.