For any business to succeed in the market, it is important that its owners concentrate on building ties with their current and potential clients. This is something that comes under marketing, many strategies of which are prevalent these days. In fact, in today’s age of fierce competition, where every company wants to go ahead in terms of sales and revenue generation, businesses must invest in solid marketing strategies in order to achieve the goals that they have set out for themselves.
When it comes to devising appropriate marketing strategies for a business, several aspects must be taken into account. These include the type of market that it is operating in, clients’ demands, and strategies employed by its contemporaries. All of this information can be sought by carrying out thorough research on the Internet and elsewhere. However, the data is not enough on its own, and needs to be evaluated to be of any use to the business owners. All of this work is normally done by the company’s marketing team, which is headed by an expert in the field. This team is also responsible for coming up with suitable marketing strategies for the business, so that more leads can be generated for it over a little period of time.
In addition to designing and implementing the right marketing strategies, it is important that a business evaluates and exploits relevant touch points with its current and potential clients. Now, what exactly are these touch points? Let us explain below.
A touch point refers to any point of interaction that people have with your business, product, or service. It has the power to alter their perception of your company and its offerings, which is why it should be taken quite seriously. Before delving into more detail regarding the various kinds of touch points and their relative importance, it is imperative to consider clients’ expectations of them.
Normally speaking, clients expect any touch point to have the following characteristics.
It must be appropriate
In order for a touch point to work out in a positive manner, it should be appropriate in every way. By this we mean that it should not contain anything offensive in a cultural or personal manner. Also, its tone should be just right and should not put anyone off.
It should be relevant
A touch point is relevant to the clients if it meets their expectations. In other words, a relevant touch point will always cater to the requirements of the clients in a way that complements its function. For instance, if you’re sending out a flyer on behalf of your business, then it must serve its purpose well by having all the information that a reader expects to get out of it.
It should be meaningful
A touch point should be considered as impactful or helpful by the clients for it to meaningful. Now, as a business owner, your definition of what meaningful is does not really have to match your clients’. In fact, the latter should be of greater significance to you, so that you can meet the expectations of people and make your business grow.
It should be appealing
For a touch point to perform as expected, it must be endearing. This means that it should aspire to create some sort of bond with the clients, such as that of desirability. For instance, a brochure must be written in such a manner that it is able to convince the readers that they want the product or service that is being advertised by it.
It is an established fact that for a brand to be successful, it has to perform well across all of its touch points, and to do just that, it must strive to meet clients’ expectations at every step of the way. So its all about what the client experiences as soon as he or she gets in touch with your company in any way, or makes use of the product or service that you are offering.
Research has shown that successful companies invest heavily in improving performance across all their touch points with the clients. This is done by asking their clients the right questions, such as “Did your experience with our service match with your expectations?” or “Are you fully satisfied with our product?”. The resultant answers are then evaluated carefully, and each and every comment is taken seriously. This information is then incorporated accordingly so that customer experience can improve where it is required to.
Since now we have successfully established what a touch point is, it will be worthwhile to discuss its various types. Read on to find more on this.
In Store
If you have a business that has its own stores, then you can easily exploit in store touch points to your benefit. The key here is to have a keen eye, one that picks up little details. However, the type of in store touch points that you have will depend on the nature of your business. For instance, if you have a grocery store chain, then you can train your salespeople to inform the shoppers about new products that are available, or those that have a deal going on for them. In addition to this, you can design the store in such a manner that all the aisles are conveniently organized, so that people can easily find what they are looking for. Furthermore, you can hire competent cashiers, and other personnel, who can help enhance the shopping experience of anyone who walks in through your doors.
Digital
These touch points are for those companies and businesses that have a presence online. They are better than others in a lot of ways, the most important of which is that they can easily be evaluated for their performance. For instance, if you have a social media profile for your company, then you can easily acquire information regarding the number of people who clicked on your posts, and responded to them. Also, marketing strategies revolving these touch points are in vogue these days, since people are very much into the electronic and social media. You can also keep a check on the negative feedback that someone leaves on your page, and address it directly.
A significant merit of advertising using digital touch points is that this method is fairly cheap as compared to the conventional ones discussed below. However, care must be taken, since your intended audience on electronic and social media can have a different set of likes and dislikes, and you must take all of them into account in order to be successful.
Print Media
Another possible touch point for a business is the print media, or in other words, the leaflets, brochures or any other printed material. These can be distributed among the existing clients to update them regarding the product or service of a business, or randomly in order to gain the attention of new people. As discussed above, this method of marketing is expensive, but can give a boost to any business if practiced in the right manner.
Customer service
This is probably one of the most important touch points for any business, and should be looked after as thoroughly as possible. Your customer service can literally make or break your business, since it has the power to either attract or repel clients. Hence, if you are a business owner who is looking to generate more leads for his or her company, then this is where you must focus your attention.
Make sure that your customer service team comprises of competent individuals, as your clients will come into contact with them more than you can imagine. Also, your team can further market your product or service by telling callers about its features. This is an effective form of telemarketing, which has brought in many new clients for businesses on a regular basis.
Processing
Let processing be term that encompasses all that is done between the order placement and delivery, such as the waiting time, your company’s responsiveness to the client’s queries, etc. Now, processing can vary from one business to the other, depending upon its characteristics, and can be as short as the duration between someone picking up a product at a store, and walking out after making the payment for it. Despite this, it is an important touch point that businesses shouldn’t ignore at all.
Client-Client communication
There are many ways through which someone can get to know about your product or service. This also includes the communication between two people talking about your company. In other words, word of mouth is another touch point that you can work on. However, you cannot control other people’s opinion much, expect by blowing them away with your exceptional conduct and product/service.
In managing these touch points and making sure that they work towards enhancing consumer experience, business owners must always remember to keep a balance between what’s required and what isn’t. This means that they must optimize the performance of every touch point by ensuring that it is performing its due function of satisfying the client in a particular way. A point to remember here is that meeting expectations is certainly not the same as over-delivering. This is because research has shown that in doing so, many businesses have lost thousands of dollars worth of resources that could have been invested elsewhere. Hence, think wisely when managing touch points and client interaction.
Role of touch points from the beginning till the end
Touch points play an important role from the start, which is know as the pre-purchase phase, towards the very end, or more specifically, the post-purchase stage. Let have a look at these stages individually, so that you can get an idea of how to manipulate touch points at every step to your benefit.
Pre-purchase
This is time when potential clients get to know about your service or product. Your marketing campaigns are focused on this time too, as this is when you will be able to generate more leads for your business. So what can you do to make the most at this stage? You need to make sure that you are spot on everywhere the client can reach to seek information about your business. In order to do this, you can follow the steps mentioned below.
- Study your intended clientele closely, and identify what attracts them the most
- Analyze all the data that you have collected carefully, and incorporate it with your marketing strategies
- Never ignore the demands of your current clients, and incorporate them gradually within your business to get more buyers
- Invest in strategies that are more suited to the people you intending to target
- Do your homework properly before rushing to the implementation phase
- Always make your clients a priority
At this stage, you need to make sure that the touch points are fully covered by your staff, and managed well. If you do this, then you will surely be able to get more conversions.
Purchase
This is the stage when your clients have decided to buy your product or service, and are in the process of doing so. Now is the time when you have to interact with them personally, or via your staff. Hence, you should make sure that the dealings are perfectly managed in every way. For instance, you must make sure that your staff is attentive and informative, and willing to help at every step of the way. Also, various parts of the process, such as the payment, should be smooth and hassle-free
Also, this is when your clients will actually come in contact with your product or service, and it goes without saying that they shouldn’t be let down in this aspect.
Post-purchase
If a person has made a purchase from you, then it does not mean that their connection with your business is over. Instead, you must keep them in the loop regarding any future updates on your product or service. Also, they might want to come back and get the product changed in any way (if it’s possible), and you should have arrangements to comply right away.
This article is meant to educate you on various types touch points and their individual significance. Make sure that you keep these points in mind when aiming to grow further on. You can also get help from companies such as the RosponseAI, that are dedicated to providing relevant Artificial Intelligence solutions to business owners to help them in this regard.