The Covid-19 pandemic has plummeted the global economy so drastically that the harsh economic conditions have changed people’s lives, needs, priorities and spending habits. As customers are increasingly discern with where and how they spend their money, businesses are forced to strategise how they can continue to establish rapport with its customers and nurture it as customer relationship management can literally make or break the business. However, before you schedule your next internal meeting to discuss the way forward, it is important to first recognise how the pandemic has changed customer relationship management:
- Customer behaviour will shape the industry’s future
We have seen how the Covid-19 pandemic has fundamentally changed the business landscape as people are living differently, buying differently and thinking differently. For businesses that lacked the resources to adapt to the rapid change, they exited the market. Even now, the coronavirus is shaping the industry trends in real-time within mere weeks that has disrupted supply chains.
To put things into perspective, Malaysians are growing increasingly concerned over their health, that they invested their money on health-related items such as air purifier and essential oils. While these things are in trend now, especially when the pandemic has influenced people to safeguard their health better, the big question is: for how long? Therefore, it is imperative for businesses to invest resources to study customer’s behaviour
- An opportunity to get to know your customers better
Malaysians are deeply concerned over the impact of Covid 19 on their health as well as livelihood. In fact, we have seen how consumers are reacting to the pandemic in multitude ways – some continue to participate in their leisure activities, such as going camping and hiking, normally, while some decided to stay put within the four walls of their home. Nevertheless, it cannot be denied that fear and anxiety are running high as they ponder how the pandemic will impact their lives, families and society in the long-run.
Although the reality is daunting, it actually serves as a learning opportunity for businesses. For instance, by having a strong understanding of customer behaviour, businesses will be able to predict their wants, and needs and subsequently their purchasing behaviour. In fact, embracing the unpredictability of customer expectations and needs will help your business to develop their creative and critical thinking by allowing them to practice thinking on their feet.
With that in mind, businesses need to accept that the traditional ways of customer relationship management are long gone and focus to formulate a timely customer relationship management – one that gives customers a sense of assurance and value to their life.
- Customer experience is what will help your business to grow
While in the past factors such as operational costs and meeting compliance expectations contributed to a company’s growth, the Covid-19 pandemic has spotlighted how significant it is to include customer experience through the end-to-end process in growing your business. In short, it is imperative for businesses to become more customer-centric, with every decision and ambition laced with customer-focused outcomes in mind. Therefore, it is important for businesses to highlight that they are attentive to the changes triggered by the pandemic as it reflects that they value their customers and will continue to provide the best product or service, regardless of the uncertainty that surrounds the pandemic.
The bottom line is that the key to seamless, timely and effective customer relationship management lies in the fundamentals: information. Information is what helps build trust among customers and information is what helps businesses to grow. By understanding this, you will find your business strategising a newly-improved customer relationship management plan that meets both your needs and the customers’.
References:
