Your customers are not just names in a database; behind each one is a person who has had more than one negative experience with a company and has vowed to never do business with them again. Even with a stellar product, a negative interaction along the way can ruin the entire customer experience, which is why companies must ensure that they make each customer interaction delightful and impactful.

Here are 10 ways you can make any interaction with customers memorable.

1. Hire the Right People

All your customer-facing employees need to have the right attitude, as failing to hire the right people can lead to a poor customer experience and ultimately force a potential loyal client to take their business elsewhere. Having the right attitude is not just about being courteous and pleasant; it’s also about hiring people who understand your company vision, can think critically in unexpected situations, and confidently navigate off-script to provide a custom-made solution for a client when required. Personalizing a solution to a problem is one great way to let customers experience the wow factor of your brand.

2. Surpass Customer Expectations by Wowing Them

Customers rarely forget a negative experience, and they probably also forget all the neutral and slightly pleasant interactions they have with a brand. But they will remember a company that goes out of their way to wow them, and one of the reasons is that a significant number of companies are not focused on wowing customers. You can wow customers by offering them something unique, by delivering an express package, by resolving an error even if they are at fault, by performing an act of kindness, and anything that makes your brand stand out and your customers step back in awe.

3. Respond to Feedback

Companies often ask clients to leave a Google review as it is one of the best ways to boost credibility and reputation, and it does wonders for a brand’s SEO. It doesn’t require too much time from your customers, and reviews are often authentic and viewed as trustworthy by those unfamiliar with your brand. Whether you receive a glowing review or a negative one, always take the time to reply and thank the reviewer for their nice comment or offer to get in touch with those who have had a poor experience. This demonstrates that you’re proactive and openly listen to their encounter with your brand.

4. Anticipate Customer Needs & Be Proactive

To be proactive, you need to know your customer inside out. You need to have all their information consolidated in one place and have a good portrait of who you are dealing with. Having all this in one spot makes the customer journey better for them, as you can tap into their specific needs. Sending reminders of abandoned carts, shipping updates, or upcoming promotions on their favorite product shows that you value their time and proactively inform them of any important information they can benefit from.

5. Use Proper Technology

If you have a big sales or support team, make sure they all have noise reduction headphones when talking with clients. If you’re handling a lot of sensitive information (either through phone or online), make sure you have the proper security tools available, for a major security breach can permanently leave a mark on your brand. You want to make every interaction with a client memorable and professional.

6. Personalize the Experience

Providing a personalized customer experience means interacting with a client using their preferred channels and personalizing the experience by allowing for a smooth confusion-free transition from one channel to another. So, if a client chooses to interact on social media and then brings the discussion to a live agent, your company should track the necessary data across multiple channels to never miss a beat and accompany the customer throughout their journey with your brand.

7. Use AI to Solve Issues

Your audience is online 24/7, and they expect you to be there too. Of course, not every company can provide this level of support, so using modern technology can be a gamechanger. Chatbots have changed the way customers interact with brands as their needs and queries can be handled at any time, and customers can avoid the long-dreaded wait time of speaking with an agent. If you offer services where clients are often asking the same type of questions repeatedly, using a chatbot to provide solutions or instructions will satisfy your customers 24/7.

8. Provide Quality Post-Purchase Support

How you treat your customers after purchase can make a difference in whether they choose to return and remain loyal. When it comes to making the post-purchases customer experience memorable, brands can provide customers with additional information such as tips and tricks on enhancing the longevity of their new purchase, recommending complementary products, and reiterating return and refund policy to maintain transparency with customers. The importance is to keep the communication interactive and impactful.

9. Use the Right Channels

Not all your customers are looking to pick up the phone and call. Whether it’s because they are in a different time zone or simply have an aversion to phones, you need to make sure that customer interaction is done based on their choice of preference. Identify the channels they use and make sure you have a strong presence and are 100% interacting with them. Too often brands will have good intentions of interacting with their customers and fail to maintain the momentum with time. There is no need to maintain a presence on channels where your customers are no longer active, conserve your energy and resources for channels that deliver impact.

10. Under-promise and Over-Deliver

A sure-fire way for any company to lose traction with their audience is to overpromise, which is why under-promising and overdelivering is a much safer option. This can simply mean promising to answer any queries within 48 hours and responding within three.  Clients will feel good that they got such a quick reply and will see the interaction as positive. After all, it’s always better to impress than to disappoint.

Making any customer interaction remarkable can be achieved in so many ways, and each company can find specific tactics that work best in their field. What determines a memorable interaction is subject to change as time goes by, for with the rapid evolution of technology and increasing customer expectations, companies need to have their teams revise their strategies regularly to ensure that each customer interaction is memorable in the long run.