Every marketer has probably heard the buzzword clienteling. Some brands are making their focus to bring this to their digital strategy. Let’s dive into the foundation of brick-and-mortar clienteling and how to successfully transition it to online shops.
Clienteling is a technique that allows businesses to develop long-term, trusting relationships with their customers while focusing on increasing customer lifetime value. Companies use an individual approach to create relevant offers based on the preferences, purchase history, behavior, and other data of their clients.
The formula for a great clienteling experience begins when brands balance human experiences and tech. 82% of the top-performing companies report paying close attention to the human experience around digital and tech (pwc.com) .
Clienteling's primary function is to collect customer data and use it to improve shopping experiences. A store that practices clienteling may greet customers by name when they walk in or ask a client about one of their past purchases.A business with a superior clienteling strategy will only utilize contextually rich customer information, ensuring that brands build a natural relationship with their customers when taking advantage of clienteling technology.
At the core of a successful digital clienteling experience are value enhancing experiences. According to this Gartner Report, a value enhancing experience includes anticipating customer needs, validating their purchase decisions and helping customers achieve their goals.
These value enhancing experiences are all about how you represent your brand through digital experience. This representation is often polluted by new technology and optimized automation, with human experiences taking a back seat. Only 3% of U.S. consumers, for instance, want their… online brand… experiences to be as automated as possible” (pwc.com). There is a higher value in human interaction.
Nothing is more white glove and genuine than a face to face conversation. A brand that is human first in a virtual world is the gold standard of clienteling. At its foundation, clienteling is not about the technology or data you’ve got in the back end of your user experience, it’s about the genuinity you show your customers. It’s about the human relationships associates build with customers, the non verbal cues given during a conversation and the authentic back-and-forth that validates your customers decisions.
1-on-1 video chat is going to bring your clienteling experience to the level consumers expect. When a real person greets you by name and recognizes you, it is a natural experience that people can relate to. When a software or website calls you by name or mentions something you may be interested in, a consumer's initial thought is; “there goes my data” because there is a trust issue with software. But when these types of interactions happen face-to-face it enhances a consumer's overall experience and attachment to a brand. That is the basis of clienteling
If you are going to be intimate with your customers and build a 1:1 relationship it may as well be a entirely human one.
