Cómo fidelizar clientes con una estrategia de comunicación bidireccional

What is bidirectional communication and how to implement it to build customer loyalty?

Build customer loyalty and provide an excellent customer experience using a bidirectional communication strategy. Find out how and why to apply it.

Bidirectional communication in large companies is that which is generated between the organization and the customer without intermediaries. Its main characteristic is that both parties can send and receive messages alternately, achieving fluid feedback. 

Did you know that 97 percent of consumers value the fact that a brand offers them the possibility of giving feedback? Learn the keys that will make your bidirectional communication strategy effective. We will also tell you about the tool that will help you to implement it. This will help your organization to provide a modern and interactive experience to your customers. We know how to do it and we will tell you about it below.

What is bidirectional communication?

Bidirectional communication in large companies is that which is generated between the organization and the customer without intermediaries. This is a term used mainly in marketing, but it is becoming more and more relevant in the corporate environment.

This communication strategy is key to achieving an excellent customer experience by personalizing and humanizing communication. Its main characteristic is to offer the possibility for both parties (the company and the customer) to exchange information. This is achieved when both can send and receive messages alternately, achieving fluid feedback.

3 keys to bidirectional communication in organizations

In 2017, Microsoft published a report on the state of global customer service. To produce the report, 5,000 people from countries such as Brazil, Germany, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States were surveyed. The report addressed aspects related to brand loyalty, consumer perceptions and frustrations, self-management, omnichannel, and new digital trends.

As we can see, the only Latin American country that participated in the research was Brazil. Therefore, in order to offer you an insight with greater utility for the Latam perspective, in this article we will quote the results obtained from the respondents from this country. 

The results are revealing if we take into account that this survey was conducted 3 years before the pandemic. Especially because since 2020 the digital transformation process has accelerated by leaps and bounds.

In the report, there are three aspects that stand out and that organizations can no longer ignore when considering their bidirectional communication strategy:

1. Social networks are a means of communication

  • It sounds obvious, but many organizations use social networks only to promote and talk about themselves. However, more and more users consider this medium suitable for communicating with companies. For example, to provide feedback or to make arrangements and/or queries.

76 % of respondents
consider social networks to be 
an effective channel for customer service.

Source: Microsoft State of Global Customer Service (2017)

They also report that they expect a response in 24 hours or less. Moreover, they employed that channel to communicate with companies 89 % of them received a reply. This last figure leads us to believe that organizations are taking seriously the importance of social networks as a means of contacting their customers.

2. Customer service representatives

  • Customers increasingly appreciate that the organization offers them a self-management application. However, they turn to the advice of a customer service representative if they cannot find a solution or the necessary information through that medium.

    The user expects: 

    – To be able to resolve their complaint online and in first contact. – To be attended by a person who can answer their queries, 

    – That the customer service representative has the necessary information and knowledge to help them, 

    – Not to have to repeat their data over and over again. 

    Providing an effortless experience with seamless transitions between self-service and customer service will generate deeper engagement and long-term customer loyalty.

3. Omnichannel

  • Omnichannel is a unified communication strategy, which is employed across the different channels of the organization with the objective of providing a consistent experience to users.

Companies are paying more and more attention to the integration of online and offline channels that give the customer a seamless experience. However, most of the organizations’ efforts are focused on virtual channels. A more than justified decision, as 55 % of users report that they usually start their interactions with the company through an online channel. While only 3 % of them do so in person.

Respondents use between
4 to 5 different service channels
to communicate with organizations.

Source: Microsoft State of Global Customer Service (2017)

On the other hand, it is important to note that more and more people are choosing companies that offer customer service applications optimized for cell phones. In this report, 91 percent considered this to be a relevant aspect when evaluating a brand.

A case in point is Telcel in Mexico, Claro in the rest of Latin America. This company bet on bidirectional communication by reinventing channels it already had and transforming them for a two-way experience with its consumers. See the success story:

How to implement an effective bidirectional communication strategy

It is necessary to have a tool like Coldview Interactive. This will be the key to offering a personalized and excellent experience to your customers.

Some of the benefits of implementing software with these characteristics are:

  • Provide an omnichannel experience to your customers: The platform offers the possibility of visualizing consumption and activities in real-time, acquiring more products or services, downloading and/or paying invoices, among others. This will not only give them a novel experience but will increase your customers’ loyalty and retention rate.

  • Reduce costs: Efficient self-management channels will decrease inquiries to call centers. This will have a direct impact on the number of staff assigned to these tasks. At the same time, it will reduce the support costs involved.

  • Take care of the environment: By not printing invoices, your brand will project an image of an environmentally conscious company. At the same time, you will save on paper and maintenance costs for equipment such as printers, printer ink, etc.

  • Gain valuable insights into your customers’ behavior: For example, know real-time online click management, real-time click actions generating specific events, statistics on activities and behavior, etc. Knowing more about the customer journey will help you:

    •  First, provide an increasingly personalized experience. 
    •  Secondly, optimize the contact channels offered by the organization.

  • Use invoices as a two-way communication channel: This will make it possible to promote cross-selling and the acquisition of higher-value products and/or services through interactive HTML5 invoicing documents.

In conclusion,

In short, implementing a tool that allows you to manage bidirectional communication in your organization results in 

  • better positioning of the company,
  • more loyal customers, 
  • and higher retention rates. 

It is just a matter of taking up the challenge of humanizing automated communication through the digital transformation of your organization.

Now send us a message telling us, which channels of your organization have a bidirectional communication strategy?

If you are interested in expanding this strategy we can advise you on how to achieve it, get in touch and we will tell you.

References:

  • Microsoft Corporation. 2017. “2017 State of Global Customer Service Report”. http://info.microsoft.com/rs/157-GQE-382/images/EN-CNTNT-Report-DynService-2017-global-state-customer-service-en-au.pdf