Category: Retail

A Brave, new world: How a robust customer engagement system ushered in the “new normal” for this luxury retailer

Unprepared for a post-pandemic world, the retailer urgently needed a customer engagement platform to enhance connectivity and improve customer service.

THE CHALLENGE:

Imagine this. It’s the middle of the COVID19 pandemic.

Marketing analysts are raving about a “new normal,” and businesses are investing in new technologies that can address performance issues, enhance connectivity, and streamline operations.

Our hero, a prominent online retailer, works with thousands of shoppers, consignors, and luxury managers across eight regions in the United States.

Prior to the global crisis, this retailer was using an old-school scheduling method to organize its affairs: a phone number to book or re-book meetings.

This process was prone to human error, the manual data entry lacked accuracy, and was devoid of personalization.

However, the sudden shift & focus on digital interactions left the retailer in a challenging position, requiring urgent updates to their customer engagement process. Facing huge potential losses and multiple shutdowns, the retailer was ready to change how it handled its customer service and invest in a “new normal.”

THE OBJECTIVES:

In order to modernize the retailer’s engagement system, key pain points had to be analyzed, discussed, and addressed through the solution.

As a result, SUMO recommended the following feature implementations be added to the new and improved engagement system:

  •  A revamped Infrastructure: As none of the retailer’s systems interacted with each other, a real-time understanding of customer needs was unattainable.
  • Automatic customer mapping: The manual scheduling process lacked customer focus, causing clients to be paired with random services.
  • Real-time analytics: The marketing department was unable to provide much-needed personalization and automation.
  • Calendar integration: Meetings between clients and in-house experts were being scheduled via spreadsheets and other disjointed resources.

THE SOLUTION:

In a matter of weeks, SUMO deployed its customer engagement solution, which allowed prospects and customers to make self-guided appointments with the right experts by following a simple link on the company website.

Following this, SUMO’s Assignment Engine matched specific clients with appropriate services or experts, based on pre-recorded data shared legally and consensually with the retailer through the Salesforce-native integration.

This feature helped the retailer create custom objects that automatically mapped prospects and customers to appropriate services and experts.
Furthermore, the Real-Time Analytics Builder enabled lead nurturing and customer engagement through personalized drip campaigns and templates, geared towards maximizing every step of the buyer’s journey.

Lastly, SUMO’s calendar integration synced with Google Calendar, allowing the retailer to view all available time slots and recommend them to new prospects, maximizing output.

THE RESULTS: 

First and foremost, SUMO’s Assignment Engine has optimized customer mapping, ensuring that clients are paired with the most suitable experts at the right time.

Real-time custom reporting via SUMO’s Analytics Builder has empowered the executive team to make data-driven decisions based on specific campaigns, locations, appointment volume, and personalized key performance indicators.

SUMO’s Calendar Integration has not only reduced missed appointments but also eliminated the need to manually follow up with customers.

SUMO’s native integration with platforms such as Pardot has simplified the majority of marketing tasks, allowing prospects and customers to seamlessly schedule follow-up appointments at their own convenience.

Owing to these implementations, SUMO has provided the retailer with a transparency that was previously lacking, and created a streamlined method for business representatives to book appointments on behalf of luxury managers.

Working with a solution backed by the right mix of experts and technology, real-time customer support has now become the retailer’s calling card.

THE FUTURE: 

The executive team plans to fully embrace omni-channel & drive more business to the company’s physical and web properties via targeted campaigns and online scheduling capabilities. 

It also plans on expanding its data-driven approach by utilizing custom analytics to track the path to purchase in order to closely align with the needs of their prospects and customers.

The retailer looks forward to developing its partnership with SUMO, knowing that it has only scratched the surface of possibilities through its new customer engagement strategy. 

Diamonds Are Forever: How A Specialty Jeweler Modernized Customer Experience Through Scheduling

The largest specialty jeweler in the US, UK, and Canada wanted a competitive edge to expand their client base & increase revenue. Interestingly, the key to their success turned out to be a… warranty?

THE CHALLENGE:

With rave reviews and a lucrative holiday season approaching, this specialty jeweler was desperate to increase revenue & grow its market share within a booming sector.

After conducting a thorough audit of the company, SUMO and the client realized that the biggest inhibitor to that revenue was right under their noses! (or necks, if you like pearls) The jeweler’s clients would receive a warranty with their purchases, and its validity was maintained by bringing the jewelry in for regular cleaning and inspection.

The consultants’ only means of scheduling those clients for this service was via phone, which was greatly limiting the possibilities of efficient scheduling returning clients and serving new customers.

Appointment setting, appointment rescheduling and special occasion reminders were also solely conducted through phone, which, during the forthcoming holiday season, was about to receive an overwhelming amount of workload.

This overreliance on the phone was affecting the jeweler’s ability to serve a larger number of customers because its communication lines were constantly blocked.

THE OBJECTIVE:

In order to set realistic and attainable goals, SUMO interviewed anonymous clients and the Jeweler’s consultants, asking them to describe the biggest pain points. 

Once the analysis was complete, the following “needs” were prioritized based on  each key stakeholder:

  • Multi-platform scheduling: for the business to move away from *just* phone
  • Load Balancing: for each consultant to have a fair number of clients
  • Reminder Engine: for clients to suggest hours at their convenience
  • Salesforce Compatible: for the managers to retain key customer data

THE SOLUTION:

Having a clearer view of the immediate issues, SUMO implemented the following motto; “a call should only be the customer’s last method of scheduling”.

Firstly, SUMO expanded the appointment requests to include new communication channels, allowing clients to now book appointments through email & website.

Secondly, a Multi-Calendar view was built in conjunction with the new channels, allowing clients to access each consultant’s availability online, allowing them to schedule their own appointments.
Focusing on providing the most efficient customer experience, a Reminder Engine would allow the jeweler to send follow-up emails, messages or calls(depending on the customer’s preference).

Most importantly, the solution was built within the Salesforce platform, allowing the jeweler to retain approved client data such as previous purchases, preferences and wishlists, without needing to re-add it manually for over 50,000 clients! 

THE RESULTS:

With the jeweler now able to accept appointments through email & website, clients have the ability to schedule appointments from their multiple websites, 24/7, across any device, with the data being visualized through a multi-calendar view.

As for the data, owing to the retained customer data through a Salesforce native solution, management teams now have a more effective way to analyze their businesses with insightful data like appointment volumes & quota per branch.

In addition, with more appointments being self-scheduled by the clients, the jeweler’s consultants are now focused on selling & improving customer service, while developing their client base through new offers for the holiday season.

Satisfied with the results, the jeweler has decided to expand SUMO’s scheduling solution across all branches, and SUMO is now being used by over 20,000 sales consultants in over 2,000 locations.

THE FUTURE:

The largest specialty jeweler in the US, UK, and Canada can shift its focus on long-term objectives by:

  • Effectively serving client needs, without missing an appointment
  • Increasing client inflow & focus on expanding services or locations
  • Appropriately managing increases in demand 

All while reporting record revenues for that year’s holiday season, confirming that SUMO’s solution was an investment worth… diamonds.