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.
