5 Business Trends to Watch Out for in 2017.
We are already into the second month of 2017, which promises to be a year of the millennial or youth. Surprised? Well, according to a prediction in a Bersin by Deloitte report, this will be a disruptive year, since over three million company heads will retire in 2017. This opens up multiple opportunities for upcoming young professionals! Planning ahead is the key, so the void is filled in just in time with the leaders of tomorrow. Train young professionals today and reap the benefits tomorrow.
Some other key business trends to watch out for include:
Elevated customer engagement
As merchants move to a digital business model, customer engagement will still hold the key to stronger brand loyalty. Personalization, timely responses, and feedback are some of the ways to engage with your digital audience. Customers look for brand knowledge experts that can solve their problems within seconds. If you can show you’re personalizing the experience, it will be a step toward trust building, helping build brand loyalty. Deliver value and your customers will be yours for life, for it’s all about user experience and satisfaction, and businesses are able to track certain aspects of their satisfaction or otherwise with the implementation of end user experience monitoring software.
Related: How Small Business Can Compete and Win.
Customer data collection
The best recipe to make customers happy is to offer them what they want. Sounds too good to be true? Well, data analytics and the Internet of Things (IoT) can help you learn about customer preferences. Collect customer data to study what your audience consumes, how they want it to be. Use the information to create a better customer experience.
Harness the power of the Internet of Things (IoT) to improve engagement, build stronger relationships, and boost loyalty. Additionally, loyalty programs are designed to provide multiple points of interaction, so you can leverage such information to provide a personalized customer experience.
It is in your best interest to understand how to use the customer data and where to draw the line, so you do not end up breaching their privacy.
Related: Do You Really Know What Your Customers Want?
Automation
One of the 2017 business trends will be the integration of human voice in consumer products. An increasing number of brands will prefer strategically integrating humans into chatbot interactions in order to boost the effectiveness of chatbot programs. Soon it will be a norm in business brand building and customer engagement to see the marriage between social messaging and holographic computing and artificial intelligence. Chatbots are replacing humans who take charge of business’s webchats, especially for issues of lesser importance, which is a trend that is sure to continue. See here for the future of online chat – httpss://botpress.io/blog/web-chat-and-the-future-online-chat/
Related: 5 Steps to a Great Online Customer Service Process.
Crowdfunding
An increasing number of businesses are focusing on harnessing the power of crowdfunding for product validation. This allows brands to engage with a small, vocal user community at the initial stages and gain valuable insights as to how to improve their products.
Related: What’s Up for B2B Electronic Payments in 2017?
Specialization
One of the most common business trends is the hiring of specialists for specific tasks. The one-size-fits-all approach doesn’t hold any value in business. It is the day and age of the consumer. Every customer wants a personalized experience. Show customers that they matter to your business and they won’t hesitate to evangelize your brand.
It is more about delivering content and communication customized to the needs of customers. Hire specialists who understand intricacies of the niche and can offer a more personalized experience.
Remember the basics and you can do well to move your business forward.
Contact Us for more information on Credit Card Processing, or eChecks and ACH Transactions. Or take us up on our FREE Merchant Account Analysis offer. We’ll analyze your merchant account rates and let you know how to Save! If you are ready, you may be able to Switch and Save!