Local flower shops are the heart of every community. Your shop might focus on celebratory events like graduations, weddings, and religious gatherings to more somber occasions such as funerals. You understand the value of not only creating great customer experiences but retaining your clientele for years to come.
As the floral gifting market in the US expands with the rise of expedited delivery options, national online retailers continue to make up the market share. In fact, the floral gifting market in the US is expected to grow at a CAGR of over 5% during the period 2020-20205.
But what does this mean for smaller mom-and-pop shops that don’t have the bandwidth or budget to meet the demands modern consumers expect? Consumers today expect on-demand service and in many cases, same-day delivery. Without the ability to meet modern customer expectations, such as 24/7 support, traditional florists will need to find a way to pivot their business models and modernize their operations.
With intensified competition in your market, you’ll need to find a way to set your business apart from on-demand floral brands that cater to a mass market.
Take a look at your community and its needs. Why do people come to you and what are you BEST at? Maybe you have a large pool of wedding planners that use your business to create the vision for their events. Pay close attention to the patterns and behaviors of your customers. Take note of these patterns and use them to your advantage to nail your niche.
You don’t have to tackle everything at once. Start with what you know to bring in your target customers. You can continue to build from there when the time comes.
What are five questions you frequently hear from your customers on a consistent basis?
If you can’t answer this question, chances are that you just don’t have the time to really pay attention. We get it, sometimes you just need to get through the day and pay attention to the smaller details. Rethinking your customer experience strategy to meet the modern demands of consumers will not only help you attract new business but retain your clients for years to come.
Managing incoming orders, overseeing staff, and running day-to-day operations can consume your day. You want your customers to know they are being heard, but at the same time, it’s difficult to keep up with their needs. To gain a competitive edge and bring in new clients, you’ll have to hang up your managerial hat on occasion to dig into what your customers need.
As a small business owner, tapping into modern technologies is more important than ever. Today, customers expect 24/7 support coupled with rapid response times. For this reason, many small business owners are tapping into technology to keep up with the times and customer demands. In fact, 75% of customers today say that fast response times are the most important attribute of their experience.
Managing incoming orders, overseeing staff, and running day-to-day operations can consume your day. You want your customers to know they are being heard, but at the same time, it’s difficult to keep up with their needs. To gain a competitive edge and bring in new clients, you’ll have to hang up your managerial hat on occasion to dig into what your customers need.
Cultivating a strong relationship with your customers is a given for many small business owners. Understanding HOW to cultivate and nurture the relationship? This is a whole other ballgame.
Ideally, it will be helpful to research the demographics of your customers. Advanced customer service bots with AI superpowers like Amy, can help with segmenting your customers automatically, so she can figure out their interests, what they need and why they need it.
You could do this all by hand and come up with the research yourself. This will require grouping your customers into different customer profiles. What are their ages? What are they purchasing? How are they finding your business?
The best way to go about learning about your customers’ needs and their demographics is to implement the right customer service technology. If you have a website that already has a significant amount of traffic, consider implementing a personalized chatbot to guide your customers every step of the way.
While you might consider hiring a dedicated staff or receptionist to handle your customer service needs, they don’t quite meet the expectations today’s consumers expect. Eventually, a workday will come to an end and your staff will have to take a break.
Amy, on the other hand, does not sleep. She is available to service your customers 24/7 and help you stay organized. You can trust Amy to make the best recommendations for your customers and get to know them at the same time. She engages new visitors on your website while remembering your most loyal customers.
Unlike other chatbot technologies that can come off as generic and cold, Amy is a chatbot built with human superpowers. This means that as she interacts with more customers, she is able to make the best recommendations, at the right time and fully anticipate their needs while promoting your business.