CX for Better Conversion Rates: 6 Questions Sales and Marketing Teams Must Ask

Maintaining and growing conversion rates is a constant struggle that, for many, became even more difficult in the last two years.

Though there are many reasons for this, changing customer expectations are a contributing factor. As the customer experience (CX) becomes increasingly digitized and technologically advanced, customer expectations are higher than ever. 

Speed, personalization, and convenience are top priorities for customers, yet companies are not meeting expectations. 54% of American consumers rate most customer experiences as needing improvement. In addition, companies are not harnessing the right technology to solve common CX problems.

Both sales and marketing must adjust their strategies to cater to customer expectations and needs while leveraging emerging technology, or see their conversion rates stagnate—or worse, decline.

Why CX is So Important

Customer experience is more than a nice to have. During a time of economic uncertainty, customer experience can both drive revenue and become a company’s key differentiator.

According to Forrester, 41% of “customer-obsessed” companies achieved at least 10% revenue growth last year.

While the market is more competitive than ever, Gartner reports that 80% of organizations are competing mainly on customer experience.

However, PWC outlines the customer experience gap that consumers are experiencing across industries. 

“Today, companies have a choice. They can transform how they engage with customers by developing new means of communication. Alternatively, they risk falling behind and surrendering their edge in the market.” [Salesforce]

Customer experience starts as soon as a lead engages with your brand—and it plays a big role in conversion rates. It should be effortless for prospects to get their questions answered, have their needs addressed, and contact your team.

Leads don’t want to engage on your time, wait for a response, become lost on your website—and often, they don’t want to call you. Sales and marketing teams must offer prospects an experience that is friendly, fast, convenient, and personalized.

Speed, Convenience, and Personalization

In today’s technology-enabled world, rapid response and instant gratification are the norm. 72% of customers want immediate service. 

In a PWC survey, almost 80% of American respondents said that speed, convenience, knowledgeable help, and friendly service were the most important elements of good customer experience.

Research by Salesforce shows that 70% of customers expect consistent experiences across channels, including recognition of their previous interactions with the business, but only 16% of customers say companies excel at this.

With the amount of data that companies now have access to, it’s not surprising that 59% of consumers think businesses should use their data to personalize their experiences.

Six Questions Marketing and Sales Must Ask

On the mission to improve conversion rates, sales and marketing must improve the customer experience in terms of speed, convenience, and personalization. There are six questions that these two teams must ask in order to do so both themselves and cross-functionally.

When reaching out directly, Sales should ask:

• Are we following up right away?
• Are we working with the customers’ schedule, or on our own schedule?

When generating leads, Marketing should ask:

• Is it easy for a prospect to get in touch?
• Is our website easy to navigate?

Both teams must ask:

• Is our messaging consistent?
• Are we personalizing our efforts?

Technology for Better CX

Technology such as artificial intelligence (AI) may answer many of these questions, enabling Sales to instantly respond, and making it easy for prospects to get in touch.

With the rise of technology, customers expect a better experience—and why shouldn’t they? With a suite of CX tools, including AI and automation, faster and better experiences are certainly possible.

AI can help to streamline the customer experience at scale by providing intelligent and instant response directly to customers. In the background, AI’s analytical power can help businesses predict issues before they happen.

"According to a recent McKinsey & Company study, 76% of customers consider personalized communications crucial for brand consideration, and 78% are more likely to repurchase from brands that provide such tailored content. This highlights the growing expectation for personalized engagement and the right technology can help make that a reality making millions of customers feel like one in a million." – David Tal , CEO, Verse.ai

Despite this, a Twilio survey found that only 1 in 4 businesses have the technology required to deliver consistent, personalized experiences across channels. 

Technology represents another gap that companies must close, but they must do so intelligently, implementing tools such as AI in the correct contexts. 

For example, after implementing conversational AI, 80% of executives saw improvements in customer satisfaction, delivery of service, and overall contact center performance.

On the other hand, basic chatbots are becoming outdated—60% of customers suffer from frequent disappointment when dealing with chatbots.

This brings us to the importance of the human element.

The Human Element

While technology is a key piece of the CX puzzle, brands must strike the perfect balance between tech and human interaction. 

71% of consumers say they would be less likely to use a brand if it didn’t have human customer service representatives available. Customers value personalization and authenticity—while responses should be fast, they should also be friendly, helpful, intelligent, and authentic.

And this is where striking a balance becomes hard. 

Combining AI with human-in-the-loop helps to bridge this gap in customer experience. This approach works for two main reasons:

• Advanced conversational AI excels at intelligent, personalized responses, while basic chatbots do not.
• Where the AI fails to be empathetic, or does not know how to help, human agents assist in order to get the conversation back on track.

At Verse, we believe that AI and human agents working together give customers the fastest, most authentic experience—and that’s why we do what we do.

Verse is a fully-managed lead generation and engagement platform for conversations that convert. By combining conversational AI and human-in-the-loop, we give your customers the experience they’ve been craving. 

Boost conversion rates with a customer experience that is:

• Fast. Our AI engages instantly.
• 24/7. AI is always on.
• Convenient. Using SMS, we meet customers where they’re at—on their smartphones.
• Consistent. With custom scripts, we ensure your omnichannel approach is seamless.
• Personalized. Our AI collects data and sends it right to your tech stack, so your salespeople can tailor their approach.
• Respectful. Our platform is fully compliant and will never call a customer unless they specify they are ready.

Supercharge your customer experience with Verse and help your conversion rates grow. 

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For any questions, please contact us at info@verse.ai.

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About us:

Verse is an AI-powered text messaging platform that combines customizable AI with human quality control to ensure authentic conversations that convert. Our AI automatically engages, qualifies, and books appointments with your leads—and we take care of compliance for you.