Glossary
Customer Enablement
Customers in the current age expect almost perfect communication, service, and responsiveness from the companies they interact with. The advent of the internet, social media, and IoT devices enables businesses to provide better customer experiences than ever before.
Here’s a term modern B2B companies can’t afford to miss out on: customer enablement. It’s a form of sales enablement that has received immense attention in recent years. Let’s go into detail about the customer enablement definition and why it’s so crucial in the B2B landscape.
What’s the Problem?
Today’s business customers expect more from the companies they are buying from. You can’t just sell a software package; you have to provide support and ensure success with it. Plus, with the rise of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) products, vendors need to encourage their clients to renew their subscriptions rather than only push for the initial sale.
What these trends mean is that customer success enablement and all the support and training involved are becoming more necessary than ever in B2B transactions. Yet few companies know how to provide these offerings.
What’s the Solution?
A refined approach to customer experience enablement is the key to staying competitive in the modern market. Wise business owners will enact programs and actions to raise client satisfaction, especially during the post-purchase period.
How To Accomplish It?
What are the ingredients of a successful customer enablement program? There are several facets to an effective initiative:
- Support. The most prominent element of customer enablement is fast, reliable, and useful support. Social media is becoming an ever-popular medium for companies to provide technical and general support to their clients. Having a support ticket system in place is necessary for modern business.
- Communities. You’ve probably seen official forums for software packages. These networking tools allow clients to collaborate and answer questions together, reducing the workload on your customer service department. On top of that, you can take advantage of customer referral programs with a community to foster engagement.
- Advocacy. Tying into consumer communities above, advocacy takes advantage of how potential buyers love hearing positive stories and testimonies from current customers. Ensuring that your buyers engage with your brand cohesively goes a long way to building more recommendations that help you land more sales.
- Built-In Tips. Many programs come with internal documentation, including occasional pop-ups, tooltips, and even interactive tours to help users get acquainted with the interface and features. This method gives clients knowledge that they can instantly use within the program itself.
- Feedback. Always provide an avenue for current customers to communicate their experiences, concerns, issues, and talking points. Collecting satisfaction data gives your teams an idea of where to improve and what to prioritize in future development.
- Customer success training. When potential buyers know more about your product or service, they will be more invested in it and will get the most value out of using it. The result is better client loyalty and engagement. Customer education and certification are a cornerstone of a strong enablement program.
Building a Culture That’s Rooted in Positive Customer Experiences
The only way to prioritize a successful customer enablement strategy is to ensure that positive customer experiences become part of your company culture. Ensure that every department is onboard, from sales to support.
Client success training is an important tool that companies can use to perfect the digital experience. By taking a proactive approach, your company can focus on improving the areas that matter most to your customers, whether that’s through virtual training, better customer service, or simply knowing what areas your customers experience friction.
FAQs
1. What are the components of customer enablement?
Customer enablement involves providing fast support, fostering communities for collaboration, and encouraging advocacy through customer recommendations. It also includes built-in product tips, feedback channels, and customer training to enhance engagement and loyalty.
2. What are the benefits of a strong customer enablement strategy?
A strong strategy improves customer satisfaction, retention, and engagement while reducing support costs. It helps customers become more self-sufficient and ensures they gain maximum value from the product.
3. What is the difference between sales and customer enablement?
Sales enablement focuses on equipping the sales team to close deals, while customer enablement ensures customers succeed with the product post-sale. Sales drives initial revenue, whereas customer enablement promotes long-term loyalty and retention.
