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With the ever-increasing digitization of customer interactions, the proliferation in remote work and growing use cases of artificial intelligence (AI), small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs) feel the pressures to keep up. But providing the digital-first, AI-assisted experience the business goliaths provide is out of reach, right? Wrong.
An AI-powered experience orchestration platform – with digital and automation components that allow you to reach and assist your customers and prospects as well as built-in workforce engagement capabilities that allow the “work from anywhere, anytime” environment – is within reach for businesses of all sizes and budgets.
The key is understanding how to use this technology to design highly personalized experiences that show off your strengths and differentiate your brand. And SMBs actually have one competitive advantage over their larger competitors: They’re smaller, so they’re closer to their customers. And that smaller size makes them more agile.
I think back to early in my career when I would meet friends for lunch at a local eatery called Peter’s Diner. When you walked in, Peter greeted you by name. He asked how you were doing and, when you asked him the same, he would always reply “Never seen it so good!”
As we selected a booth and sat down, Peter’s wife Helen would come over and strike up a conversation asking about our day, our families and what’s new. After placing our orders, one of their daughters would bring our lunches to the table and check in, asking us what was new.
You’ve probably experienced this type of environment in your neighborhood. There were a lot of options for lunch, including many larger food chains that offer lower prices, faster service and convenient parking. But almost every day of the week, we went to Peter’s. Why?
The answer is that Peter’s created a highly personalized experience for everyone who visited. They made it a point to recognize every customer. If you were a repeat customer, they knew you and understood your preferences.
According to a recent Forbes article, “Small businesses can offer a more personalized and customized service. With large businesses, there is often a ‘one-size-fits-all’ mentality. Small businesses can use this to their advantage by taking the time to get to know the potential customer, evaluating their needs and developing a solution that is perfect for the customer.”
Some would argue that this mom-and-pop experience is too niche or that it doesn’t apply to bigger business operations. If we break down the components that make this experience so differentiated and appealing, it becomes apparent that we can find a long-term path to scale it.
The Peter’s Diner brand spoke in a welcoming, inclusive voice that drew people in and kept them coming back. Recognition and personalization came from understanding who each customer was and their history. And the positive brand voice of “Never seen it so good!” set the tone that you were going to feel good and satisfied at the conclusion of your experience.
