MarketStar Blog

Losing customers is more than just a revenue loss—it can negatively impact your brand’s reputation and future sales. Dissatisfied customers are more vocal than satisfied ones, with Americans sharing a poor service experience with an average of 15 people, compared to 11 people for a positive experience¹. On social media, this dissatisfaction spreads even further, damaging a company’s credibility and influencing potential buyers. 

However, there’s a silver lining—winning back lost customers can be easier and more cost-effective than acquiring new ones. According to Harvard Business Review, these customers have already shown interest in your product or service, making them better candidates than cold leads². They also recognize your brand, so there’s no need for an introduction, reducing the effort required to bring them back. 

Something that started as a nice-to-have channel has now overtaken other traditional channels of consumer interaction and purchase. Customers are searching for vendor information, checking user reviews, making purchases on the go with the help of mobile devices. The latest mobile usage statistic by WebDam shows that 1.4 billion people own and use smartphones globally; that is 1 in 7 people worldwide! According to a projection by ComScore, monthly data consumption by an individual using a smartphone will increase from 150MB in 2011 to 2.6GB in 2016. Mobile devices have changed the way customers think and purchase and this is evident more than ever in the year 2014.

I’ve been spending a lot of time supporting demand generation efforts for several large B2B and B2C businesses – with lead nurturing center stage. When organizations hear the value proposition behind nurturing, they can’t hold back their excitement and jump blindly into the initiative.

According to Frost & Sullivan, customer experience (CX) is set to overtake price and product as the key brand differentiator by 2020. Companies that offer personalized and seamless experiences are gaining a competitive edge, making CX a top priority for business leaders worldwide. 

Virtual Reality (VR) has been hailed as a revolutionary technology, promising to transform the way marketers engage with their audiences. The hype surrounding VR often suggests that its adoption is straightforward and without significant challenges. However, integrating VR into your marketing strategy requires thoughtful preparation and consideration of potential obstacles.  

Customer service is no longer just about resolving complaints—it has evolved into a powerful marketing tool. In an age where customers have instant access to reviews, social media, and comparison sites, their experiences with a brand shape its reputation more than any advertising campaign ever could¹. Today’s consumers expect exceptional service across multiple channels, and businesses that fail to meet these expectations risk losing customers and damaging their brand credibility. 

The sales landscape has evolved dramatically, shifting power to the customer. With digitization and inbound marketing, buyers now research extensively before engaging with sales teams. 89% of B2B customers use online resources to evaluate options before connecting with a company¹.

It would not be an overstatement to say that every industry has been disrupted by the widespread adoption of technology. From automobiles to manufacturing and hospitality, technology has transformed businesses everywhere. Technology has also changed customer expectations, and companies are constantly adapting themselves to address this change.

Most hi-tech enterprises, including the large players, use channel partners to increase their reach and capture a larger share of the market. They know that indirect sales get access to new business opportunities faster and with lower risk. Channel partners help hi-tech enterprises to market and sell their solutions across the globe, opening new markets and creating opportunities that the internal sales team may not have access to. That’s why it is important to treat channel partners differently and not as an extension of your sales team. Their priorities lie first with the customer and then with you, and they try to integrate multiple solutions from different vendors and not necessarily sell your pure solution as it is.

If you were to ask, ‘What is that one thing online retailers constantly worry about?’, it would be gaining and retaining customers. In a world where customers are well-educated, tech-savvy, experienced shoppers, meeting their high expectations is a daunting task. They won’t compromise on either quality or price. Not to mention the problem of choice aplenty; there are alternatives for everything. How can online sellers get customers’ attention, then? Through quality products? Affordable prices? Discounts? Each plays its part, but nothing is as critical as customer experience.