Written by Brad Oelmann, a consultant with Farrell Growth Group, a leading agribusiness consulting firm.
A common goal for any business is to “improve the customer experience.” This term often gets used interchangeably with “customer service.” Both are important, but there is a big difference between the two.
Customer service is reactionary. The customer has a question about a topic such as pricing, billing, agronomics or when a service such as a custom application will happen. Customers typically want a response quickly, especially when they’re asking in-season questions. In general, agricultural retailers do a great job with customer service. Their employees have been trained to respond quickly to questions. They understand the urgency of responding when time is of the essence.
Customer experience is proactive. When creating a customer experience, we need to anticipate the things that might interest our customers or the questions they may ask. Then, we proactively communicate these things before customers ask about them. With the current supply chain disruptions and product shortages, it’s a great opportunity to proactively talk to your customers about these things. If a product is in short supply, are you giving customers alternative recommendations? Are you communicating with customers about the timing of when they will receive products?
In this environment, being proactive would create a better experience than having your customer check with you every week to see if you have the product. How are you communicating the numerous price changes that are happening daily if customers haven’t locked in their costs?
Additionally, technology provides numerous opportunities to be more proactive and create a better experience for your customer. Some of you are sending texts when you have finished scouting or applying product. Predictive models can suggest the probability of insect or fungus outbreaks, and you can share this information. These are opportunities to create a positive and memorable experience.
How do you go about being more intentional about creating an experience with your growers?
- Identify the questions that you get from customers throughout the year. Is there a more proactive way to deal with them—an approach that would prevent the need to ask the question in the first place?
- Be the first to bring innovative ideas or products to your customers. These ideas or products should save customers time, reduce their risk or give them a positive ROI.
- Evaluate technologies available to do all these things. Some may not be proven yet, but many can be implemented that save your employees time. By minimizing time spent on reactionary responses, employees have time to be more proactive.
