How Does Your Business Compare?
As a business owner, it’s not easy to get expert advice on how to use technology to improve customer experiences. And often, the best advice doesn’t come from experts at all but from seeing what other business owners are doing. But how do you know which strategies and tactics they’re successfully employing?
To find out, we went straight to the source: Comcast customers who work at small and medium-sized businesses. We analyzed the results of two surveys that asked these customers about their businesses’ priorities, and how they’re using technology to satisfy their objectives.
Technology drives many business processes for the respondents in our survey, including boosting customer satisfaction. In fact, when asked what factors are important to their companies’ success, respondents cited increasing revenue, which was closely followed by improving the customer experience.
Email and phone are most popular; Facebook rocks
Other key findings also speak to improving the customer experience such as the most popular communication methods and social media platform preferences.
1. Email and phone are the most popular methods for communicating with customers.
Email and phone remain popular methods for staying in touch with customers. 93 percent of respondents use email to communicate with customers, and 89 percent use landline or VoIP phone calls.
Other methods, such as texting, are also used by the majority of respondents to reach out to customers. (Texts have an advantage over email as about 98 percent of texts are read within one minute of receipt!)
2. Forty percent of businesses proactively stay in touch with their customers.
While the majority of communications with customers are transactional, such as service order updates or billing reminders, many small businesses also stay in touch with customers by proactively sending relevant information.
Email is the preferred way to communicate marketing and other value-added content. Landline calls, texting, and in-person visits are also used to promote discounts and special events.
3. Facebook is the most popular social media platform for all small businesses.
The vast majority of B2C businesses use Facebook to communicate with their customers. Many B2B businesses also use Facebook, and LinkedIn is a close second. Twitter is also a popular social media platform for B2Bs.
4. Internet usage drives the need for speed.
The internet underpins so many critical tasks that it’s no wonder business owners want faster Internet. Business networks are now requiring more bandwidth due to the explosive growth of cloud-based applications and social media. Interestingly, price is not a key factor — the need for speed is paramount.
More fascinating insights into small businesses’ priorities
The full research report reveals many more insights, including:
- Why internet speed is more important than price.
- The critical role that Internet bandwidth plays in employee productivity.
- How business owners are using voice mobility services to stay in touch with customers.
- Which communication technologies small business owners will target in the next five years.
Get the full research report
The small and medium-sized businesses we surveyed use a variety of communication technologies to stay in touch with customers. Regardless of which technologies they employ, creating positive customer experiences remains a critical goal.
To learn more about how your business can use technology to boost customer satisfaction, download the full research report: “How Small Businesses Use Technology to Drive Positive Customer Experiences: Insights From Over 2,000 Business Owners.”
Comcast Business has the largest IP network in the nation, serving the needs of small business through large enterprise customers. Technology solutions range from fast, reliable Ethernet and Internet connectivity to voice, video, and Managed Solutions. Comcast Business is powered by an advanced Gig-ready network and 24/7 technical support. Learn more at business.comcast.com/san-francisco.
For more tips, inspiration and San Francisco small business stories, visit smallbusinesspulse.com.