Empowering Customers

Too often in Thailand customers are faced with only 1 way to engage with a service, and it is usually very manual.

Bookings are done through Line. Purchases are made on Facebook Messenger. And, the message I here from businesses is "that is how our customers like to interact with us".

"That is how our customers like to interact with us"

But if that is true, why do Lazada and Shoppee offer different payment and delivery options, and why do Grab and Foodpanda even exist? Do customers really prefer to do all of the hard work themselves; finding the product or service they want to purchase, calling or messaging the company, waiting for a response and then manually paying via bank transfer and hoping the product gets shipped?

The amalgamation stores like Lazada and Foodpanda have nailed it by offering choice. They offer different ways to pay, different ways to book, different ways to buy, different platforms to buy on, and different ways to experience their offer.

They also offer a degree of confidence that consumers do not get when they are shopping on Facebook or Line. They show if a product is in stock, they have a returns and complaints process, and they show feedback from other customers who have purchased that item before so you can make a more informed decision.

Companies can do this too. The first step is understanding that data is king. Having a reliable place to store your customer data that makes it useful and accessible is paramount. Then, know your options:

• Retailers, you can sell on Lazada, Shoppee, a website, an app, Facebook and Line, and you can automate the whole process by linking social commerce automation and an e-commerce platform where you can manage all of your inventory in one place

• Clinics and health services, you can create online booking options, digitise customer intake forms and automate the follow up process for each patient

• Wholesalers, you can create data collection tools that benefit your distributors, you can automate the sales process, you can implement a paperless quotation process, and you digitise order and payment tracking to make everything easier and more accessible

These are just a few examples. But they are the beginnings of being able to offer customers some choice in how they engage.

If customers are in control of how they work with you, they are more likely to buy and keep on buying.