Create a Customer Experience Worth Coming Back For

Successful ag retailers today realize the importance of the total experience they are providing to their customers. They are offering much more than just a list of products. These retailers are creating a valuable customer experience. They are selling outcomes rather than just products by offering a full customer experience including a portfolio of goods, services, and outcomes that help the customer be successful and keep them coming back season after season.

When you adjust your internal processes and become more efficient behind the scenes it helps your business to scale when needed and provide great experiences to more and more customers. Implementing a software system across all aspects of the business is a good first step toward streamlining internal processes. Your internal staff should be accessing the same database whether they are managing accounting functions or grain functions, in the office or at the warehouse, or on a sales call. Make sure each part of your business talks to the others through a fully integrated system. If you are using multiple systems, it’s time to streamline to improve your internal efficiency.

Once utilizing a fully integrated system, utilizing notifications within the system is key. Staff, at any point throughout the customer experience, should have access to the same data. For example, the same customer-specific information should move through a process from soil testing to a blend, and then to an invoice. Along the way, notifications of completed steps can be sent from one staff member to another to keep everyone informed and enable each member of your staff to create a positive customer experience by providing consistent answers as they each interact with the customer.

A larger percentage of farmers today are what we call ‘technology natives’, meaning they were born into technology such as home computers, tablets, and smartphones. They don’t experience the challenge of learning to use that technology that might have presented their elders with challenges. The technology native never experienced the need to know something and not have the ability to find their own answer almost immediately (via google, online banking, sports scores…). A grower portal like the award-winning Grower360 from Agvance provides an opportunity for growers to discover their farm data when they need it. Notifications are important with the grower as well. The best portals are intuitive and make the grower feel comfortable finding their details and communicating with your staff. Face-to-face connections continue to be valued but also take advantage of added technology to provide an extra layer of communication between your team and growers to strengthen those personal relationships.

Delivering great customer service should be intentional rather than something you hope is happening in your company. Ensure your customers’ experience when interacting with your company is the best that it can be by taking intentional steps to show customers that you care about them and their interactions with your business and watch them return for more. If you offer the best customer experience by improving your internal processes and systems then you will also be able to handle the increased business because of those same internal improvements!

If you would like more information on how Agvance can help you improve customer experiences at your company, please complete the form below.

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