Choice

As a result, personalisation within communications becomes an exercise in customer satisfaction, rather than simply being all about finding the most effective means of interacting. Clarity of communications is still hugely important, but it is beneficial to think about letters, emails and other messages as being another way of excelling in a customer’s eyes.

An important distinction to make is between the sort of options that a person might require compared with what they may prefer. For people whose eyesight is impaired, braille or large-print statements can be essential; they would find it very difficult or impossible to read the message if their requirements are not met.

In comparison, a client may like to be contacted by email rather than by phone, or sent a message when a transaction has gone through; they are not fundamental factors, they are simply an opportunity to make a customer happy.

Giving consumers a choice when it comes to communication channels – and in other areas – is all about respecting the fact that people are different and will often not fit the standard mould. You do not want to give customers too much choice, as this can cause confusion, but try to make sure you are catering for different types of client.

The result should be greater satisfaction with the service; however, an important point to make is that a requirement not being met is going to have a much larger negative impact than an unavailable preference, so be sure to cover all bases in the former before getting too bogged down in the latter.

Most importantly, listen to your customers. Make sure you have a communication channel on which they can air their grievances as this is the ideal way to learn what people care about.