Whether you’re in charge of a small-scale start-up or a manager at a multinational company that’s been around for years, there is a universal goal that we business owners should all be striving for: increased personalisation of customer service.
Modern consumers expect to be able to customise and adjust every single product or service they buy to suit their individual preferences. Offering personalisation and customisation allows businesses to demonstrate their flexibility and acknowledge their customers as individual people with diverse wants, needs and lifestyles. It allows customers to feel in control of their purchases and buy something suitable and unique.
The customer is king
Giving customers the option to adjust an aspect of their purchase can be the difference between them choosing to spend their money at your business or your competitor’s.
After all, delighted customers are one of the major factors that will lead to repeat business, referrals, positive reviews, improved business relationships and eventually, increased sales.
As we’re still in our start-up phase, my co-founders Johannes Raadmsa, Jordan Glickman and I are striving to combine high-level customer service by integrating traditional values with modern technology. I believe that too many players in the supplement industry have neglected providing providing deeply personalised service and high-level care for their customers.
Living a healthy lifestyle is important for so many reasons, so you can look and feel your best and achieve your goals. When health issues arise as a result of unhealthy habits or vitamin and mineral deficiency, it can negatively impact aspects of your personal and professional life.
No two people are the same
Everyone’s health journeys is unique, and a generic product pulled straight off the shelves doesn’t cater to the individual health needs of a diverse customer base. For example, a six- foot tall man who sits in front of a computer all day will have a very different lifestyle and supplement requirements to a five-foot woman who works on her feet all day. On top of that, the man might be vegan and the woman lactose intolerant, meaning they require vastly different compounds. Evidently, the ‘one-size-fits-all’ model of the supplement industry is no longer befitting to customers who all have different goals, fitness levels and dietary requirements.
In this modern digital age, technology plays a huge role in many stages of the customer experience, which presents a range of new opportunities, threats and challenges for business owners. We must strive to positively embrace technology and use it to advance and improve our business practices, or risk getting left behind. Our customers begin their journey with a personal health and lifestyle quiz, so our team of allied health professionals can customise a supplement containing the optimum level of vitamins, minerals and superfoods required for each individual. The use of such technology not only leads to better health results for our customers, but it also benefits business practice by providing data and insight into customers’ spending habits.
Leveraging technology
A bot service is another useful tool, enabling customers can ask questions, provide feedback and comments at any time. Ultimately, a website needs to be consumer-friendly, so customers can experience efficient, friendly and professional service with a personalised touch on their health journey.
Although personalisation has many benefits,it can present challenges for businesses, too. One of the drawbacks we have found on our journey so far is that if you over-personalise, you cannot scale. Since personalisation is explicitly about not repeating the same feature or service over and over, it can be challenging to personalise for a large audience without blowing up budgets and development schedules. Furthermore, personalisation can get complicated very quickly. We overcame this challenge by beginning with low-tech prototypes that we can later build upon and modify.
Personalised service is the way of the future, especially for the health and wellness industries. Using technology to offer customisable supplements and deeply personalised service that will better address customers’ health needs is the way forward.
Robert Steer, Co-founder, Original Vitamins
