What Your Customers Now Want in 2021

The biggest question that many small business owners are asking is what will my customer want now in 2021? Most companies were turned upside down during the Pandemic of 2020 and had to change their product or how it was delivered.

On the Small Business Radio Show this week, Gordon Henry, Chief Strategy Officer and Executive Vice President of Thryv discusses the small business technology trends in the US this year and how they can be used.

Interview with Gordon Henry of Thryv

Gordon says that cloud adoption for small business has increased from 30% to 60% for all of their customer processes. These apps can be used on a month to month a small investment. This modernization and automation of small business processes according to Gordon have become required for every company. Consumer expectations have risen this past year where they want to instantaneously be able to track where everything is; for example when their Uber will arrive or their product shipment.

Gordon describes how marketing automation enables every small business to send a tailored email to all your customers like on their birthday or any other significant times. It also allows appointment confirmation so employees don’t show up if the customer is not there. Marketing automation can also request the all important referral or review when your small business is top of mind with the customer.

However Gordon also mentions the proliferation of cloud apps at small businesses. Many companies have too many cloud apps that do not communicate with each other (i.e. sales, marketing, invoicing). He suggests using a tool that has one dashboard so that can show everything for a single customer.

One of the biggest trends Gordon sees is company transparency; “they want to see how the sausage is being made. With livestreams, you can show customers how you do things and increases the bond with them”. He says that your brand is the client experience not just the service or product you provide. For example, “do you respond promptly and do you show up on time? Are you wearing a mask and clean clothes ? Did you take their payment on your phone or us the customer waiting for a bill?”

Listen to the entire interview on the Small Business Radio Show.

Image: thryv

This article, "What Your Customers Now Want in 2021" was first published on Small Business Trends