21st-century business is defined by two things: the customer and tech. The customer experience (CE) has become one of the top priorities of all companies. Businesses great and small strive to create omnichannel experiences that cater to their audiences at every step. They shepherd customers through the buying process and provide quality support after the point of sale.

Technology has also made a massive impact on modern business. From IT software to websites, online marketing to supply chain management, tech has revolutionized how business takes place.

When you combine tech and your customer experience, the results can be synergistic. Here are some of the best ways that you can use tech to boost your customer experience this year.

1. Overhaul Your Customer Service

It's tempting to focus on the front end of the customer experience. Lead generation, sales funnels, websites, and shopping carts all take precedence in most strategies. However, if you want to create a holistic experience for your customers, start with the end of the process.

A strong customer service department is the backbone of a good customer experience. This provides a safety net for existing customers. They can bring questions, concerns, and feedback to your attention. Addressing their issues can help to cultivate repeat customers, as well. A good customer experience after a sale can also do wonders with increasing your word-of-mouth marketing. 

In other words, if you want to cultivate a top-notch customer experience, start with your customer service department. There are multiple ways that you can use tech to do so:

• Train customer service reps well: Use online file sharing to create and update employee handbooks. Then use these to keep all of your reps on the same page. Provide up-to-date product information, company policies, and even details about your brand's voice and tone.

• Implement a quality IVR system: A good IVR (interactive voice response) menu can be very helpful. However, a bad one can also stress customers out. Make sure to review your IVR system to ensure that it is meeting your customers' needs.

• Increase communication channels: The more communication channels (i.e. email, text, phone, onsite chat) you can provide, the better. This makes your product or service more accessible to all and sundry. You can even use a good contact center as a service (CCaaS) software to keep these channels organized.

Improving your customer service does more than help with things like word-of-mouth marketing and customer satisfaction. It's also an effective way to boost your customer experience.

2. Improve E-commerce with Chatbots

There are many options to enhance your CE on the front end of the sales process, too. One cutting-edge way to do so is with chatbots. Much like a good IVR system, a chatbot can utilize artificial intelligence to help customers. As they arrive on your website - at any time of the day or night, no less - a chatbot will be ready and waiting to assist them. 

While they cannot answer every question, chatbots can take a lot of the grunt work out of assisting prospective clients. They can field questions and provide basic answers - often all that a customer requires. 

In addition, they can do so in a timely manner that doesn't require sitting on hold or waiting for an email response. From finding the right products to basic transactional concerns, chatbots are an excellent way to use tech to serve your customers.

3. Use Online Marketing Channels Wisely

Online marketing is an exciting form of tech. The remote-work push of 2020 served to highlight how well this form of marketing can replace traditional channels. Things like email, social media, content, and search engine marketing have all become effective ways to reach nearly any target audience.

However, with so many options out there, it's easy to fall victim to a case of analysis paralysis. Deciding which channels are better than others is overwhelming. Even worse, many companies attempt to take on far too many marketing channels at once. This isn't just a bad idea. It can undermine the effectiveness of your entire marketing strategy. 

When that happens, it can also have a trickle-down impact on your customer experience. It becomes easy to blur marketing messages. Content has the potential to become erratic and misinformed. The wrong messages can be displayed to different customer segments. In a word, the entire situation can get messy - and fast.

That's why one of the simplest ways to improve your customer experience is by using less tech in your marketing. That doesn't mean drop all tech. On the contrary, using tech to market online can produce results. However, if you try to take on too many at once, it can reduce the effectiveness of them all.

Take some time to review your current marketing channels. Analyze how effective each one is. Consider if each channel can reach the intended target demographic. Then try to reduce the number of channels you are using to a manageable level. 

Focus on one or two specific social media platforms that resonate with your audience. Cultivate, personalize, and segment your email list. Don't just create random pay per click ads. Only make them if you're willing to take the time to craft them using SMART goals. Don't create a company blog unless you're willing to optimize the content for readers and search engines. You get the idea.

There are many forms of tech that you can utilize to improve your customer experience. A well-maintained IVR system can streamline customer service. Chatbots can speed website visitors to the product or resource that they're looking for. Strategic online marketing can reach the right audience with the best message, improving the initial customer experience in the process.

There are many other ways that you can integrate tech into a business's operations at this point. However, by prioritizing customer-focused tech solutions, you show your audience that you care about them first and foremost. This isn't just helpful. It's a critical way to stand out from competitors in the ever-intensifying battle to stay visible in a crowded marketplace.