Today’s digital consumers find themselves more engaged by forward-thinking brands and are spending a significant amount of time conducting research on products before making a purchase decision. However, this proliferation of content and data often forces consumers to make a critical trade-off where knowledge accumulation is coming at the expense of following a sound, structured decision-making process.

The decision process should be comprised of two elements. The first is an inherent perception of a company, and the second is a perception of the product. In a digital world driven by instant feedback and real-time communication, a business’ reputation hinges on customers hearing and saying good things about them. Yet, with the advent of consumerization, companies no longer own these conversations. The buying cycle has become so consumer-centric that it is the customer who dictates his or her engagement with a business, not the other way around. This is why sales teams need to embrace a dialogue dynamic that translates into a customer experience.

Businesses need to ask: “How can we connect with more customers and how can we delight them?”

To answer these questions, companies must understand their customers on a personal level and engage with them on a granular level.

Here’s how to accomplish this:

1. Connect with buyers at an earlier stage in order for them to shape their vision of the brand.
2. Use data analytics to understand their needs.
3. Guide them throughout their buying journey.

The modern sales process works when businesses create a personalized customer experience by promoting ongoing customer engagement. And to drive customer engagement, businesses must target customers with personalized and dynamic messages in order to deliver the right messages at the most opportune time.

In order to achieve sales goals, decision-makers need to know exactly what’s working and what’s not when it comes to their campaigns. Whether a company is engaging prospects on a website, in an email campaign or through social media, they need to deliver relevant and targeted messages – the kind that create positive customer experiences. This is why sales reps need to have knowledge about the behavior and preferences of buyers. The better they understand the customer, the better they can engage with them and, ultimately, create a positive experience throughout the customer journey.

By capturing rich insights into customers and their needs, companies are able to quickly identify changes in preferences and adjust content in real time. Whether it’s in a marketing campaign, an email, a product offer or through customer support, guidance, and recommendations, companies must be flexible in order to push content that creates a positive experience and enables buyers to make the right buying decision.

How effective is your customer engagement? Are you using 1:1 engagement with your buyers?