Month: April 2019

Apps are ubiquitous in today’s world. But as a small business that’s mindful of its budget and goals, how can you know when to invest in creating your own company app? While it’s different for each company, here are four indicators that day has come.

You Have a Clear Purpose

Don’t create a mobile app just because everyone else is doing it. To have a successful app experience, your business needs to know exactly what it wants from the app. Many small businesses assume that apps will generate new customers, but this isn’t often the case. This should be more about making your best customers better.

Decide on your company’s priorities. Do you want the app to handle direct sales? To teach customers about your business? To facilitate service calls? To make data easier to transmit between both sides? To provide self-service tools? To increase brand awareness? To provide a substantially different experience than other platforms?

An app needs focus in order to do one or two things well. Having too many competing priorities will likely water down its effectiveness in key areas.

Both Sides Will Benefit

Any business relationship is built upon both sides benefiting from the arrangement. An app is just the same. Identifying how your company benefits from the app is usually fairly easy. You get more data on your customers and their interests or needs. Your brand is more accessible and publicized. You get a boost in sales or attract a younger crowd of digital natives.

But make sure you never lose touch with the benefits to your customers. If you ask them to download an app for your business relationship, they’ll need a strong motivation and reward to do so.

Will they experience faster, easier orders? Will they get loyalty benefits, such as free returns or discounts? Are there dedicated team members to help app customers? Can you offer special deals only available on the app? And how will these benefits be made long-lasting enough to make downloading worth the effort? Consider how your business will answer these questions.

You Can Track the Benefits

How will you determine if your app is being successful in meeting its goals? This is an investment in time and money, so there should be concrete measurements that you can track and learn from. Will that metric be in direct sales? In referrals? In customer satisfaction as defined by surveys or more retained customers? How will you measure things like brand awareness or self-sufficiency among customers?

Generally, a business should start on the simpler end of things to see how the app functions and achieves its specific requirements. This allows you to focus on the core elements and measure the more easily. As you know what’s working and what isn’t, add to its functionality or experience with new features.

Your Budget Can Handle It

An app may appear deceptively simple, but it takes an investment to get it up and running — and then to keep it that way. You’ll have to maintain the apps and integrate them all into your existing techology.

Most small businesses outsource this work, so work with a quality app developer to find out what ongoing investment will be required to make the app what you want. Define what concrete financial goals will make that investment worthwhile.

Do you think that an app would enhance your company’s interactions with customers? Whether you’re just investigating the options or have a thorough idea of what you need, start your app journey by visiting jācapps today. Our app professionals will help you create the right app to fit your business’s needs and budget. Call today to learn more.

Apps are ubiquitous in today’s world. But as a small business that’s mindful of its budget and goals, how can you know when to invest in creating your own company app? While it’s different for each company, here are four indicators that day has come.
You Have a Clear Purpose
Don’t create a mobile app just because everyone else is doing it. To have a successful app experience, your business needs to know exactly what it wants from the app. Many small businesses assume that apps will generate new customers, but this isn’t often the case. This should be more about making your best customers better.
Decide on your company’s priorities. Do you want the app to handle direct sales? To teach customers about your business? To facilitate service calls? To make data easier to transmit between both sides? To provide self-service tools? To increase brand awareness? To provide a substantially different experience than other platforms?
An app needs focus in order to do one or two things well. Having too many competing priorities will likely water down its effectiveness in key areas.
Both Sides Will Benefit
Any business relationship is built upon both sides benefiting from the arrangement. An app is just the same. Identifying how your company benefits from the app is usually fairly easy. You get more data on your customers and their interests or needs. Your brand is more accessible and publicized. You get a boost in sales or attract a younger crowd of digital natives.
But make sure you never lose touch with the benefits to your customers. If you ask them to download an app for your business relationship, they’ll need a strong motivation and reward to do so.
Will they experience faster, easier orders? Will they get loyalty benefits, such as free returns or discounts? Are there dedicated team members to help app customers? Can you offer special deals only available on the app? And how will these benefits be made long-lasting enough to make downloading worth the effort? Consider how your business will answer these questions.
You Can Track the Benefits
How will you determine if your app is being successful in meeting its goals? This is an investment in time and money, so there should be concrete measurements that you can track and learn from. Will that metric be in direct sales? In referrals? In customer satisfaction as defined by surveys or more retained customers? How will you measure things like brand awareness or self-sufficiency among customers?
Generally, a business should start on the simpler end of things to see how the app functions and achieves its specific requirements. This allows you to focus on the core elements and measure the more easily. As you know what’s working and what isn’t, add to its functionality or experience with new features.
Your Budget Can Handle It
An app may appear deceptively simple, but it takes an investment to get it up and running — and then to keep it that way. You’ll have to maintain the apps and integrate them all into your existing techology.
Most small businesses outsource this work, so work with a quality app developer to find out what ongoing investment will be required to make the app what you want. Define what concrete financial goals will make that investment worthwhile.
Do you think that an app would enhance your company’s interactions with customers? Whether you’re just investigating the options or have a thorough idea of what you need, start your app journey by visiting jācapps today. Our app professionals will help you create the right app to fit your business’s needs and budget. Call today to learn more.

Your company’s app can be a source of great cooperation and communication between your business and its customers. By focusing on how to provide customer service directly through the app itself, you can save time, money, and frustration for everyone.
What customer services should you include when designing an interactive app? Here are five key ingredients.

1. Ticket Tracking

If you provide services or repairs, your app should help customers understand the progress and outcomes of those services. Give them the ability to request a service within the app and then follow its progress on their own — right through the app and without a call to your staff.
Help ticket tracking might include confirmations of the order, regular updates by team members working on the service or repairs, shipping confirmations, and package or location tracking information. You may also want to use tracking to communicate directly with customers so that they feel more personally attended to.

2. Frequently Asked Questions

Frequently Asked Questions, or FAQs, are self-help aids where people can find answers to common concerns and directions for doing common activities. FAQ sections in apps reduce the need for customers to call or email your staff, saving time and money. They also save the customer frustration from not knowing how to answer a simple question that should take a minute or two to learn.
Work with staff, customer service representatives, and actual customers to determine what to include in your FAQ list. Generally, it would include directions for using the app or portal, company policies, product specifics, and return or replacement information.
Avoid making it too long, but tweak it regularly as new issues arise and others become less important. And if possible, make it easily searchable to serve as a knowledge base.

3. Direct Messaging

Help customers direct inquiries to your company easily and quickly with some kind of in-app messaging capability. When they have questions, requiring customers to log into their email or pick up a phone to call you will increase stress and annoyance — setting up your company for failure.
A great answer is to add one, two, or three methods to contact company personnel right then and there. Along with phone numbers and email addresses prominently displayed, include live chat that prompts users to simply reach out with their questions. And empower your staff manning these chats to do what they can to resolve customer concerns quickly and seamlessly.

4. Log-In Accounts

Having customers log in as early in their app experience as possible helps boost customer service. Their own order or account information will come up right away, leaving them less stranded in finding what they want to see. And if they contact your staff through built-in methods, you’ll have more information about them and their needs, which will lead to less guesswork and less repetition of information.
Customers should also be able to initiate changes or returns through their own accounts.

5. Community Connections

Direct customers to your larger community. Place social media links prominently and repeatedly, directing them to places they can learn more about your services and find others to talk to about your products.
Social media is a powerful tool to help avoid larger customer grievances, so pay attention to it and be responsive. By freely directing customers to your own social networks, you are proactive about their customer experience.
Make your app a great customer service tool by focusing on how you can help them to help themselves as well as connect them with your live customer service avenues. At jācapps, we specialize in designing the best app experience for you and your customers. Call today to make an appointment to learn more.