The Impact of Blockchain on Customer Engagement

Customer engagement almost doesn’t meet with the financial technology world. Yet, blockchain is a tool that can revolutionize the way people conduct business. It can influence and transform how companies will engage with their target market. That is far beyond its potential to transform banking transactions and the whole financial industry. 

Surprisingly, blockchain has an immense ability to enhance consumer service. It can expand connectivity for vulnerable consumers. Moreover, it can make companies appear transparent and protect all sorts of business-customer experiences. 

Today, blockchain isn’t solely seen in financial environments. There are numerous examples of blockchain technologies being used in a wide variety of industries with diverse applications. It is now being used outside the finance and the banking industry for voluntary contributions, voting networks, HR processes, and more. Along with other technologies that benefit businesses, there are many possible customer interaction applications for blockchain as well.

Keep reading to discover how blockchain could turn around and influence customer service functions!

Index – How blockchain is improving customer engagement

• Building deeper relationships
• Modern contracts
• Use of digital wallets
• Record keeping
• Payment journey
• Product journey

Building deeper relationships

Blockchain can dramatically affect consumer engagement. However, effective adoption would be mostly dependent on how businesses use blockchain to re-imagine touchpoints on the user’s path. There is space for business owners and marketers to use blockchain to deploy a network of loyalty services intended to lock in new clients. 

About 77% of existing consumers join loyalty programs. That signals the need to transform how companies promote customer activity. It can also be noted that there is a need on how to retain customers involved in repeat purchases. By connecting content to a virtual coin attributed to the customer’s account, businesses may explore blockchain to enable customers to share loyalty points in real-time.

Modern contracts

Just like IoT, blockchain could revolutionize physical products. There is also a chance for non-physical exchanges to be modified in the long run. One way anyone can achieve this is by smart contracts, allowed by the blockchain. Through blockchain, contractual commitments may be related to individual acts using the “If/Then” paradigm. Blockchain may activate or inactivate these actions until the contractual terms are met or do not satisfy the technology present.

Use of digital wallets

Digital wallets will allow users to reclaim their credits at their convenience. In exchange, advertisers will use these data analytics to promote a robust view of their customer base. That will increase awareness of the new offering and boost sales rates. 

After-sales support is a significant determinant of customer turnover, as customers are demanding a successful end-to-end experience. Self-service is now increasingly becoming popular, with consumers choosing online assistance instead of switching to support officers. When built and designed correctly, blockchain through digital wallets can automate these transfers, offering customers innovation and experience. 

Record keeping

There are horror stories of businesses that have struggled to keep consumer data secure. Whether it is passwords, health records, or even information that exposes personal views, businesses and customers alike are understandably having growing concerns about consumer data protection. 

Consumers trust that businesses only have knowledge about them that is fair and proportionate. Although, it is not always the case.

With blockchain’s help, businesses do not need to keep the confidential details required for consumers to carry out any business transaction. Companies would not have to think about keeping the data secure, sterile, or legal since it would not be held centrally. Customers would not have to worry about unnecessary or insecure personal data collected by businesses. 

Beyond the handling of consumer identity records, there are also opportunities for other forms of blockchain-based records management. Commonly used these days in healthcare, some organizations plan to use blockchain to store health information such as medical bills and patient-physicist correspondence. Blockchain-based databases’ existence ensures that this knowledge can be simultaneously guarded by encryption while guaranteeing that the records made can never be interfered with.

 

  Discover more: Cybersecurity For Startups (A Step-By-Step Guide)

 

Payment journey

Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are using blockchain to move funds from one individual to the next. It is a stable and open mechanism that works even without a central bank’s need.

 

Blockchain allows strangers to exchange without the need for a third party to control the transaction. 

 

Clearing and proof of identities require awhile. International transfers can take a long time and typically come with high costs. Many clients are vulnerable or impaired, do not usually have a bank account, or can neither access a bank. 

Payments made through blockchain technology could eliminate these banking problems. It can allow money to travel easily between companies and their clients, without the need for banks or payment networks to serve as middlemen.

Product journey

Customers usually lament that they have paid for a product or service they have not received. Those complaining consumers are the tip of the iceberg with issues with the dispatch and receipt of products. These customers have missed business opportunities as they are overwhelmed with negativity about a particular brand and even defy organizations the chance to work on them. These types of customers simply walk away and move on to competitors.

In the future, businesses can only take customer funds only if the product has been checked on the blockchain technology as obtained by the client. Companies could see this form of blockchain-facilitated process improvement as a competitive differentiator. It can help encourage consumers to not be at risk of missing out if any product kit goes astray, thus improving customer engagement along the way. 

 

Recommended reading: The Power of Intelligent Process Automation (IPA)

 

Final Thoughts

Blockchain continues to gain traction in the business industry. This innovation appears to be manageable for most businesses. It also a flexible investment area for brands and organizations where customer engagement matters. As technology continues to evolve, it disrupts existing digital marketing models that sometimes fail to increase openness with a more frictionless experience. 

The connection between companies and customers is being redefined these days. Customer engagement and satisfaction may traditionally get lost along the buyer’s journey. 

However, with the rising influence of blockchain, it is now being reinforced. This degree of engagement empowers customers to connect with businesses. It also allows companies to access accurate data and analytics, essentially reinventing customer engagement’ complexities.