Customer service has gone through a sea of changes in the recent past. So far, the changes have helped businesses improve the quality of customer service and deliver state-of-the-art customer experience.
So, what made businesses think that a change in their customer service model is necessary? Here are four realities that compelled businesses to rethink:
1. Smartphones In Every Pocket
Nowadays one can find heavily featured smartphones being used in different parts of the world. Pew Research reports that in 2015 68% of American adults owned smartphones, almost double the 35% penetration in 2011. That means nearly every American has a supercomputer in his or her pocket.
The smartphone and the tablet are all-purpose devices that let us interact in a variety of modes – phone, email, text, web chat, video chat, social media, online forums and much more. As a result, people do not want to stick with just one mode of communication at a time: they switch modes as they please, and expect companies to keep up so that they don’t have to repeat their back-story to different personnel along the way.
Changes in customer service model to cope with this reality:
With a smartphone in every pocket, companies can no longer stick to just one or two customer interaction channels. They should be present in a variety of channels so that a customer can reach them easily via the channel of his/her choice. When it comes to customer service, omnichannel is the way to go.
With omnichannel customer service, customers receive a seamless experience across all channels. That is a customer service model that never goes out of style.
2. 5G
Over the next two years, the transition from 4G to 5G will make the public wireless network experience a huge 300 times faster. With 5G, we will see devoted slices of spectrum ready for tuning and optimization for specific applications and devices. The blend of these two phenomena, when met with IoT/M2M devices, will facilitate secure real-time data transfer. That means no delay.
Changes in the customer service model to cope with this reality:
In the age of 5G the faster a company can put data into action, the more value it can deliver. This is only possible when you put AI into the mix. When your customer service agents get real-time assistance from AI, it will be possible for them to assist your customers right away.
Here’s an example – if you get a call from your customer that his/her car broke down in the middle of the road, your customer service agent can take help of AI to resolve the issue quickly. AI can quickly show the agent the actual location of your customer, the location of the nearest tow truck and the time it will take the tow truck to arrive. It can also notify the tow truck, show the agent the location of the nearest clinic in case the customer needs medical assistance, saving your agent the time to manually look for the information and make the necessary calls. As a result, you can provide your customer with real-time assistance.
3. Getting Smart
Smart watches, smart cars, smart TVs, and other smart devices continue to have a mammoth impact on consumer-oriented experiences. Companies are building customer experiences around smart connected devices and reshaping customer expectations in the process. The effect in the B2B segment will be just as remarkable and will go beyond the automatic or single-tap wireless updating of software features and bug fixes.
Changes in customer service model to cope with this reality:
For most people, the best customer experience would be one that provides problem resolution without them having to know about it. Otherwise, one where the device notifies customer service based on a data trigger, empowering the user to help solve the issue on his terms.
As we shoot up the connectivity, contact center agents and technicians will increasingly interact not only with people but also with a wide range of devices, requiring these experts to hone their skills to handle different questions and complex situations.
4. Big Data Getting Bigger
Considering the ABI Research report that IoT/M2M will reach 40 billion in 2020, it is safe to say that connected devices will soon outnumber people 5:1 or more. And they will generate a lot of data. To deliver excellent customer service businesses has to process this data to put the right information into the right Changes in customer service model to cope with this reality:
Changes in customer service model to cope with this reality:
At present customer service agents get access to just the performance information and customer data available in the CRM. That is a small slice of data that is often segmented. To use big data to its full potential, businesses have to analyze all data points and spread it across an organization along with other data. AI, data science, and machine learning can help you with that.
These advanced technologies will help you process big data faster, analyze the data to get better understanding of your customers and their expectations and using the same for future customer interactions. They will help agents get the full picture and deliver faster resolution, create more upsell/cross-sell opportunities, and ultimately deliver a superior customer experience.
Smartphones, 5G, devices, and wearables, as well as big data, will continue to bring positive changes in customer service. Is your customer service ready to deliver new customer experience?
