How to Build a Customer Service Strategy for a Digital World Business
We've got some great deals going on right now exclusively for our online customers... chat now to hear more! How to build a customer service strategy for a digital world,Author: Rose de Fremery,Customers expect better service than ever, and they're carefully evaluating the brands they do business with. According to Zendesk's , more than 60% of customers report that they have higher standards than they did a year ago. Companies can deliver a great experience by transforming their customer service, but the process involved in executing that transformation can be difficult. A customer service strategy is key to successfully overcoming the customer service challenges businesses face, and smart technology can play a critical role in making it all possible. Here's what to know about such a strategy, why it matters, what it should include and the technologies that can enable its success. What is a customer service strategy, and why does it matter?,A customer service strategy is a plan for ensuring a consistently excellent customer experience at every stage of the customer journey, regardless of the channel or touchpoint involved. Without a clearly articulated intentional strategy for engaging customers, businesses risk accidentally creating unsatisfying experiences or, worse, frustrating their customers. If that happens, customers are much more likely to move on than they were before. Research suggests as many as . A customer service strategy can help businesses prevent this outcome. It can also boost customer satisfaction and loyalty, enhancing opportunities for growth and improving a company's competitive position in the market. According to Beyond Philosophy, 64% of business leaders say , and 60% say it aids in customer retention. In addition, almost half of respondents report an increase in their ability to cross-sell. Ultimately, a customer service strategy can even serve as a key asset in creating a in which all teams are aligned toward the customer's needs and employees are empowered to go above and beyond in providing exceptional service. When that's the case, an entire company can become steadily more proficient at delivering stellar customer service that meets and even exceeds customers' high expectations, which in turn can ensure continued business growth well into the future—even as marketplace conditions and digital channels further evolve. What should a customer service strategy include?,When a business decides to build a customer service strategy, that plan should include several key elements. First, any strategy that touches on the must fully involve the customer experience/service team. Not only are they the professionals who will be responsible for carrying out many of the customer service improvements the business pursues, but they also possess crucial institutional knowledge about the company's customers and their needs. With that in mind, consider how well the customer service team is staffed, trained and resourced to provide the level of service the company seeks to deliver. Where gaps exist, identify opportunities for addressing them. This could mean offering professional development opportunities to talented customer service agents, for example, and it involves either establishing or refining (KPIs) for the customer service team. The company will also need to establish processes for regularly evaluating progress against those KPIs and analyzing customer service metrics to identify opportunities for improvement. With the entire customer service function engaged and empowered from the beginning, the business will have a much better chance of making its customer service strategy stick and establishing a customer-centric culture over the long term. Consistency is also key to success with any customer service plan, especially where today's is concerned. Customers that encounter stellar customer service on one channel only to be met with a patchy response on another one will come away with a confusing experience and a muddled perception of the brand. With that in mind, the strategy must take a comprehensive approach that includes all customer engagement channels—whether that's the customer service phone line, social media, the company's website, its app or another touchpoint. Although there may be some nuances in how customer service is carried out from one channel to the next, each one should deliver the same experience customers can expect to find on all of the others. What are some technologies that can help?,When it comes to enabling satisfying and consistent customer service, technology plays an essential role. Agile solutions like a can provide precisely the flexibility and functionality that are required to meet ever-increasing demand for excellent customer service. For example, it can provide personalized omnichannel experiences at scale and cost-effectively. Workforce management tools can help the company allocate the right staffing resources as needed. And analytics demonstrate whether the business is staying on track with its customer service strategy and support better decision-making around needed improvements. Self-service tools can also support a company's customer service strategy, augmenting its human customer service team so that customers across the globe always have instant access to the resources they need at any time of the day or night. For example, an can give customers automated and personalized service across multiple channels, answering their questions and providing a consistent experience regardless of the touchpoint involved. A chatbot can fulfill all of these tasks at scale, never tiring or becoming overloaded even during a high volume of incoming requests. Even customers that don't directly interact with a chatbot benefit from better customer service because they're more likely to reach a human agent in less time than they would if the human customer service team had to respond to every single customer query on its own. And in the event that a chatbot can't resolve a request, it can automatically route that customer query to a qualified human colleague who can take it from there. AI helpers can provide contact center agents with timely assistance, too, giving them precise answers to complex questions and locating the right resources in short order. Agents can then provide faster and more accurate service that customers will remember and appreciate. With all of these customer engagement technologies acting in concert to consistently deliver a high-quality customer experience, the business can more effectively carry out its customer service strategy. Build a customer service strategy for a digital world,Businesses are under greater pressure than ever before to offer responsive and satisfying customer service. If they can't meet this expectation, they risk losing customers to the competition and sacrificing valuable business opportunities. As the Zendesk report notes, 90% of business leaders acknowledge that their organizations will have to make changes to support conversational customer service—that is, personalized and omnichannel service across all customer engagement channels. Although accomplishing this goal may seem daunting at the outset, companies can increase their chances of success by defining and implementing a clear customer service strategy that puts customers at the center of everything the company does. With such a strategy in place, businesses will be far better positioned to meet the high customer service expectations of today's digital world. Discover how Verizon's can help bring a customer service strategy to life. If you'd like to receive new articles, solutions briefs, whitepapers and more—just let us know. . * Indicates a required field. We will follow up from your contact request using the information provided. Choose your country to view contact details. Manage your account or get tools and information. These cookies are necessary for the website to function and cannot be switched off in our systems. 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