5 Essential Customer Service Truths

Customer service has become the key differentiator among brands

TRUTH #1

In this global economy, your customers have endless choices on products and services.

This creates 2 key challenges:

1. The experience customers have with your brand becomes as important as the product or service you sell.

2. Your brand’s success is determined not only by your employee’s behind the lines, but also by the people you serve.

TRUTH #1

83% of consumers say that customer care is a key driver of brand loyalty.

–Customer Champions

TRUTH #1

TRUTH #1

Price and product matter, but what differentiates your brand most is making the customer feel their needs are being met in the fastest and most effortless way possible.

In fact, customer experience overtakes price and product as a key brand differentiator. -Walker

TRUTH #1

Customer service will soon look very different than it does today

TRUTH #2

All around us, technology and the means for communication is changing.

While consumers are finding new ways to communicate with their favorite brands, some brands’ customer service practices have not evolved at the same rate.

TRUTH #2

Case in point: Customer service requests coming through social media have skyrocketed.

The percentage of people who have used Twitter for customer service has increased over 70% from 2013. -McKinsey

And this trend is growing across all industries.

TRUTH #2

But many companies see the ever-increasing number of customer service channels as a hurdle, and fail to add additional channels to their customer service program because they think it will be too much of an undertaking.

We’ve got great news: It doesn’t have to be this way.

TRUTH #2

Instead of fearing change, welcome it.

TRUTH #2

By accepting that technology evolves, your brand can start focusing on creating services that are flexible and built to adapt.

Adding new service channels and technology doesn't have to rattle your existing system, but instead can make it more holistic.

TRUTH #2

Omni-channel customer service is a big stinking lie

TRUTH #3

TRUTH #3

Some say they can seamlessly address any issue on any channel.

But many customers all over the world are currently sitting in phone, email, chat and Twitter queues, only to be passed off to another agent or channel and forced to repeat themselves over and over again.

Why is this the case?

According to Forrester Research, 42% of service agents are unable to efficiently resolve customer issues due to disconnected systems, archaic user interfaces and the need for multiple applications.

TRUTH #3

TRUTH #3

By connecting and integrating service and CRM systems to each other, brands can implement a smoother and more effortless experience for both customers and agents.

Customer service is a cupcake, not a parfait TRUTH #4

TRUTH #4

Too many customer service organizations are set up like parfait. There are layers of service, each escalating or passed on to another service rep.

These layers slow down agents’ ability to actually help people, and companies increasingly struggle to serve customers across the vast social and mobile web, let alone quickly serve them.

TRUTH #4

Brands should treat their customer service organization as a cupcake, where multiple “ingredients” work together in harmony to make something greater.

Companies need to inseparably integrate customer service operations.

TRUTH #4

But how do they do this?

TRUTH #4

By:

-Auditing their current customer service process

-Implementing the right technology

-Measuring relevant metrics

-Continually optimizing workflow

Continuity of customer service is more important than closing tickets

TRUTH #5

Each time a customer contacts you, it’s an opportunity to continue the conversation — not start a new one.

By creating a holistic customer care process and seeing customers as humans rather than an assortment of service tickets, you can start to build relationships with them.

TRUTH #5

This approach makes customer care more efficient and effective.

TRUTH #5

TRUTH #5

By providing agents with customer context and interaction history, the customer and agent alike won’t have to exert much effort to achieve a great experience..

Interested in learning more about how to implement an effortless and integrated social customer service program?

Watch our latest webinar, “Building a Rockstar Social Customer Service Team: How to Hire, Train and Measure.”

Download our latest report, “The Social Customer Service Agent: How to Hire, Pay, Train, Measure and Retain.”