Focus on customer service

A big customer service challenge today is to identify exactly what customers want and then deliver it. Creating the right experience for each customer is the key in this new era in customer service.

Surveys show that 71 percent of consumers find impersonal experiences very frustrating. This is expected to grow even larger as customer expectations continue to increase. Many companies are recognizing the importance of this role in making a happy customer; however, some are not keeping up with what the new consumer is expecting, such as getting feedback within seconds.

Technology is changing the way consumers shop. Self-service is becoming more interactive through online guides and video content. Now, experts are saying that having only basic chat on a website is outdated. Customers now expect chats to be very fluid, switching between text, video, and screen sharing without having to change apps or start over. So companies now understand that customer service is more than reading a script or filling out a “ticket.” They are now becoming more about doing anything and everything possible, including personal interactions, to ensure that customers have a successful experience with your company.

Customers, while they are getting used to it, no longer want to be placed in “hold jail” only to be shuffled off to a less-than-helpful solution for their situation. I have what I believe to be the right solution: have a human answer the phone.

It’s true that delivering the best customer service just is no longer possible without technology. Still, consumers would rather speak to a human being instead of a bot when they need help solving a problem.

In 2018, only 13 percent of business leaders described their organization as “truly customer-centric.” Now, many are focusing on making cultural and structural changes to the way customers expect to be served with a human in the loop. A recent report says that customers don’t mind talking to “chatbots” if they know they’re dealing with a robot instead of a human, and if there’s an easy way to transfer to a human if needed.

Companies now have more information about their customers than ever before and are now starting to treat every customer as a fully-realized individual, which they believe will help to build stronger relationships between the client and the company. Some are now hiring customer-support teams and empowering them to provide high-end service without having to follow scripts. This will allow them to customize solutions to each individual situation.

No matter which way a company goes forward in creating a customer-service model, centering the rules around the customer’s experience with the company is the trend to follow. Who of us doesn’t want a great customer experience every time we shop?

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