Service delivery can determine customer loyalty and profitable growth. The status quo is not good enough and it is not sustainable. It is essential for all businesses to constantly look at the next evolution of their customer service. Four areas are especially important to build a foundation and base for moving to the next level of customer service in any company:
Integrated and remote call centers
During a down economy is an excellent time to look at transforming your help desk (or service desk) to a more efficient model. Trade in your clunker call center for a sleek new model! In the next few entries, you will learn some ways to do just that. By transforming your help desk, you will transform customer service which will position you to greatly increase your business.
1. What is an Integrated Call Center?
An integrated virtual call center consists of call center reps, home-based agents, field service engineers, and many others who may or may not sit within a given geographic location. These people are connected to one another, as needed, via cell phones and the Internet. They may be contacted directly by customers. They may also receive notification of incidents via cell phones or the Internet.
What is the driving force behind creation of a Virtual Call Center?
Virtual Call Centers are being created because there is a shortage of qualified people in a geographic location. They are also created due to the need to consolidate and integrate management and processes and cut costs. Leveraging costs from one area to another is a factor. They are also being driven by the desire of customers to have companies develop Internet-based communities. And they are being driven by social media and customers talking about customer service or lack thereof in the social media.
What are the advantages of a Virtual Call Center?
Companies are able to overcome talent constraints and improve employee retention by allowing people to live and work where they want and by tapping into talent that is not all located in the same geographic locale. Companies can receive information through chat, traditional and mobile phones, social media, and e-mail. Companies are able to leverage the information they receive via a number of channels. Companies can respond in a personalized fashion to customers. Enhanced service can be delivered more cost-effectively.
2. Integrated service networks
Integrated Service Networks will become one of the customer service platforms that will be essential to companies of the Twenty-First Century. By integrating your customer service network now, you will be able to generate new growth in the coming months and years.
An integrated customer service network does not eliminate a help desk; it works hand-in-hand with the help desk. It also reduces the amount of time that help desk agents must spend solving repetitive issues or assigning trouble tickets for routine maintenance.
What are Integrated Service Networks?
With Integrated Service Networks, service hubs send software updates to the product itself. This facilitates remote management and the use of automatic triggers to schedule service based on equipment breakdown forecasts. Obviously, this type of technology works best when specific software is embedded in the product before it is sold (preferably during its manufacture). This reduces the cost of field service through the reduction of field service reps and the reduction of down time. It also eliminates a great deal of boredom from help desk issue resolution.
What is the driving force behind creating Virtual Service Networks?
Cost reduction, the need for little to no downtime, and the enhancement of customer satisfaction are the driving forces behind virtual service networks. Industries in which products are highly complex or technical stand to benefit. Automotive, high tech, and medical equipment industries have been quick to start adapting to integrated service networks.
What are the advantages of Virtual Service Networks?
Customers are highly satisfied because they don't have to have downtime with breakdowns and repairs and updates. Customers are even happier with not having to pay for service calls. The design and manufacturing companies are happy because they get feedback which helps them improve the product and develop new products.
3. Customer touch-point management
Touch Points are the various modes of interaction between a company and its customers. These modes, such as call centers, sales staff, partners, and the Internet, must give consistent customer service and messages to the customer so that he gets the same positive feelings each time he gets a message or has an interaction. Each "touch" should also reinforce your brand and let your customer know that you understand him and his needs and wants. Effective management of these touch points will differentiate your company from your competition.
What is Customer Touch-Point Management?
It is critical that the message a customer (or potential customer) receives from an ad in a magazine or on television agrees with the message he gets on the Internet or by e-mail and with the message he receives when he talks with a sales rep. This example gives four different touch points. Yet there are many more - Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, regular e-mails to advertise sales or update a customer on his product, partner sales staff, and help desk staff. All of these must be managed so that all convey the same good feelings and the same message to the customer. This is not simply a function of a piece of software, but calls for human interaction in the form of understanding customer segments and considering various brand attributes and various business strategies.
What is the driving force behind creation of a Customer Touch-Point Management?
Not so long ago, it was possible to create a marketing message and use that same message in newspaper and magazine ads and on radio and television for a period ranging from three months to several years with very little variation. All of that changed with the advent of the Internet and the Information Age. Customers expect the message to change frequently and to be communicated in a wide array of modes. And they want the information in bites that are quickly read or heard. Yet, the message may not actually be internalized by the customer until he has read or heard it several times in various formats. This takes strategy and agility on the part of the company delivering those bites of information.
What are the advantages of a Customer Touch-Point Management?
Customer touch-point management is not optional today; it is mandatory. Real-time feedback from the Web proves that it is essential to leverage all touch-points on a daily or weekly basis. By doing so, companies can expect customer loyalty (something rarely seen today!) due to a high level of customer satisfaction. Your company will be set apart from your competition because it delivers a complete message of what the brand is and what it can do for the customer due to its solid alignment among sales, service, and marketing.
4. Smart Service Agents
Frequently customer service agents dealing with complex products or processes do not have the ability to access relevant information in real time. New software solutions, known as "smart service agents," help address these issues by building on contextual and real-time knowledge bases. They guide agents through similar processes to help them solve current problems.
What is a Smart Service Agent?
Complex products like those in industrial machinery or high tech may have problems that span various systems or parts. A single knowledgeable individual my not be able to troubleshoot the complexity or variety of problems. The "smart service agent" software would provide the field service agent or help desk agent with recommendations at key transition points to help speed up and sort out the problem resolution.
Service-intensive industries like banking, communications, and utilities can use "smart service agent" software to learn from their customers. For example, if a customer calls to inquire about a specific service and the agent cannot answer his questions or does not answer them to the potential customer's satisfaction, the "smart service agent" will offer modified answers the next time he searches for answers to those questions. On the other hand, if he is able to make the sale, he will input that into the software to be used as a method the next time.
What is the driving force behind creation of a Smart Service Agent?
Traditional methods of selling are not working in today's environment. Often, people go to the Internet to find their own solutions. When this happens, they expect to find answers to their questions immediately. The Internet, through social media, has become a driving force to push companies to refine the way they work with customers and potential customers. And the social media drive companies to provide customers with a highly satisfying interaction.
What are the advantages of a Smart Service Agent?
The advantages of a smart service agent begin with the obvious - turning potential customers into customers, up-selling and cross-selling to customers, and improving customer satisfaction. They also include less downtime when solving issues and less frustration for customer service reps. The end result is satisfied and loyal customers who come back and send their friends and acquaintances to your business on a regular basis. All of which build business, improve profits, and make your life easier. After all, that's why you do this right?
