Digital Customer Service Excellence in Seven Steps

Gartner predicts "digital customer service" to have a high impact in two to five years. Businesses that excel in digital customer service will clearly have a leg up over the competition in this new world. Here are seven proven ways to get there quickly and easily.

1. Answer is a big part of the answer

One of the biggest reasons customers pick up the phone for service is that they cannot find answers or resolve problems on company websites. According to Gartner, only 9% of customers report solving their issues completely via self-service. A survey of 5,000 consumers by Forrester Consulting also found that the inability of companies to answer customer questions on their websites is one of the top pain points in customer service. No wonder consumers pick up the phone in frustration, which is not good news for agents!

Make sure you deploy a robust knowledge management system that not only helps customers find answers with search methods that go beyond keyword search to include natural language search, faceted navigation, guided search, and more, but also solves problems through guided self-service that simulates an interaction with a human expert.

Virtual assistants (VA) handle simpler questions well and advanced AI technologies such as case-based reasoning (CBR) excel at handling more complex questions through customer self-service or agent augmentation. Improved delivery of contextual knowledge to an employee or customer reduces time to answer by 20% to 80%, according to Gartner! We agree. Our clients have reported up to a 100% increase in speed to agent competency and 50% reduction in training time, while enabling any agent to take any call. On the self-service side, we have seen up to 70% call deflection!

Related read: What is a knowledge management system?

2. Think digital-first processes

When you design customer service processes, think digital.

A best-in-class digital customer service solution would provide deep capabilities to engage customers through chatbots, AI-guided digital self-service, video chat, messaging, cobrowse-aided phone engagement, cobrowse-aided website navigation and form-filling, proactive digital offers, proactive digital notifications, etc. They also deliver a connected experience across those touchpoints through a customer engagement hub.

More resource: What is digital customer service?

3. Digital-first also applies to agents (and their desktop!)

The proportion of millennials and Gen Z in the contact center workforce is increasing. They are digitally savvy but the tools that many contact centers use tend to be voice-focused and antiquated. This affects agent experience .

As you digitalize your workforce, make sure you digitalize the agent workspace with a digital-first omnichannel desktop.

Also note that millennials and Gen Z don’t like to keep information in their heads. Many of them have probably never looked at a map in the age of GPS-assisted driving – they like guidance whether it is for driving or financial planning! So, it is critical that the agent desktop offers easy, push-button access to contextual knowledge and AI, in addition to rich digital capabilities.

Related resource: Digital-first agent desktop

4. Analyze for derailment

Analytics are critical to identifying points of switching from digital to traditional channels along the customer journey.

5. Deflect but delight

Offer customers a chance to resolve issues with digital self-service when they are about to escalate to an agent. However, it is important to retain context.

With the advent of the smartphone, customers on hold in IVR systems can be sent an SMS link to answers, based on caller information and IVR context, providing them an option to check out contextual answers or guidance without losing their place in the queue. This is something that eGain’s knowledge and AI solution does through seamless integration with leading IVR systems.

Related solution: Smart IVR

6. Teach them

Digital collaboration technologies, such as cobrowsing, with simultaneous phone conversation, can be used by agents to coach customers on how to get things done digitally, whether it is finding information or completing a transaction, such as form-filling or a purchase. This is like providing training wheels on kids’ bikes.

7. Press the gas pedal

Look for solution providers that put skin (and body!) in the game. Do they have a proven method for continuous agile value delivery? Sign up for risk-free, expert-guided production trials in the cloud free of charge.

Follow the 7 steps to digital customer service excellence.