The evolution of customer service

Customer service advice is full of long-standing clichés centred around the age-old maxim that ‘the customer is always right’.

This mindset has long heralded the belief that in order to thrive, it is essential for businesses to put a disproportionate focus on pleasing those who spend their hard-earned money on their products or services.

While the premise remains the same, the reality is that such a simplistic way of thinking does not go hand-in-hand with how organisations do business in the digital age.

Today’s customers do not expect to be fawned over, when the service they experience fails to provide them with a bespoke package that addresses their exact needs.

This evolution has seen traditional customer relations extend beyond delivering a great service to managing a great ‘experience’ (XM) that is unique to each brand and each individual customer. And, with Europe leading digital and data skills globally, more people in the market can recognise when they’re being sold an off-the-shelf approach.

With the number of channels available to engage with customers growing rapidly, organisations recognise that to maintain their competitive edge, they must constantly improve their platforms to ensure they are as accessible and streamlined as possible.

But, simply throwing new technology or platforms at the issue does not make for satisfied or loyal customers.

Electrolux has recognised the importance from moving from a product led company to one which focused on experience, with a 1 second window to help in-store customers understand why it is better than the competition, the stakes have never been higher.

This not only applies to external customer engagement, but also promotes joined-up thinking between the various internal functions and teams who are central to delivering CX. This is key because the core digital channels, and the people behind them, are still at the heart of providing positive and engaging interactions.

Behind the scenes, ensuring that a business is responding to the growing demands of providing a positive customer experience can create endless headaches – especially for those battling to overhaul legacy IT systems.

Listening to Cait O’Riordan, chief product and information officer at the Financial Times (FT), discuss the publication’s digital transformation speaks volumes as to the methodology behind creating a great brand experience.

She says the proof of the FT’s success comes in its analysis metric which directly correlates to driving user engagement to the bottom line. The transition of the newspaper from predominantly printed news to a majority digital platform had the result of seeing its content generate greater income than advertising.

Having set itself a goal of delivering a million paying subscribers, the launch of its myFT offering – a personalised engagement interface – has seen user interactions increase by 80 per cent.

However, tech alone will not deliver the customer experience competitive advantage to truly differentiate an organisation. Ultimately, it is the employees that make it all happen.

Joined-up thinking is not limited to creating compelling engagement platforms – teams must be setup to ensure that those working behind the tech are as dynamic as possible.

We have worked hard to develop a diverse workforce to ensure that is as effective as possible at adapting to issues and finding solutions, which deliver the best experience for our customers.

As we are learning to provide opportunities within our own workforce, the same process of adaptability applies to, and will take on, the new challenges of customer experience.

Gartner forecasts that 25 per cent of customer service operations will use ‘Virtual Customer Assistants’ by 2020. How businesses address the impact this, and other tech advances, will have on customer experience is an enormous challenge.

So, while the old clichés keep us focused, it’s only through responsive development and looking at the bigger picture that companies will ensure the best experience for their customers.