How do we build future-proof customer service capabilities?

“Read the damn manual!” - this is an actual response we received from an expert from our engineering organisation, many many years ago, after a long exchange of emails and while troubleshooting an emergent issue at a customer site.?

Yes, we have all been there, as young professionals we all had to build up our own credibility and be able to ask the right questions to gain the respect of the more senior experts in the service business. After the gracious hint from the expert, we had then to “read the damn manual” and package a quick response for the customer, in a clear and concise way, showing empathy for their emergent issue and confidence that we will now get to a final resolution after all.

A couple of decades later, while many of the core skills required for customer service professionals remain consistent over time (such as communication, empathy, and problem-solving skills to name a few) there has been a significant evolution towards the integration of digital tools into customer service workflows and towards providing customers with an omnichannel experience (= a seamless experience across various platforms - online, in-person, mobile, etc.).?

Five years ago, these aspects were important but not as central as they have become today, especially with the accelerated shift towards digital and social media platforms for customer service. This shift has elevated the importance of being adept with digital tools, understanding online communication nuances, and managing customer interactions across various digital channels.

According to trainingmag article (see links below), in 2023 the overall training expenditures per learner has decreased vs. 2022 by 20% and the biggest challenges faced by the surveyed companies are: lack of resources and learner engagement. So there seems to be less money and less engaged learners, at a time where it is vital to upskill the workforce towards the new technologies.?

How to address the problem? Here are some ideas that worked in my experience or that I observed in the customer service industry.

1. Capabilities building: foundation to your strategy operating plan.

Ensuring the new digital skills are part of the? development plan of the customer support roles is essential to the sustainability of your strategy. Having a learning development pattern for Customer Support Specialists for instance, one that is revised every year with newer development points and updates, is essential to the success of your strategy.?

Also, ensuring that people are capable of using proper Generative AI support. This doesn’t mean they should learn to copy + paste... This means that they are taught how to become effective problem curators and are able to ask the right questions.?

And since you are getting that far, why not build a learning development plan that people actually desire to navigate. Include training, on the job experience, shadowing programs, tests, milestones, celebrations.. Build a career path that is consistent with the development pattern, and make it actually desirable for your people to enrol and complete it.

2. Use simulation

Nothing substitutes hands-on experience when it comes to being capable of providing a top notch customer experience. Why cannot we develop experience in a safe environment, where people are actually allowed (and encouraged) to make mistakes and learn from them? This happens already for a variety of? professions, from surgeons to pilots. It doesn't happen so often for our people in customer support roles, and quite frankly for their leaders, although according to the trainingmag 2023 report, anticipation of purchase for “games and simulations” nearly doubled in the current year. Simulations should not be limited to taking a (spare) machine apart to improve product knowledge, but also to being able to handle an online angry customer, use empathy and communicate clearly and effectively using multiple channels of communication such as phone, email, live chat, and social media. The recent developments in Generative AI could already provide a perfect arena for such simulations.

Ensure that your newer hires can learn faster by working closer to more experienced folks.

There are a variety of ways for doing this. The obvious one is to establish shadowing programs, but we can also think about making it easier for people to work together with experts by breaking barriers between, let's say, a first level of support and the “experts”. The idea here is to bring people to problems (and not the other way around) by using digital collaboration platforms. Escalations are a thing of the past, and in today’s competitive environment customers don’t want to hear that you have escalated the problem to the “folks in the headquarters”. They expect an answer pronto and live updates on what’s going on.

So in conclusion:

• Customer Service Basic Skills are (almost) unchanged. There is still a need for sound soft skills and effective problem-solving capabilities.
• Skills have been augmented by the need for more digital and technical skills, reflecting the shift towards online and automated customer service methods. But there seems to be less money available, and learner engagement is still an issue.

What to do (besides considering the usual solutions) is:

• Build careers around learning developments and ensure that the new skills are a foundational part of the development. Ensure people can learn how to become good “problem curators” and can leverage AI technologies.
• Use simulation as a way to develop experience
• Bring people to the problems using collaboration platforms - so that your newer engineers / specialists can work together with experts and develop their expertise faster

What other ways do you use to build future-proof service capabilities in your organisation?

Further reading:?

Trainingmag 2023 Training Industry Report

Don’t Just Improve Your Customer Experience. Future-Proof It

The state of customer care in 2022

14 Ways Technology Will Affect the Future of Customer Service