How the game is changing: Next Generation Customer Services

"Customer service will become the primary value added function of every business" - Bill Gates        

For a long time, businesses have realized the importance of customer services for growth and profitability. According to Guinness World Records , the "Complaint tablet to Ea-Nasir" is 3767 years old and is the oldest written complaint. The tablet describes the complaint to the merchant, named Ea-Nasir, from a customer, named Nanni. The complaint is in relation to the wrong grade of copper being delivered to Nanni and suggests the feud between buyer and seller had been going on for a long time.

Since the "Complaint tablet to Ea-Nasir", Customer Service has been evolving. From the rotary phones & call centers to the omni-channel world that is evolving even more now. Nevertheless, only a few companies have leveraged the available technologies and techniques to serve their customers.

The current state of the "customer service game"

While customer service sometimes isn't foreseen as the most strategically useful business function, the future of business will definitely change that. Yet, the current state of Customer Service industry looks more like this:

• Customer Service investment projects are mostly sidelined or de-prioritized
• Customer Service agent training mostly doesn't go beyond product and soft skills
• Acquisition is prioritized over retention
• Customer Services employees are seen as short-term & disposable
• Customer Services employees consider their jobs as "un-eventful" and "temporary"

While the above mentioned points are most of the time a reality, they are for sure wrong! Customer Services is a critical part of the customer's overall experience, and crucial for any business profitability and sustainability. And with this current state, many opportunities are there to change the game for many businesses.

How the game is changing

Technology has changed our lives in many ways. The way we meet each other, get entertained and consume media has changed drastically. We now expect more instantaneous connections and interactions. That change, as a result of the technological advancement, has also changed or influenced a change in customer expectations. Customers now want to be served quickly & completely at the first instance of the interaction.

The game of customer service is definitely changing, and from what I've observed so far, the following are the "Next Generation Customer Services" Game changing trends:

From Cost Center to Value-Generating Center

For decades, Customer Service departments and Contact Centers have always been seen as cost-consuming departments. This design has resulted to sidelining development projects, Customer Services & Contact Centers should be considered as an extension of the brand, they are the face and the voice that represents the brand's attributes.

Aside from that, a customer service or a contact center agent has the ability to collect a lot of data during their interactions with the customers. This will help a brand understand their customers even more, providing many departments with valuable information for improvement, such as marketing, sales & product development.

On top of that, while servicing the customer face2face or via one of the contact center channels, the agent has the opportunity to cross and upsell service and products, as they have the direct insight on the customer needs and aspirations.

Many opportunities can be realized if a company changes the way they design their contact center and customer services. These departments should be in the extension of a brand's strategy.

Technology will be key enabler for effortless customer services

As mentioned before, technology has changed customer expectations drastically. Perhaps the biggest change is how customers expect to interact with brands. customers now expect to have several options for communication with a brand, including messaging apps like Facebook & Instagram Messengers, WhatsApp and Apple Business Chat, along with web chat, SMS, screen-sharing, video, self-service knowledge bases and FAQs, and chatbots.

Customer nowadays are more open to receive proactive communication from companies. Studies have shown that proactive customer services actions could increase customer retention rates by 3-5%.

As mentioned, customers expect instantaneous support. They want their problems to be fixed NOW and two of the fastest growing customer interactions technologies can help realize this even more, intelligent virtual assistants (IVAs) and video chat. Live video chat provides a?much needed personal touch for online customers. Face-to-face contact helps to build rapport and brand trust. It also makes it far easier to achieve meaningful communication and understanding - wherever your customers are based. Intelligent Virtual Assistants (IVAs) support business in increasing efficiency, support customers 24/7 and help reserve human agents for relationship building and more complicated support cases.

Other technologies that will change the game of customer services are:

1. Self Service technology
2. Voice biometrics
3. Co-Browsing support
4. More automation and deep integration with CRM systems and Unified communication platforms

Customer Service as a living culture

Customer Services is going to witness a great transformation in the way it is percieved, and the following will be seen as a standard in the next 5 to 10 years in any business:

• Customer Services job descriptions will focus more on leadership, innovation, and ability to drive company-wide improvement
• Customer service will shift to become a strategic partner of marketing, sales, and product development, as it will help with in defining direction & projects prioritization
• A career in customer service will not be a temporary job or a "last resort" job. Strategic customer interaction will be part of the top graduates education
• Brands will view each customer interaction as an opportunity to acquire more knowledge, build long lasting relationships with customers, and grow revenue

The game is definitely changing for customer services, and many organizations are adopting measures to ensure that customer service is embodied in their company culture and have it as an extension of their brand. Some organizations have already applied the change by having Chief Customer Officers within their C-level organizations. Some have customer services related KPIs part of their overall company KPIs.

Overall, Customer Services have and will always play a crucial role in the survival and profitability of any organization. And enabling the customer services to be where customers are, and enable the customer services agents with tools, trainings and the right level of ownership will enable value-generation for both the customer and the organization.

As I always to my team and colleagues, our role is to "Create Remarkable experiences" with every interaction we have with our customers.