Transforming service to help attract customers and keep them happy

Customer service is often failing to meet today’s customer expectations

Traditionally, companies have looked at customer service as a simple transaction. A customer with a problem is added to a queue, an agent responds, and a ticket is eventually cleared. Success is largely measured by one metric: efficiency.

In the last year, service organizations have dominated headlines for failing to meet basic customer expectations:?

“Customer-Service Wait Times Triple as Staff Shortage Vex Call Centers”1?

“Corporate Disaster: Phone Hold Times Top Five Hours”2

“On Hold for 12 Hours: Why Airline Wait Times Are Still So Excessive”3

While many of these trends may fluctuate over time for various reasons (e.g., labor shortages, supply chain disruptions), the continued rise in customer expectations is here to stay. And the stakes of meeting these expectations have never been higher.?

According to the PwC 2022 Customer Loyalty Survey, 55% of consumers said they would stop buying from a company that they otherwise liked after several bad experiences and 26% of consumers told us that they’ve already stopped using or buying from a business in the past year, with poor experiences being the main driver.?

Outdated service models pose an increasing risk to customer attrition, and the impact to the bottom line is real. US companies are losing $62 billion per year due to poor customer service experiences.

It’s time to rethink customer service and the critical role it plays in attracting and retaining customers.

Companies should approach service as an opportunity to create real connections by making technology feel more human and giving employees what they need to create better experiences for their customers. The companies that get service right can benefit according to the 91% of customers who say a positive customer service experience makes them more likely to make another purchase — turning them into loyal, profitable customers for life.?

But getting service right often requires making hard choices about what role your organization is going to play. We know that while customers value speed and convenience, they also value friendly and knowledgeable service just as much. Nearly 80% of US customers cited the four as the most important elements of a positive customer experience. Recognizing that you can’t be everything to everyone, how do you decide what your service organization needs to be?

Stepping back to go forward: Defining your role in service?

Defining your role in service starts by answering tough questions on what value do you want to drive, how customer needs may differ by your products and services, and what resources are required to enable your service vision. Consider these five things:

1. What business value does our service model prioritize?
2. Which customers am I designing a service model for??
3. What do these customers expect from us?
4. How should customers feel after a service interaction?
5. What resources do we have available to us? Are they scalable?

Depending on your answers, you’ll sit along a spectrum of service models that range from quick, frictionless transactions to in-depth relationship building. There is no one “right” service model. The challenge lies in designing the service model that balances both your business and customer need

Transactional service: A low-cost, low-human interaction approach to service?

Companies that pursue a model close to transactional service often want to deliver fast, frequent and frictionless service transactions. They focus on processing a large volume of customer service requests, offering and incentivizing self-service options wherever possible, and continuously leveraging data to surface the most relevant information to the customer. These companies offer little to no phone options, limiting service to mobile or chat or requiring customers to attempt self-service options before getting to a live agent.

Concierge service: A high-touch, human-first approach to service?

Companies that pursue a concierge service model want to build loyalty with their most valuable customers by providing proactive and value-additive services to customers. They know that human-first service interactions offer a unique opportunity to upsell, cross-sell or enhance loyalty since their customers often have low switching costs and present a higher attrition risk. Concierge service models aim to show their customers that they are invested in their relationship and are willing to spend time and money to keep customers happy.?

It’s important to note these are two extremes and many businesses will identify service models that fall somewhere in between. When executing on your service vision, you should make difficult trade-offs to find the right service model mix that is best suited for your business.

Start today by defining your service model

Becoming a service leader can yield a variety of benefits, but it requires intentional choices and a shared commitment to the new vision. To help meet your customer’s ever-changing expectations, you should get started defining your service model and transforming your business today.?

Visit our site to learn more about the next steps for transforming your service model and get additional detail on how to define your service model and drive customer loyalty.

1 “Customer-Service Wait Times Triple as Staff Shortage Vex Call Centers,” Bloomberg, 2022.

2 “Corporate Disaster: Phone Hold Times Top Five Hours,” Metro Desk Media, 2022.

3 “On Hold for 12 Hours: Why Airline Wait Times Are Still So Excessive,” InsideHook, 2022.