Tom Goodmanson, CEO of Calabrio, speaking at Calabrio Customer Connect (known as C3) in San Antonio, ... [+]
The title above follows an article I wrote a couple of weeks ago that customer loyalty and retention is down. That’s true, and there are plenty of stats to prove it. But if customer service and experience are getting better, how can loyalty be down? Sometimes what a company thinks is good service isn’t good enough, even if it has improved.
The bar for customer service and experience is higher than ever as top brands teach customers what great service looks like. It doesn’t matter if you’re B2C or B2B, the standards by which your customers measure you are no longer based just on your direct competition, but on experiences they have with companies outside of your industry.
The good news is that as the bar is raised, many companies – the smart ones – are stepping up to meet and exceed their customers’ expectations. According to the Industry Insiders Innovative Insights Report put out by Calabrio, nine in 10 businesses say they are competing primarily on the basis of customer experience. This is good news for customers! Customer service is getting better and will continue to do so. The companies that get it right will deliver an easy, frictionless experience to their customers.
Speaking of Calabrio, I just attended Calabrio Customer Connect (known as C3) in San Antonio, where more than 600 customer service professionals met to network, talk about customer service and learn about the latest technologies driving a better experience. The consensus, as it has been for years, is that companies need to invest in this area. If they don’t, loyalty and retention will go down. The continuous pursuit of meeting customer expectations – if not exceeding them – will deliver a return on the effort and investment.
However, it’s not all about technology. Tom Goodmanson, CEO of Calabrio, made that point very clear in his opening general session speech. Even with all the great technology happening in the customer service and CX world, we can’t replace people. There must always be human-to-human interaction to fall back on when the customer needs it. If our customers try a self-service option and it fails, the next thing the customer will do is make a call. How easily will they be able to connect to a person? That’s the key. It’s a blend of technology and humanity.
Matt Matsui, chief product officer at Calabrio, has his own take on this concept; he uses a new term called Artificial Humanity (AH). This works hand-in-hand with Artificial Intelligence (AI). “We’re a long way from AI replacing humans, but combining the two is powerful.” Smart companies are finding the balance between digital and human customer support. The best experiences customers receive are often a combination of the two.
The point is that AI is making great strides. It makes the people working in contact centers smarter, faster and better. It delivers the information the customer needs to the agent quickly. It also delivers information about the customer to the agent, allowing the agent to personalize the experience. This is a perfect way for AI to intersect with human interaction.
Another big trend discussed was proactive customer support. AI can predict what customers will need before they need it, solving problems before they’re problems. I refer to this as proactive support. My favorite (generic) example of this is the server at a restaurant who refills guests’ water glasses before they are empty. Today there is the capability to track a customer’s usage patterns to predict what they will need next. Helping them to circumvent a problem they don’t yet know exists is a great opportunity to add great value to the customer’s choice to do business with you.
Customer experience is getting better, and it will continue to do so. The issue for some is that it may not be getting better fast enough. AI – or AH – can help in this journey. The companies that recognize this, take advantage of the new opportunities technology offers and step up to meet customers’ new standards and expectations are the companies that will find the most success. Those companies win in the form of repeat business, loyalty and reputation among their customer base and beyond. Don’t be one of the companies that falls behind – be one that leans forward and embraces the inevitable changes in the customer service world.
