What’s The Hang Up With Customer Service? Solving For Service’s Perception Problem

Leadership Strategy What’s The Hang Up With Customer Service? Solving For Service’s Perception Problem Gary Drenik Contributor Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. Following New! Follow this author to stay notified about their latest stories. Got it! Sep 21, 2022, 10:00am EDT | New! Click on the conversation bubble to join the conversation Got it! Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Customer Experience AdobeStock_329144199 For decades, service has been relegated to the end of the customer lifecycle.

It was reactive, transitional, transactional, and traditional. A “fix something that’s gone wrong” function, stuck at the end of the customer experience. But it’s time we get honest about customer service’s worth and ask ourselves whether this traditional approach may be overlooking a larger, more strategic role best served by customers and businesses alike.

I recently spoke with Dr. Edwin Van der Ouderaa, global lead, sales & service at Accenture Song , to get a better understanding of how organizations can re-think their perception of service in order to drive growth in an increasingly challenging and competitive market. Gary Drenik: We talk about customer service having a perception problem…but is it more than that? Is it the reality of service as a function that needs to be re-imagined? Edwin Van der Ouderaa: Up until recently, service was something that happened as an afterthought – after the sale had occurred.

Companies developed service strategies that were fixated on cost reduction, which relegated customer interactions to cost drivers. It was all about reducing calls, driving people to FAQs, and encouraging them to download an app for more information. But what this did was allow companies to offload the complexity of their products and the problems their customers encountered onto the customer to solve it themselves.

It’s time to reimagine that. Today, thanks to the abundance of customer data, analytics, and new technologies – coupled with a shift from the classic linear funnel for buying something with minimal consideration for infusing service to a constant cycle of touchpoints between customer and brand – service interactions are becoming an essential opportunity to drive shared value. There is a real need for a full shift in the organizational mindset of companies around customer service – from treating it as a problem-solving function and a cost center to a model that’s seamlessly embedded into every aspect of the business, continuously turning customer interactions into predictive insights and meaningful actions that engender trust and drive growth.

In fact, our End-to-Endless Customer Service research revealed that companies which view customer service as a value center, rather than as a cost center, achieve 3. 5x more revenue growth than those who uphold traditional views of customer service. MORE FOR YOU 5 Cognitive Biases Blocking Your Success Preparing To Go Public: An Overview Of The IPO Process Immigrants Hope Registry Saves Immigration Bill Drenik: How is the definition of customer service expanding? Van der Ouderaa: For many businesses, customer service can be what sets apart the leaders from the laggards.

The pandemic rapidly accelerated online commerce behaviors, intensifying the need for efficient, seamless, end-to-endless customer service. Even though the pandemic is behind us, consumers have new shopping preferences, and according to a recent Prosper Insights & Analytics , nearly half of adults (47%) believe these behaviors have now become “habits” they intend to keep. Prosper – Shopping Behaviors Becoming Habit Prosper Insights & Analytics In today’s era of compressed transformation, it’s critical that companies not ignore this shift, and instead, embrace it as an opportunity to reimagine their service function, with an eye toward making service not just efficient but exceptional, in order to meet users’ heightened expectations and deliver memorable customer experiences.

I really believe this is the customer service evolution that organizations need now to grow – moving from a reactive to a regenerative function. Many of the challenges faced by businesses today – whether it’s a lack of adequate technology, which we found remains a top barrier hindering companies from delivering growth outcomes; an organization’s struggle to activate service insights; or the lack of a systemized process for capturing valuable consumer data and insights in the first place – can be solved by a more proactive, end-to-endless customer service function. On top of organizational challenges cast by external forces, consumers’ behaviors and purchasing decisions are rapidly changing, and companies will have to evolve just as quickly if they want to stay relevant.

By asking such existential questions as “How will we stay purposeful in a fast-changing world?” “Who are our customers in the future and what do they value?”, or “How do we communicate, sell, and service our stakeholders?” we can begin to re-define customer service. Drenik: Where does customer service fit into an organization? What type of role does it play, and what stages of the customer journey should prioritize service the most? Van der Ouderaa: In order for an organization to maximize its opportunities for delivering value and becoming future-ready, service needs to be embedded across every function, at every stage. According to a recent Prosper Insights & Analytics Survey, people place high importance on features like low prices (85%), free shipping (84%), a user-friendly website (80.

7%), and flexible return policy (75. 6%) – things that occur at different times throughout the customer journey. Companies need to focus on the unification of the front office, which, in many cases, is still siloed, causing friction to the customer service experience, and impeding organizational growth.

Prosper – Importance of Services When Shopping Online Prosper Insights & Analytics Imagine service that engages customers at every step of their journey – from education and purchase to usage and ultimately, repurchase. When service is integrated into a company’s operations it not only contributes to growth, loyalty, and trust, it serves as a driver of continuous innovation. Drenik: Why is it important for organizations to take a proactive – rather than reactive – stance with their customer base? Van der Ouderaa: Again, we’re in an era of compressed transformation.

In order for companies to survive, they must get ahead of the disruption they’re facing and reinvent themselves and their service function around shared values with their customers. The key to a successful customer service strategy is using your data and insights to empower your business to anticipate customer needs and ensure all interactions add value to the customer’s experience. Customers’ perceptions of service are often strongly determined by their worst experiences, not the average.

But thanks to advances in data and AI, there is a lot we can be doing to avoid these pitfalls in the first place. Drenik: What are a few critical actions the service function can employee now to begin their transformation? Van der Ouderaa: Ultimately, a real end-to-endless customer service function will require strategy and technology investments underpinned by a reimagined service experience. We’ve identified three key opportunities for organizations to begin their transformation from cost center to a foundation for growth and value creation: Grow trust with proactive, predictive service.

Service organizations can use data and AI capabilities to increase their ability to predict problems that will arise and then optimize the service center, accordingly, applying insights to avoid such problems for the customer in the first place. Grow usage by helping customers get more value. Customer service agents can become trusted advisors to maximize value delivered to customers by providing personalized and contextually relevant strategic advice on how to get the most value from their purchases.

Grow possibility to make an impact. Activating service insights in the front office can unlock significant growth. In fact, companies are seeing 10x higher revenue growth the more involved their service organization is in the development of new products.

It is not about looking backward, analyzing the past and deducing the future. It is about creating the future FROM the future. Drenik: Thanks Edwin, for offering your unique insights on the need to reimagine the role of Customer Service, and for sharing some critical actions organizations can employ to begin this transformation of their service function from a cost center to a value creator.

It was a pleasure speaking with you. Check out my website . Gary Drenik Editorial Standards Print Reprints & Permissions.