In a Gartner online survey of 283 customer service and support leaders from August-October 2022, 84% of customer service and service support leaders cited customer data and analytics as “very or extremely important” for achieving their organisational goals in 2023. Eighty per cent of respondents ranked digital channel effectiveness as “very or extremely important,” along with employee performance, development, and quality assurance.
The Gartner survey revealed improving operations and growing the business are the two most important business goals for 2023.
“Understanding customers’ needs and expectations for their service experience is integral for improving loyalty and creating customer value, especially when organisations are up against economic headwinds,” said Jonathan Schmidt, Sr principal, advisory in the Gartner Customer Service & Support practice. “Executing on this vision requires investment in customer data and analytics, knowledge management, and an enduring partnership with IT.”
In light of recent economic headwinds, customer service and support leaders plan to devote more resources to improving, automating or eliminating inefficient processes (59% of respondents), migrating service volume to digital and self-service channels (51%) and contributing to the top-line by creating customer value (46%) in the near future.
“In tough economic times, customer service and support leaders are often encouraged by their CFOs to make do with what they have,” said Schmidt.
“Given how difficult it is to hire and retain talent, it makes sense that they are tackling inefficiencies and prioritizing digital channels as a strategy for driving down costs without reducing headcount or sacrificing customer experience.”
Jonathan Schmidt
With these survey findings in mind, Gartner recommends customer service and support leaders:
Collect actionable customer data across channels through a robust Voice of Customer (VoC) programme that goes beyond surveys and incorporates more advanced methods such as speech, text and digital experience analytics. Leveraging these methods for decisions on personnel, processes, and technologies is key to a successful customer service function.
Build digital self-service teams to oversee the digital channel strategy, manage channels like products, and work closely with data analysts to develop and measure success metrics.
Enable customer service agents with technology, such as connected desktops, to help them better guide customers through resolution.
