A Salesforce survey (of US consumers) noted that 82% of consumers expect to continue contacting customer service at pandemic-level rates, and an additional 10% say their contact rates will rise even higher. The survey also observed that only 36% of service professionals feel fully prepared to handle a surge in service and support cases. Further, just 39% feel fully prepared to handle increased case complexity.
Reflecting on this data, Ben Meisner, founder of online editing platform Ribbet.com, says “we are facing a future where companies that aren’t customer-centric will have a hard time surviving.”
But as businesses race to improve customer service through automation, the approaches and solutions taken may be revealing cracks that could have negative consequences for both companies and their customers.
State of customer service today – what is working and what isn’t
“I believe there are two levels of objectives for every business. One is more focused on effort reduction and effectiveness using digital and automation and handling everything well. Another is optimising cost and reducing non-digital channels. Most enterprises are still trying to figure out or are struggling to tie these core outcomes,” commented Vasupradha Srinivasan, a senior analyst at Forrester.
This is leading businesses in the region to change the way they offer and engage in customer service. They are investing in their ability to deliver unmatched customer service and are turning to technology to complement their customer service efforts.
Adopting tools such as chatbots and email automation to manage the low-touch aspects of customer interactions, they free up their customer service staff to focus on the complex, high-touch elements such as delivering quality service.
According to Qualtrics’ 2022 Consumer Trends report, nine in 10 consumers are dissatisfied with the customer experience (CX) in Asia-Pacific and Japan (APJ).
Qualtrics’ director of XM solutions & strategy, Vicky Katsabaris, says there’s a huge opportunity for organisations to improve their services. “The top areas consumers wanted to see improved were prices and fees, customer service support, product capabilities and ease of use, and online resources,” she added.
She opines that following a positive experience, customers are more likely to re-purchase, advocate, and trust the brand, while three-quarters said they would spend more if treated better.
Sandie Overtveld, VP & GM, APAC at WalkMe, asserts that to achieve first-class customer service, businesses are turning to next-generational technologies such as Digital Adoption Platforms (DAPs), which sit on top of software or applications like a glass layer providing customised user guidance and anonymised data analytics to enable the swift resolution of issues and more efficient customer service.
“DAPs can be used to improve end-user experience and therefore reduce support tickets by resolving user confusion directly in the UI. They can also be used to improve adoption of customer service software to empower customer service professionals to do their jobs better,” he added.
Where automation fails in customer service
Self-service is one of the goals that organisations undertaking digital transformation are committed to. Chatbots, for instance, are now a mainstay for many customer-facing interfaces be they retail, hospitality, transportation or financial services. Even government departments like the Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore just Ask Jamie.
It should be noted that simply introducing an automation tool does not translate to improved customer satisfaction. Similarly, the introduction of automation tools into business processes, whether it is human resources, accounts payables or receivables, or workflow automation does not translate to satisfaction on the part of the intended user – employee or customer.
According to Katsabaris, consumers expect the companies they engage with to know their needs better than ever before.
"Automation is critical from the outset to ensure organisations can meaningfully act at speed and scale in these environments, as well as capture and act on every piece of feedback."
Vicky Katsabaris
“Today, most brands have only scratched the surface of what’s possible,” she opined.
For his part, Overtveld claims that a key reason for automation tools or process failure is due to the technology being designed around a task instead of the user.
“According to Forrester, customer service is heading to a future that is “automatedly” human. This requires leaders to adopt technology that can guide and empower customers to reap the benefits of great customer service,” he continued.
CX programs need to be a system of action whereby organisations can listen, understand, and act on responses.
How automation supports customer service
Overtveld says that in an ideal setting, automation should complement the end-user and should elevate the CX. Inefficiency is the fastest way to sour the CX. He added that in today’s competitive business landscape, a poor CX can kill retention and damage your brand image.
“Automation technology offers the opportunity to prevent this from happening. The technology complements the digital user, by assuming the low-touch aspects of customer interactions, automation frees customer service staff to focus on the complex, high-touch elements,” he elaborated.
Who is in charge?
Who gets to decide what technologies should be integrated into a business process? For Katsabaris, the best CX technologies should enable organisations to build automated workflows into their CX and offer pre-configured solutions at the outset. “This allows businesses and governments to instantly take appropriate action to issues as they arise, and continuously drive improvements at a micro-and-macro level,” she added.
She cited a scenario where if a customer leaves negative feedback following their experience buying online, automated workflows can notify an agent to proactively contact the customer to address their feedback or even issue a free voucher/promo via an automated response.
Overtveld believes that the final decision should fall under the shoulders of business leaders. That said, he cautions business leaders must consider the impact of the solutions they deploy on their employees and customers.
“Hence, the integration of technology is a close and concerted effort by various members or different functions or departments to ascertain the right approach for customer service."
Sandie Overtveld
For Srinivasan, the metric to measure the effectiveness of CX is the resolution - seeing the customers are satisfied with their queries being resolved.
Metrics for evaluating the effectiveness
Resources are hard to come by these days. Whether it is to fund process improvement, hire talent, or improve CX. Katsabaris warns that when it comes to defining CX metrics for automation, there is no one size fits all approach due to different organisational needs.
“For some, it will be traditional metrics like NPS or CSAT, while others might want to consider sales, cart abandonment, or resolution times,” she adds. She offers five steps when choosing a CX metric:
- Link the metric directly to outcomes
- Set achievable goals and manage expectations
- Identify key drivers
- Establish key driver metrics
- Make metrics actionable
“A clear metric to observe is the level of end-user engagement when a technology is deployed. Businesses need to rely on data to make informed decisions regarding their employees and CX,” added Overtveld.
Advice for leaders
Qualtrics’ Katsabaris believes that it is important for leaders to listen, understand, and ACT. She explains this is the foundation of meaningful relationships, ensuring organisations understand and serve their customers’ needs.
She also says CX programs need to capture every piece of feedback - both directly (structured) and indirectly (unstructured) shared - such as in forums, social media, chat, and phone calls.
“Finally, enable your employees to deliver great CXs by better understanding the relationship between CX and EX, organisations can link their programs to guide, inform, and continuously take meaningful action to drive improvements,” she opined.
WalkMe’s Overtveld posits that in 2022 and beyond, the user experience will become paramount to achieving true digital adoption. He cautioned that while choosing the right technology is critical for successful implementation, ignoring the human element that propels this forward comes at great peril. “Organisations that effectively bridge the gap between humans and technology are poised to achieve greater business outcomes and DAPs are the not-so-secret weapon to accomplish this,” he added.
Forrester’s Srinivasan suggests first creating channels with a focus on resolution. “Make sure it does not have leakages between channels. The second is to have a roadmap that is looking at what the end-user experiences and aims to continuously improve that experience. Finally, keep the human in the loop. It is not about removing the human layer but empowering it by using automation,” she concluded.
* Editor’s note: Click here to listen to Srinivasan for a more in-depth view of customer experience and automation.
