Let’s start with our first article – Why customer service will be so important for businesses and their strategic direction in the future. In this piece, we began with a brief introduction to the topic of customer service. Among other things, it stated that
“aside from the challenge of being constantly available, another important aspect is understanding and speaking the customer’s language. This is particularly true when it comes to self-help materials. How, then, can businesses meet the challenge of resolving customer enquiries as and when they arise?”
The solution comprises several components. On the one hand, processes must be adapted to changing conditions; in other words, existing processes are analysed and optimised. On the other hand, comprehensive tool support is required to map these processes (Important: processes are not adapted to the tool! The (ESM) tool must adapt to the business processes.) and to respond directly to customer enquiries as they arise, so that, in the best-case scenario (we’re talking about service excellence), these can be supported by knowledge articles. But let’s return to the process analyses.
The second article in our series deals with process mining. Here we have learnt that process optimisation can be carried out in a data-driven manner. Among other things, this makes it possible to identify which process steps are time-consuming or where there is potential for automation. The data collected in this way provides the ideal basis for changes and strategic shifts. What’s more, you can take your customer service to a whole new level using AI algorithms. A wide variety of methods can be used to identify opportunities for standardisation and areas where action is needed. Not only will you save valuable time – and therefore money – but your customers will also thank you for it in the long run. The higher the staff satisfaction, the higher the customer satisfaction. And that’s not all. Now that processes have been analysed and optimised, you can gradually adapt to constant change.
Digital business models and customer service
Do you remember that trip back in time to 2001? A broken television on a Sunday evening? What customer wants to buy spare parts or repairs? Customers want the appliance to work again. Nobody buys products just for the sake of it; they buy the benefit that the product provides. When it comes to a television, I’m not buying the set itself, but the entertainment it provides. I don’t buy a washing machine because it looks nice, but because it cleans my washing for me without any effort on my part. Well, all right, you’re right – hanging the washing up and taking it down is work too. But it would be even more labour-intensive to wash the laundry by hand, as they did in Germany in the 1940s. I digress. Back to digital business models. Why shouldn’t companies offer the benefit directly – also known as a subscription model?
Firstly, customers need nothing but this benefit, and secondly, it’s far more sustainable. Another advantage of Product-as-a-Service models is that they foster a lasting customer relationship, and companies don’t have to get drawn into price wars in the product market every few years.
So, with that, the processes have been analysed and optimised. All that’s missing now is a well-maintained knowledge management system, the right software, a bit of IoT, self-service and meaningful KPIs. A piece of cake, isn’t it?
Knowledge management and self-service – an unbeatable duo?
So let’s move on to the next topic – knowledge management. Unlike in the first article, the topic isn’t just touched upon here, but examined in more detail. Knowledge management in a nutshell – a well-maintained knowledge management system helps, on the one hand, to preserve knowledge within the organisation and, on the other, to make it available to customers to enable self-service. It is only by preserving experts’ knowledge that it can be retained within the company and continue to be made available to others. It doesn’t matter whether the user is internal or external.
So how do you extract that knowledge from the experts’ minds? According to our expert, it’s quite simple: you gather the knowledge as questions arise. Within a process, it works as follows: users ask a question, and the agent searches the existing knowledge database. If an answer is available, it is sent back to the enquirer. If no answer is available but the solution is known, a new document is created and then sent. Process complete. Quite simple, isn’t it?
It’s simple precisely because you benefit from all the experts across the company, who collectively build up a knowledge base covering every question that’s ever been asked. This collective corporate encyclopaedia helps support staff in their direct contact with customers, takes the pressure off second- and third-level staff, and is available to all users – and, not least, to all customers. Et voilà: ‘shift left’ – or self-service – is born. Of course, this only works if the articles and solutions provided are understandable to customers.
Shift left – what next?
Right, we’ve now gathered a few ingredients for optimised and efficient customer service. But how do I get the information out to the men, the women and the users? That’s right – all that’s missing is the right tool. It’s not as straightforward as it seems to choose the right tool from a glut of ESM, ITSM or CSM tools. It helps to have a list of requirements, a market overview, appropriate weighting criteria, all relevant business and organisational units involved, a regular meeting, an evaluation and product demos. Quite a lot, I know.
Here’s another tip from us: minimise the number of tools used within the organisation by ensuring interfaces between them, to avoid errors caused by manual data transfers or synchronisation issues – to name just a few superficial reasons. Furthermore, for every tool used, companies should ask themselves: why am I using it, when do I use it, and – once again – why am I using it? There’s also always the question of which other areas should be integrated in the long term to avoid major software overhauls in the future.
IoT in a Nutshell
The Internet of Things – a topic that has been on everyone’s lips for some time now. Much like Digitalisation 4.0 – or can we already talk about Digitalisation 5.0? The comparison is somewhat flawed, however. The IoT, or Internet of Things, is more tangible. In a nutshell – and admittedly in very layman’s terms – the Internet of Things is the multifunctional connector that links the physical world with the digital world.
What does that mean, for example? Using an app and a device of your choice, you can, for instance, control the washing machine or record films at home on the set-top box, even though you’re not even in the same city. Yes, I know – for techies and IoT professionals, this is too simplistic, and I’m also aware that it doesn’t have much to do with customer service just yet. Now let’s imagine that the device and its built-in sensors can notify you that a fault or anomaly has been detected and that the following steps need to be taken to rectify it. Even before customers notice a fault, the product alerts them to an impending failure. That, precisely, is what customer service is all about.
As you can see, taking customer service to a new level – and by that I don’t mean placing the product even more at the centre, but rather putting users at the heart of it all – requires many aspects, some of which are quite intricate. You can think of these aspects as cogs in a clockwork mechanism: they only work when they work together. Yes, companies are undergoing a transformation in this regard, and that’s a good thing. Feedback from customers must be effectively collected, analysed and processed. Corporate culture must change and silos must be broken down, as the new approach to customer service can only be achieved through collaboration.
I once read that quality can be defined by the fact that customers come back – not the product. But what should be done if customers ring twice because the quality of the product isn’t up to scratch at that moment, rather than because they want to buy another product? In that case, the company should respond to the customer, be able to help them and, above all, be accessible – even if the customer is a washing machine.
Pie in the sky, you might think? I’m afraid I have to disappoint you. The following applies to every business: it costs around 25 times as much to win back an angry, disappointed customer as it does to retain them.
