As Published on December 23, 2019, in New Jersey Tech Weekly
Vicasso (Hamilton) is in an interesting space where we deliver exceptional service and enable our customers to deliver exceptional service. Therefore, a key topic of our annual plan refresh is how to improve by anticipating our customers’ (and our customers’ customers’) continuously increasing service expectations.
We recognize that this is not only important to us, but also to your business. Salesforce’s recent State of Service Report stated that 82% of service decision-makers “think their company’s customer service must transform to stay competitive.” This is because “80% of customers say that the experience a company provides is as important as its products or services,” and 57% of these customers have switched allegiance simply because another company offered a” better experience.”
So, to help you out, the following is what’s in store for Vicasso, and for our service-based customers, in 2020:
The overarching service topic that our teams are focused on is “how to further reduce customer friction.” Reducing friction is about delivering a great experience by making the process as simple as possible for your customer. You may have experienced this when ordering from Amazon, picking up from Target’s curbside Order Pickup or processing a return with Zappos.
Whether the business goal is to empower customers to self serve, to raise the Customer Satisfaction Score (CSAT) or Net Promoter Score (NPS), or simply deliver a more streamlined and better employee experience, in the year ahead we expect that more businesses will be investing in improving four particular areas to reduce customer friction:
Responsiveness
Responsiveness is the first thing a customer notices, and it’s perhaps the most important part of the customer service experience. To earn a reputation as a responsive brand, we must respond quickly. We do this by actively managing our response times, and by raising proactive alerts if we are at risk of not responding on time.
Utilization
As the Salesforce report notes, “Up to 70% of today’s (service) agents view their positions as more strategic than two years ago”. A critical starting point for enabling support agent staff to think more strategically is the utilization of precise performance metrics, which will empower employees to get further training, improve accountability and ultimately deliver higher performance.
Personalization
At a recent recruiting event, our table was packed with candidates. We were a hit! Later, the event coordinator asked how we were so successful. The answer: Ahead of the event, we sent personalized invitations to each attendee, notifying them of our open positions and inviting them to meet with us. In other words, we delivered on what customers have come to expect: unique messages that offer real resolutions to specific issues.
Feedback
We can’t confidently know how to improve if we don’t ask our customers. Therefore, we seek feedback through easy-to-use surveys, online reviews and more. By using feedback and metrics together, we continuously evolve our processes to meet our customer’s expanding needs.
At Vicasso, we partner closely with businesses to provide service-enhancing solutions that reduce friction for customers, partners and employees. We do all of this with our native, highly acclaimed Salesforce AppExchange applications, as well as by customizing the Salesforce Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, and Community Cloud to meet your customers’ needs.
