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SixBestPracticesforEmpoweringtheCustomerExperience

ccuracy,consistencyandcontinuityareessentialtomeetcustomers
changingneeds.

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byMichaelAbramow
Intherushtocutcosts,manycompaniesareunwittinglypushingtheircustomersthrough
inappropriatechannelpathwaysandcomplexorpoorlyexecutedinterfacesimpactingnearterm
revenueandlongtermrelationships,whosevaluefaroutweighsanycostsavings.Companiesthat
failtoofferacustomerexperiencethatmeetsexpectationscanfaceescalatingservicecosts,
decliningcustomersatisfactionnumbers,andapoorserviceexperiencethatcanbeamplifiedover
socialchannels,deeplyerodingcompanybrandandreputation.
JohnTschohl,authorofEmpowerment:AWay
ofLife,definesempowermentasgivingusers
theauthoritytomakeimportantdecisionsto
satisfytheirowninternalneedsandtimelines.
Empowermentisaguaranteedinvestment,
hesays.Whenyouempoweryourusersto
makedecisionsquicklytheresultswillbe
amazing:increaseduseradoption,enhanced
customerloyalty,increasedsales,decreased
attrition,andwordofmouthadvertisingthatis
lessexpensiveandmorecrediblethan
anythingyoucouldbuy.
Herearesixbestpracticetopsforempowering
usersthroughamultichannelapproach.
1. Customerknowledge.
Customersknowwhatgoodserviceisandtheydemanditfromeachinteraction,overany
communicationchanneltheywanttouse.Thereisdifferencesinchannelpreferencebycustomer
demographicyoungergenerationaremorecomfortableusingpeertopeercommunication,
socialnetworkingandinstantservicechannelssuchaschat,soyourcompanyneedtomake
thosetechnologiesoptionsavailable.
2. Integratedlifecycleofcustomerengagements.
Yourserviceexperienceshouldallowcustomerstostartaninteractionoveronecommunication
channelandcompleteitoveradifferentoneforinstance,startinganinteractionoverthephone
andthenfollowingupwithanemailcontainingmoredetailedinformation.Customerservice
shouldhaveaccesstothefullmultichannelsessionhistorysoasnottorepeatquestionsor
searches,therebydegradingthecustomerexperience.
3. Consistencyinthecustomerserviceexperience.
Applyingbusinessprocessrulestocustomerserviceprocessesviaselectivebusinessflows
whilstmaintaininginterfaceconsistencywillconsequentlyexpediteproblemresolutionand
increaseusersatisfactionbyallowingchoice,butwithintheguidelinesofcompanypolicy
compliance.
4. Keepyourcustomersexperiencetopofmind.
Notallservicerequestscanbeprocessedinrealtime.Allowingenduserstotrackissuesandbe
keptintheloopregardingproblemresolutioninstillsaleveloftrust.Offeringservicessuchas
tracking,email/SMSalertsandproactivefixesforcommonissuesforwhichtheywishtobe
notifiedwillassistwithbrandloyalty.
5. Maintainingaccuratedata.
Allowinginternalstaffandenduserstoflaginaccurateorincompletecontentdynamicallykeeps
userandcompanydatauptodateandaccurate.Automatedtoolsshouldbepushingthemost

About

OTN

frequentlyaccessedcontenttothetopoftheFAQlistwithusersbeingabletoselfserveviauser
profiling,knowledgebasesanduserbasedforums.ComputermakerLenovoexemplifiesbest
practicesintyingforumstocustomerservice.Asaresultoftheinformationcontainedinitsforums,
Lenovosawa20percentreductioninlaptopsupportcallratesandshortenedproblemresolution
cycles.
6. Listentoyourcustomersacrossallchannels.
Gathercustomerfeedbackaftereveryinteractionandaskopenendedquestionstosolicithonest
opinions.Appendfeedbackformstoalluserviewableknowledgebasecontent.Empowering
userstoalwaysratesolutions,whilstalsomonitoringsocialchannelcomments,iscriticalto
optimizingtheserviceexperience.
Theseempowermenttipscanhelpfacilitateacustomerexperiencestrategytoovercomingthe
ongoingservicechallenge.However,theyarenotsilverbullets.Itisessentialtoconstantlymonitor
feedbackandconsistentlytrackkeyperformanceindicatorsregardingsatisfaction,loyalty,attrition
andeaseofuse.Bestinclasscompaniesarecontinuallyrecraftingtheirofferingstostayonestep
aheadoftheircustomerschangingneeds.
MichaelAbramowisdirectorofIndustryStrategy&InsightatOracle.

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