The key steps to exceeding your customers’ expectations.
Personalised customer support means giving consumers information and services that match their individual preferences. Customers prefer to be treated as individuals, not a number. They will engage more, and for longer, with brands and businesses that demonstrate an understanding of their needs.
Modern customer support and contact centre technology, using AI at its core, can help businesses build detailed purchasing and preference profiles of their customers, content audiences, and consumers who make product or service enquiries.
Most consumers are seeking and expect a level of personalised service that requires a high degree of data collection and sharing to function. However, even this causal relationship with data security has its limits, as a significant proportion of UK consumers are still willing to take preventive action if they feel their data has been improperly used or shared.
A third of study respondents said they had ‘taken action’ (i.e. unsubscribed) against companies they perceived as having breached ‘fair use’ data sharing rules.
In response, data safeguarding training must be a core workforce activity for Contact Centre and Customer Support (CC&CS) teams and businesses, with data compliance personnel attached to every unit, and regular audits of data usage conducted to ensure fair use.
Businesses that fail to keep their customer data safe in the quest for growth run the risk of customer revolt, litigation, regulatory penalties, and shrinking market share.
What can go wrong?
In 2023, a £346 million fine was handed out to tech giant Meta over illegal data sharing.
Globally, CC&CS operations have attempted to improve their service quality post-pandemic. However, according to the UK’s Institute of Customer Service ‘State of Customer Satisfaction Report’ from January 2023, the UK Customer Service Index (UKCSI) had declined to 77.7%, a fall of 0.7% since July 2022. More organisations had declined than improved, with 16.5% of customers reporting a bad customer support experience.
When technology fails, or the issues are too complex for remote solutions, as typically seen with sales, human agents will pick up the slack. CC&CS business leaders must therefore ensure their employees deliver the best service at all times to avoid losing their customers.
Monitoring of customer service and staff incentives are the most common methods to keep quality at a premium.
Remember: Employees often provide outstanding service that doesn’t always result in an immediate sale. Instead, it retains the customer’s future loyalty. Reward both equally where possible.
Omnichannel customer service and support has become the gold standard as customers expect personalised and ultra-convenient experiences. Done right, it requires careful coordination of technology, human agents, and remote services, as well as constant access to the latest information.
Challenges with omnichannel customer service centres include inefficient complaint resolution, lack of personalised content, incomplete data, and channel conflict (one channel promises something another cannot deliver). Customers face issues with inventory visibility, poor troubleshooting, lack of comprehensive and accurate product/service data, and slow speed of service.
Conquering these challenges requires a well-designed strategy with clear goals: identifying the technology and people skills to make these goals a reality and then merging them to achieve seamless integration is key.
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