Digital Customer Service

Transforming Customer Experience for an On-Screen World

Rick DeLisi, Dan Michaeli

• Publisher: Wiley
• Year: 2021
• Print ISBN: 9781119841906
• eBook ISBN: 9781119842064
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Business
• Subtopic: Consumer Behaviour
• Index: Business

Digital Customer Service is the new standard for creating a 5-star customer experience

As much as technology has improved our lives, for many people customer service experiences remain unnecessarily frustrating. But the advent of Digital Customer Service (DCS) promises to make these interactions seamless and effortless by creating experiences that occur entirely on a customer's own screen, even in situations where it is preferable to speak to an agent.

Digital Customer Service: Transforming Customer Experience for an On-Screen World traces the evolution of customer service—as well as the evolution of customer expectations and the underlying psychology that drives customer behavior - from the days of the first call centers in the 1980s all the way to today's digital world.

Written for Customer Service and Customer Experience leaders as well as C-suite executives (CEOs, CFOs, CIOs), Digital Customer Service helps business leaders balancethree critical priorities:

• Creating an excellent experience for customers that increases customer loyalty and profitability
• Driving down the cost of Customer Service/Support interactions, while increasing revenue through Sales interactions
• Moving quickly toward the goal of "digital transformation"

We have discovered—in our research and our first-hand experience—that when companies commit to achieving true Digital Customer Service, they can make significant progress toward all three of these goals at once. Digital Customer Service provides the roadmap for howyour company canget there. And when you do, who wins? EVERYONE.

SECTION Three
DCS Transformation Overview

The DCS service model has been designed as both the “antidote” to the enduring negative mindset most people have when they are contacting Customer Service as well as the pathway for digital-first customer interactions.

But transforming to DCS service operation isn't just a matter of installing new software or completing a switchover to a new system. To succeed, companies need to adapt to a different mindset.

Over the final three chapters, we will share practical information and “things you can do” to create maximum success in the months and years ahead, by exploring the three most important considerations of any transformation:

• Chapter 5: The Process
  • What is the process for transforming the service operation from a platform that was created originally for phone-first interaction (or even “face-to-face”), to one that optimizes to digital-first customer interactions?
• Chapter 6: The People
  • How does transforming to a DCS service model impact the people who interact directly with customers (including your “virtual agents”) – as well as those who lead and manage them?
• Chapter 7: The Positioning
  • How does the transformation to a DCS service strategy position companies differently, in ways that create greater competitive advantage?

Throughout these chapters, we will introduce you to a host of tools, exercises, and diagnostics that will enable you to take the practical steps to accelerate the digital transformation of your service operation.

CHAPTER 5
The Process – A Step-by-Step Guide

What we'll share in this chapter:

• How can your company migrate from a communications platform that was designed to power phone-first customer service, to a platform that powers a digital-first experience?
• What are the essential elements you will need in order to engineer seamless shifts back-and-forth between virtual assistance and live assistance – across all communication modes?
• How should you design the Digital Customer Service “journeys” you want to create for your customers to maximize their future loyalty?
• What metrics will help you know if you're moving in the right direction – for the mutual benefit of your company, your customers and your employees?

PUT IT ON THE SCREEN

The key to getting as far away from off-screen phone calls as you can get, is to discover how to fulfill almost all service interactions in the on-screen environment – including issues that are best served through a verbal discussion with an agent. Again, this hasn't been possible or practical until recently.

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Here's a way to think about the future of service: If a customer is on or near a screen – they should never need to engage in an off-screen phone interaction ever again.

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The transformation from a phone-first model to a digital-first model requires service and digital leaders to rethink the process of how customers complete tasks and resolve issues in online interactions – and (of course) not just to think about customers, but to think like them.

• What are they coming to your website, portals, or mobile app to do?
• Which processes can they complete in self-service, and which require agent assistance?
• What is their mindset as they are beginning each given process?

The goal in DCS is to turn each service interaction into a “curated journey” that creates the lowest-effort experience for customers, but in the most economically efficient way for the company.

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Ultimately you need to engineer digital journeys for your customers that not only achieve resolution but also create loyalty-building experiences.

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And as aspirational as that may sound – it is now possible. Here's an analogy that may help you envision what lies ahead as you continue to evolve your digital strategy.

“COOKING UP” THE IDEAL DIGITAL SERVICE STRATEGY

Let's use a relatable comparison: Instead of being a service, CX, or digital leader responsible for transforming to a digital-first operating environment, what if you were an executive chef charged with developing a concept for a new restaurant?

In order to create your culinary strategy, you would need to follow three primary steps:

• Step 1: Make sure you have access to a variety of excellent ingredients.
• Step 2: Learn more about your customers' taste(s) so you can experiment with different dishes that use your ingredients in the most appealing and efficient way.
• Step 3: Once you know what people like best, consistently serve those dishes.

To translate this to the goal of transforming to a DCS service model:

• Step 1: Get the right ingredients. Acquire the capability to introduce OnScreen Enhancements to add visual clarity to any digital process.
• Step 2: Learn which dishes people like best. Test various digital journeys using customer reaction and feedback to continually improve your ability to refine your recipes.
• Step 3: Serve your best dishes consistently. As you continue to better understand which combinations of OnScreen Enhancements best suit your customers' needs and expectations, focus on consistently delivering excellent digital service experiences that will drive greater loyalty.

In this section we will offer a number of frameworks and exercises that will enable you to accomplish each of these steps.

STEP 1: GET THE RIGHT INGREDIENTS

Each OnScreen Communication, Collaboration, or Automation enhancement shoul...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Table of Contents
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Dedication
• About the Authors
• Foreword
• Preface: Now It's Our Turn
• SECTION One: The Problem with Customer Service and the Digital Opportunity
• SECTION Two: DCS Terminology Overview
• SECTION Three: DCS Transformation Overview
• Epilogue: To Infinity and Beyond
• Digital Customer Service FAQs
• Index
• End User License Agreement