If your online customer service doesn’t meet their expectations, 75 percent will try another channel, costing you an average of $22 million annually in escalation and other costs. That’s one sobering finding from Embrace Continuous Improvement To Power Customer Service Operations, a Forrester Research report that’s packed with tips for avoiding those kinds of hits to your brand and bottom line. In fact, Andrew Reise Consulting believes the report is such a must-read that we’ve bought the reprint rights and are making it available for free for a limited time. In a dozen pages, Forrester’s Kate Leggett identifies the major pitfalls and how to avoid them. Some highlights:
- Consumers expect a consistent customer-service experience across all of a company’s channels. Confusion and frustration ensues when that’s not the case, which typically is the case. Breaking that mold helps your brand stand out from the pack.
- Consumers hate it when they start an interaction in one channel, switch to another and then have to repeat everything. Siloing is the culprit, but that doesn’t mean it’s an excuse. “You must map these cross-channel journeys to effectively support customers in the breadth of their interactions,” Leggett advises. “Also, make sure that customer service agents have access to a customer’s interaction history across channels.”
- Siloing also increases agent frustration, training time and turnover because they’re often forced to use multiple disconnected applications to resolve a single customer issue. Calm agents provide better service, too.
The report uses case studies of Bally Total Fitness, eBay and a major wireless carrier to show how companies have successfully tackled problems such as high repeat calls, low customer loyalty and limited differentiation opportunities. Sixty-five percent of customer service organizations say they struggle to tame costs, Leggett says. Maybe you’re one of them. Or maybe you want to avoid becoming one of them. Either way, this report is a great first step toward wowing your customers.
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