Earlier this year, it was reported the number of mobile devices will outnumber the total world population in 2012 and global mobile data traffic will increase 18-fold between 2011 and 2016.
Bottom line: customers are spending more time on their mobile devices and there is a growing expectation that companies offer mobile customer support features.
As customer care professionals determine what types of mobile customer support tools will best fit their business, the challenge will be how to ensure these tools put the customer experience first in every possible instance.
Defining a “customer experience” (CX) is often the center of debate among customer care professionals. Some argue that the customer’s online or digital interactions and perceptions of a company are paramount, while others place a higher value on the personalized connection with the customer whether it is on the phone or in-person.
To us, a mobile customer experience can be defined as a sum of all these parts and ultimately should focus on how customers engage with a company and brand on a mobile device throughout their entire customer lifecycle, not just at a specific moment.
Although the features that make-up a successful mobile CX will often vary, the common denominator within any mobile strategy is simple: personalization.
Mobile CX cannot be a copy and paste of other channels – it needs to offer unique features and qualities that complement and add additional value to the business’ other channels. Those additional capabilities can include any of the following:
- Branded mobile apps
- Interactive self-service tools
- Location-based capabilities
- Text message support
- Proactive mobile alerts to push breaking company information to the users’ devices
- Interactions tailored to the customer so as to not invade what is still a personal device
Regardless of the specific features, a mobile CX is only as successful as its availability. If customers experience any downtime with a company’s mobile features, they will lose trust in the channel and the business risks losing that customer for good.
