Salesforce.com recently announced the forthcoming launch of a new type of mobile app support, dubbed Salesforce1 Service Cloud SOS.
The feature takes the form of an SOS button directly inside any mobile app and promises to help any business that uses Salesforce for service sharpen its customer support game:
Salesforce.com: With new live video support and on-screen guided assistance, companies will be able to deliver instant and personalized customer service within any mobile app.
Why do mobile apps need an SOS button? “Because consumers are downloading billions of apps, yet most of those apps — whether for retailers, travel-related businesses, banks or other financial services — lack clear and easy-to-use customer-support functionality,” reports InformationWeek.
‘Mayday’ For Customer Service
Salesforce.com likened the new feature, which is due to be released during the second half of this year, to the Amazon Kindle Mayday button, which the e-tailer introduced in September. Hitting the Mayday button allows a customer support representative to talk to customers via their Kindles, as well as see what’s on the customers’ screens, to troubleshoot any problems they’re having. Notably, however, the video link is one-way only: Customers can see and hear a support rep, but agents only hear the customers and see their screens.
Salesforce SOS will function in a similar manner. But because the service is built on Service Cloud and Force.com, customer support agents will also have access to customers’ Salesforce CRM records, including their purchase and service histories.
Salesforce will offer the functionality via a code that developers can embed in their native iOS and Android apps.
Tap Mobile Technology For Better Service
The Salesforce.com SOS announcement is just one more example of how businesses can harness the power of mobile platforms to improve the customer service experience.
Another up-and-coming offering with similar potential is location awareness, enabled for example via Apple’s iBeacons, which use wireless networking to share data between a mobile device and/or app and in-store wireless sensors. Forward-thinking retailers such as Burberry are already testing the technology to overhaul the so-called “clienteling” experience, for example to know your name and dress size when you walk into their store, so salespeople can more rapidly provide assistance.
Meanwhile, Virgin Atlantic airline announced last week one of the world’s biggest iBeacon trials for its Heathrow airport “clubhouse.”
“The beacons are very good at providing us with information on who you are and where you are so one of the things we are looking to do is, on arrival to the clubhouse, we can greet you by name and because we know who you are we know what your favorite cocktail is and we can have one waiting at the bar as you walk on in,” James Shanahan, Virgin’s head of ebusiness development, writes on the Virgin website.
The move follows the airline’s investigation of customer service uses for Google Glass. “We carefully assess new technologies that are out there and — as you can see from this and the Google Glass experiments — it’s very much about ensuring there is a customer benefit to deploying these technologies,” Shanahan adds.
Required: Mature Customer Service Processes
The key point in Shanahan’s commentary is that Virgin isn’t tapping technology for technology’s sake. Instead, Virgin is testing whether it can be used to improve the customer experience. Underlying this discussion, however, is another key point: Just tapping iBeacons, Google Glass or Salesforce1 Service Cloud SOS won’t give your business a cutting-edge customer service program. In other words, before making point improvements, you first need a well-built foundation.
Consider, for example, that Amazon’s stated goal with its Mayday service is to answer all related calls within 15 seconds. Furthermore, this past Christmas Day, Amazon boasted that its average Mayday response time was just 9 seconds. Making that happen, of course, took much more than Amazon adding a Mayday button to the Kindle user interface.
Accordingly, before attempting to implement these types of features, businesses should first detail their customer service plan. Ideally, tie it to the overarching goals of your business and specify metrics for success. Then focus on rapidly implementing the best business processes and technology for the job. Even for businesses that already have mature customer service programs in place, making it easier for customers to connect to the contact center is a great step forward.
Post and thumbnail photos courtesy of Flickr user Lali Masriera.
