I’m hearing lots about customer expectations & how they’re changing. According to a recent report by medium.com, companies that successfully engage their B2B customers realise 63% lower customer attrition. They also achieve a 55% higher share of wallet, and 50% higher productivity!
So how do you align operations to changing customer expectations? In this article I consider:
– Why expectations are changing
– How this could impact / what you should think about
– How your operations may need to change
– What you should measure to get to the right priorities
Photo by Arlington Research on Unsplash
Customer Expectations are increasing
An ever-growing challenge that isn’t going to subside, is that we are always switched on & connected. At least 60% of UK adults use more than 2 devices with 87% of us using a smartphone*. We therefore have much easier access to organisations if things go wrong.
Equally, new and emerging consumer technologies continue to become a core part of our lives (I sit here typing this on my Mac with phone and laptop close by & iPad downstairs. They are accessible to all ages for a variety of different needs and are easy to use, with great product design (that isn’t just apple products, a lot of consumer electronics now meet this human need).
Along with next day delivery, (now even same day delivery), for virtually anything becoming part of our shopping habits, are we just becoming intolerant of poor product and service design?
What is a day in the life of an ever-typical customer – more so now…
So if we can check our smart phone 350 times a day, find out ‘near time’ information about: what our friends ate for dinner; how a family members birthday celebration went (as we couldn’t attend); and what a random person we met at a conference a while ago thinks about everything. We can at the same time: book our holidays / staycations from our phones; order dinner to be delivered from a local restaurant; purchase an electronic item through ‘click and collect’ for collection at a supermarket; and download a book that other people highly recommended. All whilst travelling if you need to!
Is this becoming more typical of your customers too?
We are now even more used to online shopping / apps since that has been our main way to purchase over recent weeks / months – is it any wonder that our service expectations are increasing?
We no longer tolerate stuff that’s not personal or relevant. We get far too many e-mails that we’re quick to hit the “Delete” button or even unsubscribe if we can be bothered to go through that process. So how do we almost stop that deleting or ignoring of things and make it feel real for customers?
We naturally work across multiple channels. I find myself watching TV whilst texting and doing a little bit of retail therapy on my iPad. We are fast becoming anytime, anyplace, anything. How do we deliver that ‘martini service’ for all our customers out there?
We know far more about customers, they are quite willing in most cases to give us information about themselves, you can determine more a more about their persona from their social media footprint. Tailoring services or messages based on this drives engagement.
So how does this impact how you operate?
The aim for organisations should be to maximise revenue through engaged colleagues and customers. In order to achieve this, we need to understand them. If we do this, we can align what we do best with what customers want most through our people.
Once you know what customers and colleagues want and the issues they face, you can work to improve your processes and ways of working and importantly, measure your effectiveness. It isn’t just about what you do, it’s how you do it.
Finally, you should look at how technology can make it easier for colleagues and customers to deliver and receive the service. There is still a relatively low level of digital automation being used and so cost benefits are not being fully realised.
What does the research say?
The mean cost per inbound transaction by channel was shown to be: Phone (£4.53); Email (£3.89); Web chat (£3.39); Social Media (£3.18). For emails, it is therefore the case that if the query is not answered satisfactorily within a single response, the time and cost associated with multiple replies and possibly phone calls is soon greater than if the customer had simply called in the first instance.**
We can see that customers want to use different channels at different times and after all, we are all different – you won’t win by driving customers to one cheaper channel.
There can be strong patterns for contact based on age, but it does also depend on the nature of the contact, whether emotional, urgent or complex. Urgent queries will for example drive self-serve attempts – to get an answer quickly. For a product which customers really wanted to receive and had been delivered but was incorrect, the most popular option was to email the organisation (46%), with the second most popular (19%), was phoning the contact centre.**
What should you measure?
Based on research and experience, you need to measure use of channels based on contact types, look at time to achieve an outcome, also did all the people who started a process in a certain channel complete it? If not, why? If they are dropping out or aborting, where and why – have you tried this process yourself, have your customer service colleagues tried it, as an internal test? and look for opportunities to improve efficiency and effectiveness of how you serve customers. There may one or two channels that would be better for a customer to use and it may mean you really do need to speak with them.
Depending on your organisation this may involve a whole scale change to your operating model, or a focus on the areas of the business where customers are served.
A final thought…
As the green cross code used to say:
STOP – take a pause & think about your purpose and how you’re doing in delivering it
LOOK – at your measures and what they’re saying
LISTEN – to your customers and colleagues (outside in and inside out)
Then start your planning to achieve an effective, seamless service that works for all your people.
Beverley Stag
Custerian Outcome Creation Specialist
*Statista, March 2020
** Contact Babel: The Inner Circle Guide to Contact Centre Remote Working Solutions, 2020
