This year I attended Customer Contact Week in Las Vegas (CCW Vegas 2023), which for over 25 years, has provided industry leaders with a platform to share groundbreaking solutions and expert insights for customer contact excellence. At the event, I had the pleasure of meeting Nicole Kyle, Managing director and co-founder of CMP Research. Nicole’s current research initiative is focused on optimising self-service for the modern customer experience.
As we discussed the struggles facing contact centres worldwide, I realised that not only do we need a new way of thinking about customer management, but it was evidence of a global shift in how we view people and how they want to be served.
I distilled three key points from our conversation that can help to elevate your CX strategy, adapt to the modern customer and future-proof your business.
#1 Demand for self-service is growing
The COVID-19 pandemic and mass migrations to work remotely have increased consumer demand for self-sufficiency and a self-directed experience. As Nicole says, “Customers value their time more than ever and don’t want to spend 20 minutes speaking to a banking agent to order a new card if they can do it themselves through an app”. But adopting self-service isn’t easy, and Nicole mentions it as one of the toughest challenges executives will face this year. As a starting point, CX leaders might consider integrating SMS messages or a chat function into their CX strategy to align with the evolving customer.
#2 Closing the trust gap
Late adopters remain sceptical about SMS or a chat portal solving issues faster than a human representative. “If your self-service experience delays the resolution of a customer issue, it only deepens the growing trust gap between consumers, customers, human beings and your self-service”, Nicole says. This is why tailoring your self-service function to the issue type is essential. She adds, “A self-service portal might aggravate customers further if an issue is complex and requires multiple security checks. In more straightforward cases, a customer might want to go to a self-service portal to resolve their issue faster”. While we bridge the trust gap, contact centres may want to provide customers with an additional option to speak to a human representative.
#3 Balancing EX with CX
The NorthStar for customer contact leaders and CX leaders is a frictionless experience, but many factors contribute to that. Nicole’s research suggests that “employee experience heavily determines customer experience and that employees satisfied in their roles are 50% more likely to overperform on CSAT (customer satisfaction) scores”. However, even with the best talent, contact centres must ensure that their technology and processes keep pace with how customers want to be served.
Final thoughts
Excellent customer experience is a delicate balance between people, processes and technology. As customer expectations for efficiency and self-service continue to rise, CX leaders should prioritise acquiring the best talent and the right technology to close the trust gap, provide a frictionless experience and ultimately improve their bottom line.
