Better Business

BETTER BUSINESS COMPANIES ARE CHANGING UP THEIR CUSTOMER SERVICE STRATEGIES 67% of consumers state they are inclined to spend more money with a company that provides top-notch customer service, and 75% of consumers are willing to spend more money with companies that boast a history of quality customer service. To keep the numbers high, businesses small and large are still putting the customer first. But what is their approach? GOOD MONEY FOR GOOD SERVICE Companies across several industries have learned that good customer service can mean a substantial financial ROI. Additional Purchases Churn Reduction I Word of Mouth Total (Dollars in Millions) 300 600 900 1,200 1,500 HOTELS WIRELESS SERVICE PROVIDERS AIRLINES INSURANCE PROVIDERS CREDIT CARD PROVIDERS BANKS INVESTMENT FIRMS MAKING ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT Whether they have the budget for it or not, companies seek to improve the customer experience. According to Forrester's "The State of Customer Though more than 90% of companies seek to Experience 2012," improving customer service change their customers' experience for the was a top priority for companies in 2012. better, most still don't have a budget specifically dedicated to customer experience improvement. 28% considered it 37% have one in place. 27% don't have one, to be the top priority. 65% listed it as a high priority, but not number one. but are actively considering it. 33% don't have one 7% didn't think at all. of it as a top priority. 3% don't know. Nearly 80%, however, spent We plan to spend significantly more. 15% the same amount of money or We plan to spend somewhat more. 28% more on their customer We plan to spend about the same. 36% experience programs in We plan to spend somewhat less. 2012 than the year before. We plan to spend signigicantly less. 80% We don't know/Other. 17% STRATEGIC INITIATIVES There's a full spectrum of areas primed for improvement when it comes to the customer experience, and companies just have to know what's most important to them. COMPANIES HAVE SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES FOR COMPANIES ALSO SPENT MONEY ON THE THEIR CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE PROGRAMS. TOOLS AND TECHNOLOGIES, SUCH AS: Improving the online customer experience. 75% 44% 44% 43% Improving cross-channel customer experiences. 74% Social Media Monitoring Software CRM Tools Customer Data Adding or improving mobile customer experiences. 61% Integration Using communities and other types of social computing. 48% Improving the experience of interacting with a call center agent. 43% 37% 29% 24% Improving the store/branch customer experience. 29% Behavioral Enterprise Feedback Text or Voice Web Analytics Analytics Platforms Management Tools Improving the phone self-service customer experience (IVR/speech). 22% TO ACHIEVE THESE GOALS, COMPANIES FOCUSED ON THE FOLLOWING AREAS OF IMPROVEMENT 23% 22% 21% LAST YEAR: Multivariate 77% - Employee Training and Education Cross-channel Website Session Customer Analytics Platforms Recording Playback Tools Testing Tools 75% - Internal Communications 19% Call Center Equipment Upgrades 36% – Informal Reward and Recognition Programs MOVING FORWARD Keep up-to-date with a few dominant customer service trends that Gartner expexts to come in the new few years, including mobile customer support, application migration to the cloud, and collaborative customer service processes. Companies can see another fast-growing trend, too: social care. With a third (and more!) of Don't list a Facebook page T on their "Contact Us" page. consumers claiming to use social 51% media for customer service, companies should be positioning Don't list a Twitter handle 55% on their "Contact Us" page. themselves front and center in social media. Yet, when it comes X Don't list social media channels on their homepage at all. 27% to consumer-facing Fortune 500 companies... WHEN IT COMES TO CUSTOMER SERVICE ON SOCIAL MEDIA: Don't delete negative posts. Show that you're handling the issue. Don't respond with a formal-sounding, copied-and-pasted reply. Don't pick favorites among problems. Help all customers the same across the board. Companies need to change their customer service approaches for the better, and they know it. Infosys Created by COLUMN FIVE SOURCES: forrester.com, lithium.com, gartner.com, medalia.com