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Customer data and analytics ‘top priority’ for achieving customer service goals

960 640 Stuart O'Brien

Customer service and support leaders cited customer data and analytics as a top priority for achieving organisational goals in 2023, according top new research.

In a Gartner online survey of 283 customer service and support leaders from August-October 2022, 84% of customer service and service support leaders cited customer data and analytics as “very or extremely important” for achieving their organisational goals in 2023. Eighty percent of respondents ranked digital channel effectiveness as “very or extremely important,” along with employee performance, development and quality assurance.

The Gartner survey revealed improving operations and growing the business are the two most important business goals for 2023.

“Understanding customers’ needs and expectations for their service experience is integral for improving loyalty and creating customer value, especially when organizations are up against economic headwinds,” said Jonathan Schmidt, Sr Principal, Advisory in the Gartner Customer Service & Support practice. “Executing on this vision requires investment in customer data and analytics, knowledge management, and an enduring partnership with IT.”

In light of recent economic headwinds, customer service and support leaders plan to devote more resources to improving, automating or eliminating inefficient processes (59% of respondents), migrating service volume to digital and self-service channels (51%) and contributing to the top-line by creating customer value (46%) in the near future.

“In tough economic times, customer service and support leaders are often encouraged by their CFOs to make do with what they have,” said Schmidt. “Given how difficult it is to hire and retain talent, it makes sense that they are tackling inefficiencies and prioritizing digital channels as a strategy for driving down costs without reducing headcount or sacrificing customer experience.”

With these survey findings in mind, Gartner recommends customer service and support leaders:

  • Collect actionable customer data across channels through a robust VoC program that goes beyond surveys and incorporates more advanced methods such as speech, text and digital experience analytics. Leveraging these methods for decisions on personnel, processes and technologies, is key to a successful customer service function.
  • Build digital self-service teams to oversee the digital channel strategy, manage channels like products, and work closely with data analysts to develop and measure success metrics.
  • Enable customer service agents with technology, such as connected desktops, to help them better guide customers through resolution.

[24]7 and Amdocs partnership introduces ‘powerful’ self-service support…

800 450 Jack Wynn

A ‘strategic’ partnership formed by the global customer engagement solutions provider, [24]7 and the customer experience software provider, Amdocs, promises to deliver ‘intelligent, personalised customer support’ across all service channels including email, voice, chat  and web; meanwhile reducing the time and costs associated with setting up consumer self-service.

The combination of both offerings claims to grant customers an ‘enhanced’ customer experience with the integration of Amdocs Customer Care, Omnichannel Experience and Digital Care and Commerce solutions, with [24]7’s Virtual Agent technology, and [24]7 Speech. As a result, this allows customers to easily manage billing needs through phone self-service, including account balance, payment inquiries and customer service.

[24]7’s chief marketing officer, Scott Horn, commented: “In the highly competitive telecom industry, the ability to deliver an effortless customer service experience is a key differentiator. Our partnership with Amdocs enables telecommunications companies to offer powerful self-service options to their customers, and if someone needs to transfer to a live agent, they can do so without losing context. This eliminates the need to repeat information, one of the biggest pain points in customer service.”

According to both parties, the offering has already been snapped up by an undisclosed wireless service provider.

To learn more about [24]7’s customer engagement solutions, click here