Personalization in customer service, key to the contact center sector

We live in digital era and yet the human component in contact centers remains a vital factor to provide the best possible customer service experience and boost business. Every year thousands of customers abandon their suppliers due to poor customer service, an outcome that costs billions of dollars to businesses and that could be avoided with a “more humane” service. Digital technology in contact centers Digital technology is transforming rapidly the global contact center industry. Organizations recognize that the customer experience is a key differentiator, high on the strategic lines that are discussed in boardrooms. But digital channels could be even more powerful if they show a “human touch”. This is the main conclusion reached by the report “2016 Global Contact Centre Benchmarking” which, as every year, has made the firm Dimension Data. Currently, cloud-based contact centers are providing powerful results because they allow shift the focus from infrastructure technology to its ability to offer a multichannel and better-integrated end-user experience. However, this report shows that there is still a long way to go, and that multichannel digital experience also requires the human component. Contact centers, digital technology and customer service (2016-2020) For the period 2016-2020, Dimension Data highlights the following key points regarding customer service:

1. The migration to the cloud is becoming a standard in the contact center industry due to its many benefits: can offer customers a seamless contact point, helps reduce costs, accelerate business, increases productivity… Cloud solutions are tripled, and most organizations opt for a hybrid cloud solution combining existing systems with new solutions.

2. The contact through digital channels grows continuously, compared with a decrease of 12% of the telephone interaction. Customer satisfaction is the main reason to offer digital channels, even over cost savings. However, 20% of respondents say that digital technology does not yet meet business needs.

3. Four out of five organizations recognize that user experience and contact centers are a competitive differentiator that helps increase sales, reduce costs, increase customer loyalty and enhance the commitment of employees.

4. 82.5% of companies say that customer experience is a competitive differentiator and 77.5% believe it is the most important strategic performance measure.

5. Society is mobile. Customers are continuously moving and it is necessary to improve the customer experience through a complete integration of the available channels offering value-added services (e.g. mapping customers’ trips to provide information of interest, discounts…). This omnichannel capacity will triple over the next two years.

6. Proactive automation to anticipate customer needs in terms of sales and marketing, service updates, etc., thus reducing the propensity for contact and favoring a better experience.

7. More efficient use of big data analysis in order to provide a more personalized customer service. This trend is demonstrated in the fact that, for the third consecutive year, the ability to identify in advance and segmenting customers has increased. 23% of companies can offer a personalized experience based on information and analytics they have on their clients.