Where should customer service go?

The continuous improvement of the quality of the customer experience has become the fundamental factor that establishes the difference between the leading brands and organizations, and those more behind. Regardless of where we are in the world, expectations regarding customer service have only increased over the last few years around aspects and ideas such as convenience, speed, agents’ knowledge and, of course, under the digital transformation and the greater variety of communication channels.

As every year, technology giant Microsoft has compiled a survey of customer service preferences and expectations among five thousand consumers in Germany, the United Kingdom, Japan, the United States and Brazil, reflecting that, just as there are differences between locations, Are coincidences that constitute trends at the global level.

According to 61% of consumers consulted, customer service is considered as a “very important” factor when choosing a brand, as well as when to stay, or not, with it. Thus, brands can no longer consider contact centers as an expense, but as an investment of value that confirms the brand’s commitment to its customers, accelerates the growth of the business and, therefore, must be enhanced.

From this perspective, Microsoft’s report points to three key conclusions that point to the direction where customer services should go:

1. Customer expectations continue to increase rapidly, and this includes not only faster service or resolution at the first contact, but also a proactive service capable of getting ahead of the customer’s awareness of the existence of a problem.

2. Preferred communication channels change as the age of clients change, and therefore brands must continually innovate to keep up to date; online channels continue to grow faster than the phone, a much more traditional and more typical channel of older groups.

3. The quality of customer service becomes a key decision factor in customer acquisition and loyalty. In fact, 60% of consumers questioned claim to have abandoned a brand after having experienced a bad customer service experience. Taking into account that attracting a new customer is up to six times more expensive than retaining an existing one, it becomes clear the need to work actively to increase the degree of loyalty.

From the above, it is clear that in today’s world, perhaps more than at any other time in business history, engaging with the customer by increasing their satisfaction and fidelity is crucial to the success of brands.