6 ways to improve customer experiences through better measurement
No longer just a post-sales, reactive function, customer service is now at the heart of integrated customer experiences spanning multiple channels. So how do we think differently about KPIs to better measure service’s new role – and how can it build better customer experiences along the way?
Time to read: 5 minutes
When success is different to what it used to be, success can no longer be measured using old methods. The 4th edition State of Service report shows that service organisations have already adjusted their success metrics in response to the pandemic, with more teams closely tracking revenue and customer retention. And, even before the pandemic, a ‘customer effort score’ was rising in popularity, finally breaking into the top five KPIs measured worldwide in 2020.
These changes reflect both short-term adaptation and a long-term focus on a more holistic understanding of customer experience. As service continues to evolve, how can organisations track success in ways that promote frictionless experiences, regardless of channel?
The big picture
1) Smash the silos
For customer service teams to play their vital, new role, they must be able to share their own data and metrics with other teams, and have clear visibility into those teams’ metrics, too.
Service teams cannot revolutionise customer experience on their own. Their success relies on coordination with every other function, especially sales, marketing and e-commerce. An overwhelming 79% of service professionals in the State of Service report said it’s impossible to provide great service without full customer context.
Relevance, empathy and trustworthiness must be prioritised across the board. If service remains in a silo, messages are more likely to be mixed and expectations around customer experience might not be met. Collaboration is the name of the game.
MEASUREMENT #1: Is the amount of relevant data shared between departments increasing? How many KPIs are shared between service, sales and marketing?
2) Adapt to new workforce needs
Service agents in particular tend to have more direct relationships with customers, making it crucial for those employees to have the support, training and skills needed to create the interactions customers want. Since 2019, the amount of service professionals working remotely has increased significantly. While Australia and New Zealand may have comparably fewer restrictions than many other countries, it seems likely that at least some service organisations will retain a degree of remote work.
Though it’s still early days, only a quarter of service professionals say their organisations have mastered remote training and even fewer (19%) say their organisations excel at remote onboarding. For organisations hoping to continue growing, evolving and upskilling their people, these are the types of areas they’ll need to track more closely.
Similar to a more holistic focus on customer experience, there are growing incentives for organisations to track the overall employee experience, including wellness.
MEASUREMENT #2: How are employee responses tracking for new starters or for those stepping into new roles, compared to overall responses?
Skills to match the new scope of service
3) Blending soft and hard skill sets
Service agents increasingly act as ambassadors for brands and trusted advisors for customers. That means they need a mix of hard skills like digital know-how and product knowledge.
But soft skills are increasingly important, too, especially as self-service channels and automation help customers solve simpler issues. The cases that reach agents are becoming more complex and demand the sort of empathy and contextual reasoning that machines can’t provide.
To match service teams’ broadening scopes, the three most prized soft skills are communication, listening skills and adaptability. In the response to COVID-19, 85% of service teams in ANZ say they’ve changed policies to provide customers with more flexibility. As customers acclimate to more flexibility and personalisation, it’s likely that soft skills will take on new importance.
MEASUREMENT #3: Does training include any soft skills, and what are the take-up or completion rates among employees?
4) Adaptability and agility
More and more, customers expect access to service professionals anywhere, at any time and via any channel.
Meanwhile, the pandemic has pushed that expectation in a more digital direction – 87% of service professionals say customers have increased their use of digital channels during the pandemic. Since 2018, usage of online chat/live support (up 35%), Messenger apps (up 29%) and video support (up 42%) have risen most dramatically.
At the same time, service organisations say the phone is still the most popular service channel but has dropped 2%. Email still comes a close second but has dropped 3%.
It all points to the need to be able to work across multiple channels, including new digital channels. And, with the right tools, organisations can automatically route customer cases according to agent skill sets and availability.
MEASUREMENT #4: What percentage of your team has the knowledge and the tools to service digital channels, as well as voice and email? Is this figure increasing in a way that’s proportional to customer demand?
Top technology to empower service professionals
5) Let tech take over the admin
In many service organisations, case volumes are increasing but head count and budgets are flattening or shrinking. How, then, does a service agent continue to improve customer experience? 83% of customers expect to interact with someone immediately when they make contact, and that 63% of agents say it’s difficult to balance speed and quality.
Leading service organisations are offering their people superpowers with the help of technology. Traditional methods, particularly phone, are still preferred by 76% of service professionals for complex cases. Simpler cases, though, can be handled via automated and self-service channels such as chatbots, knowledge bases and online communities.
Crucially, the right tools can also lead to better measurement itself. Not only can telephony integration automate note-taking and call logging – helping your agent focus on the customer – but it can enable more accurate tracking of case resolution numbers and call volume reports.
High-performing businesses are automating the simpler and more repetitive tasks in order to liberate their service teams to do what they do best: keep customers happy and engaged.
MEASUREMENT #5: How much agent time is spent on administrative tasks or low-level service interactions? As tech is introduced, is this time reducing?
6) Change the balance of basic metrics
Traditional measures such as customer satisfaction, revenue and average handle time are still important, but have shifted amid the pandemic. Here’s how the basics are changing among service organisations.
However, no matter how fundamental the KPI, the right tech solutions are critical for accurately tracking it. And, of course, many of these solutions are the very tools that can improve experiences on both sides of a case.
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