Customer service priorities: Bye-bye silos, hello growth

It’s a harsh reality: Just one bad experience can sour a customer on a brand. Poor CX has led 80% of customers to switch brands with lousy service the prime culprit.

So it’s no surprise that brands today are hyper-focused on improving service and customer service priorities. What was once viewed as a cost center is now seen as a key driver for loyalty and ultimately, a catalyst for business growth.

According to Gartner, 54% of customer service and support leaders believe “growing the business” is the top priority for 2022, compared to operational excellence (16%) and cost optimization (9%).

Given the importance of customer service to business success today, old ways of managing it won’t work. Delivering the stellar service that protects a brand, increases customer lifetime value, and supports new business models requires a new approach.

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Customer service priorities: No more silos

The traditional way of managing customer service isolates it from the other business units that agents need to work with, like sales and operations. When customers contact a company with a product or service problem, the contact center agent is forced to hunt for answers through emails, spreadsheets, and various systems.

The result of this siloed approach can be disastrous. Agents are frustrated and customers are unhappy with all the time it takes to resolve their problem. They also find themselves repeating the details of their issue as their calls are transferred to various representatives.

This lack of operational efficiency is costly to the business in more ways than one. When service operates as an island, there’s no way agents can be a proactive force, so the business loses out on growth opportunities.

In order to provide the kind of top-notch service customers expect and drive business success, brands need to break down the silos and prioritize a connected approach to service.

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The benefits of connected customer service 

By connecting customer service agents to the back office and the entire enterprise, a brand can achieve true service excellence that makes it stand out from the competition.

Agents can easily access information from departments like inventory and logistics to speed resolution times, increasing customer satisfaction and reducing customer churn. With a full view of the customer including insights from sales and e-commerce, they’re empowered to take proactive actions like cross-selling and upselling that help grow the business. Operational efficiency streamlines service and saves money.

With a connected approach to service, a business can:

1. Increase customer loyalty
2. Promote operational excellence
3. Protect and grow revenue
4. Develop new business models
5. Maximize customer lifetime value

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Focus on service priorities by connecting experts

Customers have become accustomed to using self-service options for basic information and simple requests. When they reach an agent, their request is more complicated and resolution more complex. Knowledge and expertise are critical for customer satisfaction and building trust.

But with so much expertise dispersed across an enterprise, it can be hard to get the right experts in a timely manner. An agent sending emails to various departments to track down information on a customer’s order wastes time and money.

Enterprises can avoid service snafus by enabling collaboration between service and experts on other teams.

Modern customer service case management supports cross-departmental problem solving.  This approach has become a priority with the rise of remote teams during the pandemic.

In addition, new collaboration tools help agents work more efficiently and speed resolution times by providing shared workspaces and real-time functionality.

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CRM brings together touchpoints

No matter how a customer interacts with brand, they expect consistency. Whether they’re working with sales, receiving marketing emails, or calling service, they expect to feel known. They don’t want to explain their needs or history every time they deal with a company.

Here’s where CRM plays a starring role. By providing agents and others throughout the company with a complete view the customer, CRM aligns touchpoints for seamless CX. Agents have information like profile and order histories at their fingertips, so they can provide consistent experiences and fast resolutions across channels.

CRM has broken out of organizational silos to become an overall business driver, according to Kate Leggett, VP and principal analyst at Forrester.

“CRM is not about making your front office more productive anymore,” she wrote in a blog. “It’s a technology that supports customers throughout their end-to-end journeys. It drives customer relationships, their retention, and, ultimately, revenue.”