Designed to celebrate great customer service and raise awareness of the vital role it plays in successful business practice, National Customer Service Week is an event that impacts every organisation. Claire Rowland, Head of Client Experience at Node4, explores the five core themes of this week.
As technology improves, so too does the way businesses are able to communicate with their customers, as it enables a better and enhanced experience. The last few years, sparked by the COVID pandemic, triggered a key opportunity for businesses to evolve and change the way they interacted with their customers. Businesses that embraced this change survived. Those that didn’t, slowly disappeared. Today, pressures to improve sustainability, and the explosion of Generative AI and its use in customer interactions are set to ignite a catalyst for change within the customer service industry once again.
Striking a balance between delivering excellent levels of service and evolving at the pace of these technological developments is a challenge for the industry. In light of this, the Institute of Customer Service has identified and highlighted five core themes as the focus of National Customer Service Week – its annual celebration of great customer service; The Future of AI, Service with Respect, Customer Service as a Profession, Driving Sustainable Growth and Service Recognition Day. Here we explore these themes and look at how businesses can improve their relationships with customers while navigating these important changes.
The future of AI
Businesses are increasingly expected to operate 24/7 support as customers continue to digitally engage with brands all hours of the day. This is where Generative AI can make a real impact on the service industry. AI can increase customer satisfaction and provide 24/7 support through chatbots, voice assistants and self-service portals all the while streamlining customer service and providing avenues for organisations to reduce costs and redirect human resources.
Importantly, these changes don’t need to come at the cost of a frustrating interaction with a ‘robot’. Instead, today’s technology analyses customer data, including purchase behaviour and preferences, and can deliver a hyper-tailored experience to individual customers. It is this tailored experience that customers are demanding from businesses, and when it is done seamlessly, customers don’t mind if it is a person or AI. In fact, as AI becomes more sophisticated and customers more used to interacting with them, 64% now say they expect bots to provide the same level of service as humans.
However, AI is not a replacement for a human-centric customer service department. It cannot solve all customer challenges. So, when the AI can’t fix the problem, it’s important the business has built in a function to enable the AI to escalate the issue and direct the customer to a human agent.
Service with respect
It goes without saying that respect is the cornerstone of customer service. If customers feel that their concerns aren’t being met, then they’re simply not going to engage with you. While disgruntled customers can be challenging to deal with, ultimately, they believe that you can resolve their problem. Remaining calm and respectful can help diffuse a tense situation with an unhappy customer and enable you to get to a resolution sooner and, crucially, retain that customer. A staggering 96.2% of customers would stop engaging with a business due to bad customer service. It really is make or break.
Customer service as a profession
Customer service roles have traditionally been viewed as a role within an organisation, rather than a specific profession, which typically have defined career pathways and professional standards. However, as customer demands increased and businesses put a higher emphasis on the delivery of the customer experience, perception has changed dramatically. It is now considered a respected career with a variety of growth opportunities, and the number of jobs in this field is growing faster than the average growth rate of any other occupation.
Importantly, however, the responsibility of delivering good customer service doesn’t rest solely on the shoulders of the customer service department. Sixty-seven percent of UK employees say they spend significant amounts of time in their job dealing with customers. Everyone within an organisation must recognise their individual responsibility for delivering good customer service. And, when 82% of customers are more likely to trust an organisation that gives them good service, providing the best possible experience for customers should be everyone’s main goal.
Driving sustainable growth
Having a positive impact on the environment is no longer just a ‘good-to-have’ for organisations. As younger generations move into the business and consumer world there has been a shift in expectation and behaviours. According to a report by IBM, 56% of Gen-Zs believe that businesses should take responsibility for environmental issues, and 72% believe that companies should be held accountable for their environmental impact. Businesses need to take the lead when it comes to sustainable change if they want to remain relevant with the next generation.
Integrating sustainability practices into operations and being open about their carbon footprint and emissions, are important first steps in building relationships with a new group of customers, enhancing customer satisfaction, building trust and foster long-term loyalty. Even simple measures, such as implementing digital tools and platforms to streamline processes, reduce paperwork, and minimise environmental impact, can make a big difference. But organisations can’t merely talk-the-talk. With most organisations claiming to have ESG initiatives, consumers are growing sceptical. Eighty-eight percent of Gen Z consumers said they don’t trust the ESG claims of corporations and brands, so vague and inconsistent messaging will only serve to raise red flags and potentially damage your reputation with customers.
Service recognition
National Customer Service Week acts as the perfect opportunity to look at how your organisation is delivering customer service and establish what changes you can make to improve it. It is important to remember that the backbone of good customer service is people. Customer service can, from time to time, be unforgiving and thankless, which is why it is so important to recognise the brilliant work done within teams every single day. This is why the Institute of Customer Service ends the week with service recognition. Whether it be a colleague within your organisation who went above and beyond, or a client who always makes your job easier, be sure to recognise and sing their praises – it might just make their week!