That the customer is always right was the premise on which what we know today as the customer service experience was founded -more than a century ago- and which, for decades, focused on satisfaction. According to this maxim, attributed to businessmen such as Harry Gordon Selfridge (founder of Selfridge stores in 1909) or Marshall Field, the consumer should be served immediately and without objection, something innovative at a time when gold was not always what glittered. -and sold-.
Those times when the client was the king (according to the German version) or a god (according to its Japanese variant) have changed. The client does not want (only) the reason, but what he longs for is, above all, to be attended to. Something especially important in times when the ability to respond quickly is not necessarily synonymous with responding well. Under this premise, Service Summit arises, a professional meeting organized by Salesforce in which success stories and best practices in this field will be shared. An unavoidable event that will be held in Madrid on March 16.
A century later, customer service remains at the center, although excellence lives in new places. The cloud is presented as the most optimal environment to cover all the needs generated by a good customer service, either in the sales process itself (online or in stores) or in the customer service area, connecting all the interaction channels in real time. A key technology for organizations to prosper and be more efficient.
The experience is as important as the product, they say from Salesforce, the world leader in CRM. It confirms this, in fact, in the fifth edition of its State of Service report, which includes the opinions of more than 8,000 professionals from 36 countries, 300 from Spain. The study looks at how priorities, challenges, success metrics, and strategies are changing in the world of business customer service as customers prioritize digital.
According to Salesforce, the fact that the digital channel conveys practically all the methods does not diminish the value of the attention. On the contrary, it elevates it even more or makes it more demanding due to its immediate and massive nature. But at a time when the digitization of companies should be a proven fact, the report confirms that the main focus of many of them continues to be keeping the customer at the center of operations and offering them a good experience that makes them come back .
It is not easy, but good care is the only path that takes them ‘back’. So much so that 48% of the participants stated that they had changed brands for better customer service and 94% stated that a good assistance service would make a new purchase more likely. Figures that make this area critical to increase billing and the survival of many companies in uncertain times like the present.
Along these lines, the event on the 16th is designed to address the challenges and opportunities hidden in customer service. “In today’s economic environment, service teams are increasingly being asked to do more with less. Digital technology is the right answer to increase efficiency, improve results and reduce costs”, shares Fernando Gallego, Vice President of Service Cloud, Field Service
“Economic uncertainty forces companies to reassess their priorities and investments. That is why it is increasingly important to bet on efficient, scalable and fast processes that respond to what customers ask for and, on the other, ensure that customers “return”, working their loyalty as a direct contribution to the generation of current income. and futures of the company”, adds Laura Abarquero, vice president of Service Cloud at Salesforce Iberia.
From the perspective of customer service departments, what Salesforce finds is that for 78% it is difficult to maintain a balance between speed of resolution and quality of service. Automation and efficiency are, as the same report points out, priorities not only in the face of economic uncertainty, but also as a key instrument to meet customers’ expectations of rapid resolution of their queries or incidents, as well as the improvement of equipment.
In fact, it must go from being a reactive service, which identifies its success based on the number of incidents resolved, to becoming a proactive and personalized service. Hence, agents focus on automating processes and improving the volume of work. According to Salesforce, 63% of service organizations in Spain use the automation of processes and workflows, which reveals a transformation in digital customer service, which does not renounce personalization.
Through technology, service agents can become trusted advisors to customers and, therefore, guarantors of loyalty and recurring purchases, as Abarquero subscribes: “Technology is an enabler to be able to scale the service, offering the quality, speed and customization that customers expect.” A trend that is here to stay and to make the customer stay too.
