How to Harness Digital Customer Service in Your Organization
Last week I had the chance of speaking about digital customer support at 3 conventions, here in Italy. Audience sizes were different one from the other, as well as the industries represented by managers. There was though, one aspect that all attendees had in common: they were hungry for solutions.
In fact one of the most frequent question was ‘how can I harness Digital Customer Service in my organization?’ Good question, which I will answer in this article. Read the two main aspects to focus on, then I’d deeply appreciate if you want to leave your comment.
1. Getting Executive Commitment
First off, if you want to set up an effective digital support plan, you need to get internal support. Practically, that means sharing your strategy plan and getting executive buy-in. That’s crucial in order to obtain:
→ A proper budget to be invested in technology (purchasing an omnichannel digital support package) and people (hiring and training a team of digital customer assistants). These are, in fact, the two main pillars of successful plans.
→ Enough time to gain either small short term and bigger medium-term results that will justify the investment. It’s crucial to start sharing the first benefits obtained doing ‘internal marketing’ with top management. As for this tactic, Annette Franz talked about ‘taking baby steps‘ in a interview I had with her a couple of years ago. You can Annette’s her great advice in the podcast from minute 09:09 on.
→ Cooperation from other managers in due course when it comes to developing cross-department communication. This is a crucial aspect to consistently delivering\ excellent customer experiences.
You may also want to read: Customer Service is The Art: Are You Shaping Yours?
2. Break Down Your Strategy Plan Into Steps
As Digital Customer Service is a long term journey, it requires constant efforts and commitment. As a consultant, I’ve experienced that instead of looking at the top of the mountain (i.e. the ultimate goal) it is far more effective to focus on the next step.
Next, take a short break to analyze goals achieved and any issues that have arisen (what and why). Then move on again to the next step.
To give you a practical example, see the 5 main steps, below, that I use with my clients to develop a successful Digital Customer Service Plan:
- Goal & KPI setting
- Software selection (omni-channel platform)
- Defining workflows & guidelines (procedures / tone fo voice / do’s & don’ts)
- Building up the team: hiring & training digital customer service assistants
- Going live / monitoring results (ROI)
You may also want to read: 25 Data Driven Customer Service Trends and Tips for Small Business
Over To You
If you want to harness Digital Customer Service in your organization, stay away from improvisation. Follow the above points and bear in mind that changes take time to be digested, accepted, then deployed. So move in advance to be fully equipped with technology and know-how from day 1 of this exciting journey.
Have great conversations!
Featured image: Copyright: ‘https://www.123rf.com/profile_solarseven‘ / 123RF Stock Photo
Paolo Fabrizio
Latest posts by Paolo Fabrizio (see all)
- Get Your Digital Timing Aligned With Your Customers - August 8, 2023
- 3 Reasons To Keep Things Simple For Your Customers - July 5, 2023
- How Do You Fix An Issue With Your Customer? - June 5, 2023
