Customer service is tricky to automate, but developing ways of capturing and understanding recurring issues will allow you to improve the performance within your organisation.
Whether it be by email, letter, phone, social media, face-to-face, live chat, text or app, if you have a customer service function they are likely interacting with customers across a host of different platforms.
But no longer do managers and decision makers have to navigate CRM systems and interpret semi-relevant feedback via surveys in order to understand how their customer service units are performing.
Instead, performance management software has evolved to allow team leads to gather information in real time, giving them a clear picture of where breakdowns are present or issues are languishing.
That said, collecting data is one thing, it’s what you do with it that matters.
Turn insight into action
Understanding how your teams are performing gives you unparalleled insight into how your customers feel about your business.
Evolving capacity in data modelling, machine-based learning and natural language processing mean there are tools available to streamline the work processes of your customer service team and make their lives easier.
In order to leverage the data those teams are collecting, and ensure they are delivering your managers high-quality feedback, check they are gathering the following information:
Lead generation
As prospects interact with your product or service, understand their views and opinions and allow your staff space to build more targeted and accurate sales execution strategies. Their performance is likely to lift if they are continually refining their lead generation capabilities.
Sales meetings and presentations
Recalling precise facts and figures at the right time can often determine the difference between success and failure in meetings or presentations. If your staff can use real-time insights, they are likely to outperform with a useful contextual anecdote or a powerful statistic.
Act on new opportunities
Data often throws up left-of-field ideas. Sometimes customer behaviour can indicate an under-serviced opportunity or your customer service team can instantly source helpful information to resolve an issue.
Frontline stress
Those on the customer service frontline often withstand a diverse range of customer issues, and depending on your industry, they are often dealing with difficult personality types.
If you are able to clearly see what the recurring issues are and make business decisions in order to neutralise those, then your staff will soon be able to focus on the more positive aspects of customer interaction.
Data insights, coupled with internal feedback flows to management, will prove a powerful driver for company success.
Maximise performance
If your customer service teams are using data and analytics to drive their insights, your business will enjoy a more efficient and targeted process.
Allowing those who interact with your customers on a daily basis to properly record and understand their motivations, will ripple clarity throughout your business.
The use of data driven insights will deliver improved, personalised and contextually aware customer experiences that drive more business
As such, product teams and marketers can more deeply understand their targets and your feedback loops will ultimately be more positive.