Customer engagement has changed; it’s never going back. And it’s driving the need for digital transformation.
Like many, your organization may be stuck in the past, relying on old ways to engage with a new type of customer with dramatically different expectations.
It’s OK. That can work...for a little while. And, it has to; it’s not easy to drive wholesale change across a large organization, especially when it can affect culture, technology, processes, and other things core to the fabric of your organization.
But at some point, if you cannot (or do not) adapt to how people engage today, as well as in the future, you’re going to lose customers’ patience. You’re going to lose customers’ trust. You’re going to lose customers. Period.
My point is not to scare you... and, believe it or not, it’s not to sell you anything either (Well, OK, this IS a blog post for a customer engagement technology company).
No... my point is to shine a light on a problem all organizations face at some point: How can we address how our customers want to engage, when what we have in place was designed for a different age? (Honest admission - that rhyme was wholly unintentional.)
I’m here to tell you the answer. And, it’s not technology. It’s not the latest and greatest multi-channel, omni-channel, mobile, device-agnostic, live agent, web-enabled IT.
It’s a mindset….
For you.
For your team.
For your entire organization.
So here it is:
Think like a consumer.
I know. Rocket science, it ain’t.
And, you may be snickering. But hear me out.
Think like a consumer. The way you can create the best experience for the digital age is by taking on the mindset of the consumer.
But John, it’s so much more complex than that. You’re showing me you have no idea about our real challenges.
Is it?
And, Am I?
As with any challenge, if you take it up to the top-most level, you can define the granular details more easily. If you create an aspirational vision where everything falls in under it, you can more easily drive transformational change.
And this one makes all too much sense.
Think about it. We are all consumers.
You’re a consumer. You buy stuff. You need service. You know what it means to be treated well. You know the frustrations caused by technology fails as well as those of people, whose job it is to help you achieve your end-goal with their organization. And what’s more, everyone in your family...all of your friends and colleagues...they are all consumers too.
But there’s one additional thing. More than anyone outside your organization, you know what it takes on the inside for anything to happen from a customer engagement standpoint.
So the next time you have a poor customer experience, take notes. Why was it so bad? What was the root cause? Was it tech-related? Time related? People related?
Then, test your own. Order something...call the contact center...download your own app and use it for service. How would you change it for the better, knowing what you know as a consumer?
If we all just applied our knowledge of how we like to be treated to the experience our organizations deliver, can’t you see how it could change for the better?
Can you imagine the impact this simple step could have?
Try it out. I promise. It will work. I hope you’ll share your story once it does.
