Digital Engagement Blog

 “We need to be where our customers are.”

We hear this statement frequently as we talk to digital and customer care execs.  Execs want to be close to customers and at the same digital watering hole so they have a fighting chance to engage them.  Let's take a look a some recent market data to see if we can figure out "where customers are."

As the customer service function shifts into the digital age, we often take a step back to ask where servicing is headed.  Not only is it fascinating to watch and be a part of, but it’s really interesting to observe the shift separately through the lens of the mobile-digital exec vs. the contact center ops exec.  We’ve found these two lenses give you a different view of the same challenge.

So how do we define digital customer servicing through the lens of the mobile-digital exec?

A question we frequently are asked is “how does age effect mobile phone use?”  Or will my older customer use whatever mobile strategy I develop?

Below is a look at current demographic data for smartphones based on Pew Research and Forrester Research data.  While your customer base may behave differently, these data show that across the population at large, millennials are hardly alone in their avvid use of smarphones.

• For every 100 young people that own a smartphone, 66 boomers have one
• For every 100 young people that use apps, 74 boomers use apps
• For every 100 young people that text, 93 boomers text (and we don't drive while we do it!)

Check out this roundup of perspectives and insights that cover digital, mobile, chatbots, AI, and similar topics with a focus on customer service and customer engagement.  This is what I am reading, and I thought you might find it useful too!

Chatbots vs Humans in the Contact Center

 “Two of the biggest trends in business today are heading on a collision course….On one hand, every major technology company is investing heavily in artificial intelligence (A.I.), promising a better, cheaper, and faster way to “engage” with consumers. "

Traditional chat solutions create a CX that’s essentially a phone call with typing instead of talking.  It’s a strictly linear experience tied to a single session that begins and ends on a single device.  That may be a good fit for a customer journey that follows a nice straight line, but that’s not how consumers buy anymore.

Consumers jump between a mesh of digital devices

Today’s digital consumers live their lives differently, and they expect to engage differently. 

Your Customers Are Digital

By 2020, mobile commerce will make up 45 percent of total e-commerce (BI Intelligence) and require a different strategy than today’s online web strategy.  On the service side, Gartner says 35% of all support will take place on a mobile device by the end of next year.

The velocity of technological change is accelerating. New technologies are emerging that will reshape customer service as we know it today.  Many of these technologies are being tested and even deployed as part of the contact center stack by leading companies.  And these technologies are already driving significant benefits for early adopters.

Forrester Report

To help us understand these changes, Forrester Research recently released a report entitled “Plan Now For Customer Service In 2021. “  This report (on our recommended reading list) explores five technologies that are expected to transform customer care over the next five years.  

How do you make customer service effortless, fast and efficient?  It's not by talking to a live person!

As a company whose mission is to provide the best possible self-service, we understand the good, the bad and where the industry is going. And we’ve also seen that most customers will self-serve over talk to an agent.  Even Dave Pell avoids agents.

Is mobile customer care something you should pay attention to or can you ignore it for now?  Here are 5 red flags that help you decide if you can wait any longer. 

1) You got a high percentage of mobile calls coming into the contact center

A high percentage of calls coming into your contact center from customer on mobile phone suggest your customers have made a shift.  That shift is one to greater expectations for speed, ease and experience that mobile brings to the table.  Of the 1.5 billion calls we process through our IVR every year, a typical client sees 70% of the calls coming from mobile devices.  The expectation of these callers has rapidly changed and your enterprise needs to be ready service them on their terms.  You get one red flag for thinking mobile calls can be treated like a regular call.  And a bonus additional red flag for not knowing percent of inbound customer service calls come from mobile devices.

Today there is a lot of hype and buzz around Chatbots, artificial intelligence, and cognitive computing making it difficult to understand what is actually feasible and what can actually have an impact on your business.

TechCrunch recently said, “What’s really surprising is that, despite all this hoopla, it’s hard to find a single chatbot that’s actually a really good product.

Of course, we can wrangle over the definition of what makes a good product, but in its simplest terms, a great product would have three traits:

One of the biggest challenges businesses face today is how to win, serve and retain the digital consumer. 

Mobile, digital and IoT are forcing major changes in digital strategy, business models and value chains.

Rules and frameworks that worked five years ago are under direct attack. So how does a business develop a digital strategy playbook?