Nearly all of my recent conversations and interactions of late have started with the same framing: The world has changed.

Admittedly, this is a relatively generic framing, but supplement it with data around rapidly increasing contact complexity, far more nuanced products and solutions, and complicated technology—not to mention customer expectations that now are dramatically heightened—and it quickly becomes apparent at how drastically different the service and support function of today is from that of even a year or two ago.

In fact, in some recent research, CCC highlights the function’s shift to what we call the “Quality 2.0 Era,” which is characterized by both complex issues and heightened customer expectations.  This is a long way from the “Productivity Era” of the late 1990s, early 2000s, when fast resolution of simple issues was sufficient.  As is it distant from the “Quality 1.0 Era” of the mid-2000s, where customers increasingly wanted successful resolution of more complicated issues.

Yet these changes have largely happened under the noses of most service and support organizations, many of which have not transformed their organizations to align to the changes in issue complexity and customer expectations.  In reality, many organizations have been caught offguard by how quickly customer demands and expectations changed.

Which begs the question: What does the next era of service and support hold?  And how should we prepare for it?

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It is January 10, 2012, and hopefully by now you’ve been able to dig out of your inboxes.

To help you prepare for the year ahead, CCC’s research and advisory team is putting its heads together to give you some additional perspective on areas of opportunity we see across a variety of companies—fresh ideas on how to enhance the customer experience and improve operational performance.

The intent here is not to increase your workload, of course, but to give you additional perspective on continuing to improve your service and support operations in the year ahead.

So let me start here with the recommendation of a relatively simple tweak: Ensure that all staff know how to navigate your company’s website.

It is a basic idea, but conversations with numerous service and support organizations reveal that most companies—both B2C and B2B—have not properly taught staff to use their own websites.

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A recent blog post on Harvard Business Review titled, “I Don’t Understand What Anyone Is Saying Anymore,” was unfortunately very relatable.  The core of the article explored how business conversations have evolved into bits of nonsense (e.g., “synergy”, ”value-add”) that make understanding each other much more of a challenge than anything else.  For example, we all fall victim to the excessive use of acronyms from time to time.  And while I find myself a culprit in using a lot of acronyms, I could relate to something else in the piece as well, as its description ties perfectly to research we’ve produced here at CCC:

Another term that has lost its meaning is ‘Let’s exceed the customer’s expectations.’ …Customers almost universally never experience their expectations being met, much less exceeded. How can you exceed the customer’s expectations if you have no idea what those expectations are? I was at a [hotel] a few weeks ago. They had taken this absurdity to its logical end. There was a huge sign in the lobby that said, ‘Our goal is to exceed the customer’s expectation.’  The best way to start would be to take down that sign that just reminds me, as a customer, how cosmic the gap is between what businesses say and what they do…”

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I can’t believe 2011 is almost over.  Seems like just yesterday Lauren was blogging her predictions for 2011 customer service trends…and here we are again.

So, I polled the research team and chatted with a few members to get their perspective on what 2012 has in store for us.  I noticed a few topics that came up several times – some of which are ongoing over the past few years – and others that are newer, including:

• Investment in Technology (especially knowledge management, CRM, and workforce management (WFM))
• Organizational structure changes (primarily from B2B companies as they move from a service organization to center of excellence model)
• Expanding into new service channels (including mobile apps, Facebook, web chat, Twitter, and discussion boards)
• Sales (focused either on increasing cross/up-sell in the service organization or having a closer partnership with the sales team)

As I thought more about these things that service organizations are doing, I wondered to myself what could be driving all of these initiatives.  And I began to see some trends emerge that I think will be crucial in 2012.

So, in 2012 – I think that: Read More »

A few weeks ago, I blogged about a few general trends for 2012 that I saw in our annual agenda poll of the CCC

membership.  After a bit more data analysis and conversations with a host of members, we’ve uncovered a core area of focus for service organizations in 2012: understanding—and then keeping up with—customer expectations  (especially in today’s multi-channel environment).

The Current State
It turns out that today’s customers seem to be more demanding about service – savvier than ever and wanting a personalized, tailored interaction.  We hear everything from “the customer wants us to do everything for them – including calling a third party on their behalf – to resolve their problem” to “customers ask for escalation even before they interact with a frontline rep.”

That feels like a very difficult place to be – customers are selectively using outlier service experiences with other companies to define their expectations of service with your company. Read More »

Consumer behaviors have changed in many ways coming out of the recession and in today’s time of economic uncertainty.  Some say consumers are more price sensitive and less loyal to brands – others talk about customers who demand more for less.

In the healthcare industry, recent data found an alarming new trend among U.S. consumers taking risks to avoid healthcare costs:

-There’s been a 10% increase since 2010 in the number of Americans who have done without or postponed healthcare-related expenses, including medical treatments, exams, tests, and prescriptions.

-Not only that, but Consumer Reports found that almost 50% of Americans who are on prescriptions actually delayed a doctor’s visit, declined tests, or bought their drugs outside the country.

-Plus, 25% of folks with prescriptions also scrimp on their prescriptions – skipping doses, not refilling, and taking expired medication.

All of this is to save on healthcare costs and avoid doctor visits.

While it is certainly a risky personal choice to view healthcare as a discretionary expense and hold off in the hope that one will stay healthy (and that’s a whole different topic that our friends at Iconoculture cover), today I want to focus on the additional potential impact to the company – especially the service organization. Read More »

In my twenty-minute morning commute to work, I encounter at least twenty advertisements by ten different banks. They’re pasted on the sides of the bus I take, splashed on the back of sidewalk benches, and interjected into the stream of my Internet radio.

And for good reason, too. According to research firm McKinsey, there has been a recorded 40% decline in loyalty among financial customers within the last four years. With so many banks touting such wide varieties of services—mobile banking, rewards points, free giveaways, and (most recently) top-notch security guarantees backed by ATMs with built-in lie detectors —there is more reason than ever to shop for the best bank.

However, while customers are becoming less loyal and more savvy in their decision-making process, they are not being swayed easily by advertisements. For example, research shows that urban adults in India are more like to follow the recommendations of friends and peers, evaluate banks for their specific service offerings, and consider the availability of the bank’s financial analysts. Read More »

A few recent events—such as the Yahoo Mail outage, a round of power outages following the earthquake in Japan, and a string of flight cancellations due the extreme winter in New Zealand—illustrate one thing in common: the need for companies to provide proactive information and service to affected customers.

Given the buzz around proactive service over the last few years, it’s easy to imagine that most companies proactively provide information and solutions to customers for critical issues as a minimum service standard. However, CCC’s latest research on proactive contact and alerts indicates that 45% of companies do not leverage proactive contact, even for critical issues. But maintaining a strictly reactive service strategy can cause an influx of costly inbound calls, negative publicity, and customer effort.

So, if you’re trying to move away from reactive ‘firefighting’ to proactive service, what are the things that you need to keep in mind? Read More »

“People seem to want everything these days, and if we can’t/won’t/shouldn’t give it to them, they go ballistic.”

“Some customers call us still angry from their last issue and what they’re seeking feels less like resolution, and more like revenge!”

“We’ve got customers who think they’re smarter than our reps. And I think some of them actually ARE!”

At CCC, we’ve detected a distinct shift in the landscape  – a page-turn to a new chapter in our relationship with customers.  They’re becoming more demanding, or worse, even unrealistic about what to expect from us.

It’s the dawning of a new era, and it’s one we’ve all seen coming for some time: Read More »

I’m excited to announce the CCC has partnered with the Corporate Executive Board’s (our parent company) newest offering for B2C marketers – Iconoculture to bring our members exclusive new insights.  Iconoculture uses consumer trends and cultural observations from around the world to inform business decisions and help you keep pace with ever-evolving consumers and their needs.

The best part is that while this data was originally intended for marketers, their insights cover a wide-ranging set of topics also relevant to customer service executives and their teams.  Everything from why Spain is laying down the law on improving customer service to how the airline industry is currently embracing customer service to information on what today’s retiring generation expects from companies – all to help you better understand today’s consumer and what they want.

I’m also happy to report that Iconoculture often reports on data and trends from global markets, gathering data from around the world to better understand regional or cultural impacts.

Every two weeks, CCC will offer a complimentary sampling of the latest and most relevant Iconoculture insights.  We’ll be blogging about some of them, and always visit CCC’s new Iconoculture page for the latest insights.

For example, Read More »