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According to the latest State of Service report, mobile app use for customer service has increased by 192%. And for good reason – profitability.
For customer service teams inundated with high case volumes across numerous channels, delivering personalised, proactive service in every interaction is an added challenge — and one that has teams looking to technology for assistance.
Our latest State of Service report, based on research of more than 2600 service professionals worldwide, highlights several customer service tools and technologies that have really picked up steam.
Customer service teams have upped tech investments to empower agents with mobile apps, analytics, and shared web-browsing solutions – tools that are transforming service teams from cost centres to revenue centres. Here’s a closer look at customer service tools and technologies that experienced a surge in use from 2015 to 2016.
Service teams providing mobile apps for their agents’ use have increased by 192%. In a separate report, Gartner estimates that by 2020, two out of three large field service organisations will equip field technicians with a mobile application that drives profitability by creating revenue streams, efficiency, and customer satisfaction.
Armed with a mobile app, field service agents are better equipped to resolve a customer’s issue on the first visit. Mobile apps give field service agents access to all the same information that call center agents have. This empowers agents to do everything from checking inventory and job schedules to collaborating on-the-go with other agents.
Service analytics has likewise experienced a significant uptick in use, rising 166%. Analytics in the hands of customer service agents can help them make more informed decisions. Consider a scenario in which a hotel loyalty program member checks in to her hotel. At the point of check-in, an agent notices that loyalty program points are missing from her account. In real time, the agent restores the missing points and sends a follow-up confirmation email. A little data can go a long way in meeting consumers’ expectations for proactive service.
As service analytics capabilities become smarter and more predictive, businesses will gain greater insight into customer interactions, as well as internal processes. For managers, this could mean a clearer view of your service organisation’s operations and a chance to identify where improvements are needed. For customers, this means better service, as measurements of success shift away from time-to-resolution and towards customer experience.
Shared web-browsing allows customer service agents to interact in real-time and see what their customers are seeing. Having customers follow along with how a rep resolves an issue naturally creates a learning opportunity for all involved.
Considering that 64% of consumers and 80% of business buyers today expect companies to react to them in real time, it’s not overly surprising that shared web-browsing solutions have seen 154% year-on-year growth.
That ‘real-time reaction’ expectation is not dependent on a customers’ location, which has seen a 145% year-on-year surge in the uptake of offline mobile cases. Consider the challenge the expectation could pose for a telecommunications service agent working in rural areas with spotty network access, for instance. Offline mobile cases help agents stay productive and deliver consistent service, even when they lack a consistent connection.
The triple-digit usage growth among these customer service tools is significant — but there’s another point that’s equally noteworthy: these four technologies have gone from being used only by a minority of service teams to being mainstream tools used by the majority (58% and higher).
Download the State of Service report for more insights and trends from more than 2600 service professionals worldwide.
