What is good customer service? In short: fast, high-quality, reliable and cost-effective. How to make this a reality is a bit trickier – but worry not. In this article, we’ll give you the lowdown on the five pillars of unforgettable customer service experiences. Let’s dive in!
1. Need for speed: agility
Based on our two decades of experience in future-proofing businesses, we can safely say that agile is key to first-class customer service. What companies that have already started out on their agile transformation journey, such as OTP or Telekom, all share is the realization that the ability to quickly respond to market trends has become a must. Agile allows any company, even the largest ones out there, to move at the speed of a startup.
2. High-quality skills equal high-quality service
According to KPMG’s CEO Outlook, investment in human capabilities and skills is on the rise. Going beyond flexing their technology muscles, company leaders are placing more and more emphasis on upskilling their workforce in a bid to boost customer service quality in the digital space. This is exactly what OTP Chief Digital Officer Péter Csányi told us on our podcast – listen to the discussion here (in Hungarian).
3. DevOps: when speed and stability go hand in hand
“Software is eating the world,” Netscape founder Marc Anderseen famously said in 2011. His sentiment was shared by many, including Satya Nadella, chairman and CEO of Microsoft, who reflected on how every company had become a software company in 2017. Both statements proved to be on point, with almost every business developing applications, if not entire digital ecosystems, to complement their service offerings.
A set of practices and tools for speeding up and improving software delivery, DevOps suggests doing software development in rapid cycles and enhancing stability and quality in operations by creating a shared culture, processes and technology stack across teams. Meaning that it can serve as the backbone of agile software delivery and IT infrastructure for today’s organizations, no matter their size or industry.
4. Rise to the cloud to lower costs
The ability to do anything from anywhere has become a basic need for businesses, especially since the pandemic and the advent of remote work. And so has moving to the cloud as a result. Cloud computing is key not only to ensuring scalability and connectivity and eliminating dependence on specialist teams but also to deploying the tools, practices and philosophies detailed in the previous points. It can also reduce operational costs and drive productivity without lengthy and complicated rollout processes.
5. Build a digital frontend that wows customers
Now that we’ve uncovered how to achieve speed, quality, reliability and cost-effectiveness, let’s talk about an issue that’s often given low priority by organizations despite being a top priority for customers. You’ve guessed it: it’s the platform, or platforms, through which people interact with your business. Going well beyond the company website, a well-built frontend ecosystem is easy to use and a joy to look at, plus creates the interactive experiences customers crave. More on that here.
There’s no turning back
As the popular Chinese proverb says: “The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The second best time is now.” Start future-proofing your organization one step – or block – at a time so you can tackle both today’s challenges and whatever the future throws at you.