Page 97 - SAMENA Trends - February-March 2021

DIGITAL CUSTOMER CARE INDEX 2021
Success factors for becoming a truly customer-centric company
ARTICLE SAMENA TRENDS

KEY CHALLENGES FOR DIGITAL CUSTOMER CARE

Scale from 1 = low to 5 = high

4.7
4.1 4.1

3.4

2.8
2.4

Telecommunication
-0.7%

Lack of digital skills Lack of suitable Poor digital Missing financial Missing top Lack of technical
among employees organizational mindset among ressources management infrastructure
setup employees support

The cited “Lack of suitable organizational apps only account for a small fraction of distributed more evenly across multiple
setup” is often not just limited to the requests. digital channels, including customer
customer care department but relates to portals, chat/messenger, user wikis/
the entire company. Technology is another Over the next five years, however, the forums and apps.
major enabler of digital customer care. The channel mix in customer care is expected
main challenges in this field are typically to shift radically, with call centers The study results illustrate that telcos
related to technical implementation and significantly losing importance and in- must reallocate resources from a few
the seamless transfer of data between store customer service being marginalized. traditional channels to a broader range of
different channels. Consequently, IT Customer requests are expected to be digital solutions.
capabilities and the implementation of
application programming interfaces, as SHARE OF CUSTOMER REQUEST : PER CHANNEL
SHARE OF CUSTOMER REQUESTS : PER CHANNEL
well as related processes, rank as top
priorities. TODAY IN 5 YEARS

The journey towards becoming a truly 24% Customer portal 22%
Infographic2
customer-centric company requires
major investments with regards to people, 13% In-store 7%
processes, and technology.

THE FUTURE OF CUSTOMER CARE 36% Call center 17%
Changing the channel mix
The overarching theme of digital customer
care’s future is omnichannel. Today, call 8% User wiki/forum 17%
centers remain by far the most important
point of contact. Within this channel, 8% App 17%
an overwhelming share of tickets is
still processed by humans. Besides call
centers, customer portals and traditional 10% Chat/messenger 21%
in-store customer care are the most Source: goetzpartners expert panel. Due to rounding, percentages don’t add up to 100%.
important channels. Chat/messenger and

97 FEB-MAR 2021

Infographic3

THE AUTHORS
DIGITALIZING CUSTOMER CARE : KEY TO SUCCESS

STEP01 Actively embrace digital customer care as a key differentiator

Inthefaceofincreasingcompetitionandproductcommoditization,excellentcustomercarecanbeakeydifferentiator.Companiesmustactivelyembrace
thisopportunity toboostservice quality andspeed, ratherthanjustseeing itasanecessity resulting fromcompetitive pressure.
STEP02 Build a customer-centric organization

In order to fully live up to its potential, digital customer care must be embedded into a fully customer-centric organization. Decision-makers must put
digital customer careatthetopoftheir corporateagenda, making itacompany-wide priority.
STEP03 Invest in people and change

Many of today’s challenges are people-related, as the transition to digital customer care requires new skills and capabilities. Companies must invest in
their people anddrive digitalization acrossthecompany.
STEP04 Upgrade processes and technology

End-to-end digital processes and technology are critical enablers of digital customer care. Companies must invest in technology to power the seamless
integration ofchannels andincreasingly automateinteractions withcustomers.
STEP05 Prepare for the channel shift

Digitalcustomercarewillturnthetraditionalchannelmixupsidedown.Companiesmustprepareforthisbyrevisitingtheirexistingsetupsandrampingup
newchannels.

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