Over the past years, most online companies have started to realise, and fortunately implement, multi-channel strategies. Going back to the 90s, when internet adoption was minimal in Europe, and catalogues and order hotlines were literally the reach that companies had beyond brick and mortar points of sale, wiritng a letter or fax, or calling the company was as far as customers could go when they needed help.

Fast forward to the mid 00’s, and customers demand more. If an email isn’t responded to within a day or two, then the customer will reach for the phone. Or possibly log on and use Live Chat to get the answer to the open question. Or both. That is an immediate impact on costs within any CS organization, and very likely to be a driver for customer dissatisfaction. We all know this, and fortunately most of us are working to make sure that we reach our Service Levels, Availability and Productivity targets. But ask yourself a question: Do you think your customer cares about your KPIs? In case you’re not sure, the answer is no.

While any CS professional will know that contact reduction is the largest driver they have to save costs a new trend is emerging to support exactly that. I’m not referring to fixing the bugs on the website, or ensuring an e-commerce company improves delivery times, or even ensuring that UX on your site is improved. Although all of those points still drive the contacts down and should be focussed upon, generally speaking they are beyond the control of the Customer Service organisations, and tend to be “de-prioritised” on the business side of things, as there are often other tasks or projects that drive revenue and/or growth faster. “Yes, let’s launch a new site focussing on a new vertical, put the developer resources there instead of fixing issues, that’s they way we’ll go!”

So what can CS professionals do beyond the daily operations that they can probably handle with their eyes closed? Well, take a look at these statistics, and make your own mind up:

  • 67% of consumers use web self-service (Help pages, FAQs etc). (Source: Forrester)
  • 45% of consumers will not complete a purchase if they can’t find a quick answer to their questions. (Source: Forrester)
  • 44% of online consumers say that having questions answered by a real person (live) is one of the most important features a website can offer. (Source: Forrester)
  • 63% of online consumers said they were more likely to return to a website that offers live chat. (Source: Forrester)
  • 38% of online consumers said they had made their purchase due to a chat session. (Source: Forrester

Now, based on those facts look at how the SC landscape, specifically from how a customer sees it, has changed over the past few years:

  • Adoption of social customer care programs increased fivefold from 12% in 2010 to 59% in 2013. (Source: Aberdeen Group)
  • Online chat adoption among customers has risen from 30% in 2009 to 43% in 2012. (Source: Forrester)

Do you need anything else to convince yourself that Customer Service is changing, and that you and your organisation have an important role in making it work for your company?