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Buy or Bye? Why Customer Service is Increasingly Key to Retail Success

By Tricia Morris as written on https://community.dynamics.com

Today’s retail customer is always shopping around - in store, online, on the phone. And in a 24/7 global marketplace where it’s becoming increasingly difficult for retailers to differentiate on price and product availability, more and more it’s becoming customer service and the customer experience that means the difference between buy, buy, buy and bye, bye, bye.

For customers, expectations are up. According to Microsoft’s Global Multichannel Customer Service Report:

•more than half (59%) of the 4,000 consumers surveyed have higher expectations for customer service today than they did a year ago.

•97% say customer service is important to their choice of or loyalty to a brand.

•and 62% have stopped doing business with a brand this year due to a single poor customer service experience.

Yet, despite these increasing expectations, according to the American Customer Satisfaction Index, customer satisfaction is on the decline from a survey high set two years ago. Some attribute this to the economy, theorizing that brands were putting more focus on customer service then when consumers were spending less and every dollar meant more.

But now that consumer spending has rebounded, service is starting to fall back as a lesser focus instead of springing forward – a point of relaxation that could prove costly as PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Retailing 2020 report raises the stakes for the future of retail:

“By 2020, we believe the need for a unified consumer omnichannel experience will be complicated by the need for nearly perfect execution,” predicts PwC. “However, expert use of business intelligence tools, coupled with a profound understanding of shoppers’ needs and experiences in real time, may make omnichannel a realistic goal.”

Are We There Yet?

Where do customers think retailers are right now with their omnichannel goals? According to the TimeTrade State of Retail 2016 report, not very far. Only 26% of consumers feel that retailers today are providing a consistent customer experience across all channels (web, email, social media, call center, in-store, mobile and text).

And a historically strong service hub seems to be causing a major disconnect. Fifty-one percent (51%) of consumers said that the call center was the channel they felt was doing the poorest in terms of customer service compared to 26% in store, 23% social, 21% text, 20% web, 19% kiosk and 18% email. (According to the same report, only 5% of retail decision makers are making the call center a top priority in channel improvements. Social media was actually the top channel priority in this survey.)

Getting There…

So how can retailers go from where they are and how consumers perceive them today toward that 2020 vision of omnichannel consistency? Here are three areas of focus:

1.Awareness: Not just collecting Voice of the Customer feedback, but reacting to it and acting upon it is key to retailers moving forward. Many brands are doing this today as a way to turn the corner and improve.

2.Accessible knowledge for both agents and customers: Investment in a consistent knowledge source that can be used to deliver real-time knowledge both internally across agents and employees and externally to customers across channels, devices and locations is a must-have investment for an omnichannel future, not just for retail, but for all industries.

3.Proactive, predictive, personalized insights and intelligence: Empowering customer service with the insights to acknowledge and react to trending issues and then proactively reach out to customers across channels with information could not only significantly increase customer satisfaction, but radically change and assist the call center by reducing historic volume, strain and frustration. Greater customer intelligence that is many times shared only between sales and marketing could also help service lead the way in more personalized engagement when it matters most for retention.

The same PwC report says “Retail brands in 2020, we believe, will have three key attributes: consistency, intensity and accuracy. Let’s bring service into the mainstream to help deliver on this 2020 omnichannel customer experience vision.

Managed Solution will partner with your organization, align goals, and deploy Dynamics CRM hand-in-hand, ensuring we create a solution specific to your unique business needs. We have developed a proven deployment and migration strategy for our clients deploying Dynamics CRM to make sure that your transition is simple, smooth, and stable. For information on deploying Microsoft Dynamics CRM in your organization, please call us at 800-257-0691 or fill out the contact form below and an expert will contact you shortly.

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How to maximize ROI by outsourcing or blending with a managed services provider

Managing IT is no easy task. Challenges with IT professionals include a lot of turnover of IT employees, difficulty supporting the necessary training, and the expense of continued education to keep employees at the top of the industry.  Whether you completely outsource IT or create a Blended IT workforce, a managed service provider can save you time, money, and a whole lot of frustration.  To get the best out of your MSP, check out these tips:

Communicate your needs

Make sure to follow up with your managed services provider.  They are there to give you exactly what you need, and also what you want.  Communicate your goals and ideas so they can execute and implement them into your business. MSPs can be so much more than an outside IT department, and can often serve as your virtual CIO.  Take advantage of this by combining all of your skills with theirs to take your business to the next level.

Re-evaluate often

Meet up with your MSP on a regular basis. Consistently reviewing the overall state of your IT operations is important in resolving - and preventing - any issues.  Also checking up on your last period's operations efficiency, such as how many tickets went through, the average time of resolution, etc, can help you see exactly how your MSP is performing.  Your MSP should work with you to improve the functionality of your network by keeping up with reports.

Let them help you

MSPs are capable of providing valuable strategic advice, including planning future IT projects and upgrades, evaluating your network, systems, and workstations, and coming up with solutions to current or potential future IT problems. Come up with a clear, step-by-step backup and disaster recovery plan.  Work with your MSP to make sure they know what you will need, and you will know exactly what they can do for you, as well as what you will need to do in case of a disaster.  Test the backup process with your MSP to make sure the plan will work for both of you.

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Our Managed Services Portfolio includes offerings that cover a wide range of technology’s – choose from one of our packaged offerings or pick and choose the specific services and applications that fit your business needs. The first step will be a Network Assessment with one of our infrastructure experts that will provide you a network inventory analysis, identify any and all network issues and correlate data collected to provide you extensive insight into your network and its performance.

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Getting Started with the OneNote Web Clipper

As written on support.office.com