The future of customer service

The Future of Customer Service

The world is moving so rapidly under the influence of technology that it is very hard to predict the future and in particular have any ideas about what customer service will look like in 100 years time. Two questions arise: what view do we have of customer service practices from 100 years ago? Did the expression "customer service" even exist? And more interestingly how will today's customer service skills withstand the test of time?

customer service and social media: mix the old and the new

Social media customer service

With the exponential growth of social networks, social media and customer service are now closely associated. The challenges are numerous and require significant investment in platforms, people and procedures. Whilst the first interaction with customers is now very public it is little different in practice from the handling of a belligerent customer on the shop floor. "Would you kindly come to my office Sir/Madam?"  aka " Let us deal with this off-line". Nothing new. Companies which are able to mix the well established customer service skills with the new technology-based tools will excel and dominate the new world of social media customer service.


Update November 2013
For those of you who are interested to learn more about social media and customer service, we found an interesting infographic with plenty of statistics. The ground is moving rapidly in social media so if we find additional useful applications for customer service we will post them here. The information is contained in an infographic posted by EConsultancy covering the future of social media and customer service: http://econsultancy.com/uk/blog/8937-the-future-of-customer-service-and-social-media-infographic
An interesting piece of research was also published by social bakers on the best social media customer service by UK brands. The research can be found here: http://www.socialbakers.com/blog/1308-the-best-and-worst-uk-brands-in-social-customer-service?

We are also always on the look-out for examples of best use of social media for customer service so do not hesitate to share them with us.

Customer service: storm coming in

A complete customer service skill set must include a good sense of anticipation. Many industries have learnt to identify the early signs of a storm coming in. Typically two measures are adopted: one option is close all openings with a lot of  boarding and face the storm head on, inevitably this results in long lasting damages. The other option is to take evasive action, go with the wind and the waves, not against them and steer yourself out of trouble. It requires patience and a humble attitude but the outcome is almost always favourable. Next time a client storm is brewing, chose the right course 

Picture courtesy of http://lilackitty.deviantart.com/ with our thanks

Customer service experience: the odd one out

Customer service experience

Does your customer experience need to be personalised? Actually, customers do not often want to be treated in an individual way. Many customers share a sense of fairness and are happy to be handled like everyone else. But make no mistake, if a client feels that he or she is the odd one out and is receiving below par service, it won't be long before the complaints start flying in.

Picture courtesy of http://lilackitty.deviantart.com/ with our thanks

Online customer service : make sure it is not frosty

Online customer service

The development of online customer service delivery has made it more difficult to establish warm relationships with customers. A new challenge facing customer service training is to ensure that despite the lack of direct human contact, customer service representatives are able to engage with customers, develop a personal contact and above all that the relationships do not become frosty, especially on social media channels where it is witnessed by millions.


Picture courtesy of http://lilackitty.deviantart.com/ with our thanks

Top customer service

top customer service

There is simply no alternative. In terms of customer service, companies should always aim for the top. But, very importantly, always chose the easiest route and make sure that you do not take risks that could endanger the whole enterprise. Ultimately, a puff of smoke might even signal total customer satisfaction...