How to Embrace Mobile Customer Service

Chris Hall looks at how you should be responding to the impact of mass mobile usage on consumers’ customer service expectations.

If we step back and think about how mobile has transformed customer service, there are three key developments that stand out for customer service departments:

1. The need for speed: The type of ‘instant-access’ culture enabled by mobile phones has meant that users have become less patient than ever. They expect all information to be available at their fingertips and can’t understand when brands are unable to deliver it exactly how, where and when they require it.
2. The need for optimisation: Thanks to mobile, the journey to a brand website has become more varied than ever before – meaning brands have to anticipate how customers want to access information and ensure their website is optimised across all the potential channels.
3. The need for immediate resolution: The number one bugbear cited by consumers in Accenture’s consumer survey was a failure to resolve issues first time. Customers want answers to their queries, on any device or channel, 24 hours a day – and will not tolerate not being able to get their answer in the way in which they choose.

Many still view their mobile channel as a secondary path to their website

Despite the fact that consumers are increasingly becoming mobile, many companies are still falling into the trap of viewing their mobile channel as a secondary path to their website rather than as the primary landing page. I’d remind you again that more than one quarter of the world’s population are using smartphones and for many it is their only device to access the internet for self-service.

What to think about from a mobile perspective

So, today’s connected consumers are less patient and more demanding than ever before. They expect a consistent response to their questions, 24 hours a day, no matter how they choose to contact a brand. Fortunately, however, there are a couple of easy steps to take for brands who are failing to deliver this.

The knowledge customers are looking for is likely already available inside your business – you just need to use it and manage it to create actionable insights:

1. Embrace a knowledge-everywhere strategy – Delivering consistent answers across all service delivery channels is a daunting task. Just as centralising master customer information is important, so too is centralising your knowledge assets. A centralised knowledge-everywhere strategy helps you to think through how you can link online and offline information and how you should uniquely engage customers with intelligence respective to the advantages each channel provides.
2. Establish mobile-first principles – Understanding that consumers prefer mobile apps to mobile-enabled websites is not a choice – it’s a requirement. Knowing that most people use Siri, Cortana or Google Now to research information is not a preference, it is a vital part of the mobile user’s journey. These examples are some of the many mobile-first principles that are imperative in delivering an outstanding mobile customer experience.
3. Automate expected behaviours – ‘Make it easy’ would be an extreme understatement for consumers looking for answers on mobile devices. Understanding typical user journeys so that search and navigation become an anticipatory service and not a mechanical task is key in delivering superior mobile self-service.

Knowledge is power! How powerful is your business?

With thanks to Chris Hall at Transversal