How to Select the Right Customer Service Solution

Niki Lotte at Talkdesk outlines a buying criteria checklist to help you make better CX investment decisions when searching for a CCaaS or UCaaS solution.

Recognizing the importance of customer engagement for long-term profitability, almost every organization aspires to be a customer experience (CX) leader and deliver the best possible service to their clients. Yet, few companies succeed.

According to IDC, worldwide spending on CX technologies is charted to reach US$641bn this year. When shopping for CX providers, buyers can find themselves swamped by a crowded market of vendors, all claiming to solve CX problems.

In a partnership with Talkdesk, CX Network conducted a survey among 2,000 of its members to understand their investment plans for five separate CX solution verticals: contact centre, customer experience management platforms, data and analytics, digital customer experience, and voice of the customer.

The question that they all face is the same: in a crowded vendor landscape, how can you be sure you’re choosing the right partner for your CX investment? The tips that follow will help you find the most effective solution for this.

Follow This Buying Criteria Checklist for CX Investments.

CX professionals often find themselves faced with the challenge to not only deliver great experiences but to demonstrate the return on investment that the CX investment brings. According to the vertical you’re willing to invest in, there are some considerations to take while choosing the perfect partner:

Contact Centre Platforms.

Contact centres are the hubs of customer loyalty. For that reason, companies must invest in equipping staff with the tools, training, resources, and culture needed to create meaningful experiences. For a contact centre solution, look for a vendor that meets the following criteria:

• Compliance and security standards.
• Ability to quickly expand capacity.
• An “every customer is special” policy—whether you’re a small business or a large enterprise.
• The drive to constantly innovate and provide new capabilities.

Customer Experience Management Platforms.

Customer experience management (CXM) platforms centralize customer information and provide visibility across all interactions with customer bases and journeys. They act as a single source of truth and help companies to deliver tailored and personalized experiences to their customers.

When searching for a CXM platform provider, make sure it has:

• Rich account management tools and analytics capabilities.
• Integration between experiential and operational data.

Digital Experience.

Digital access has become increasingly important in today’s customer’s livelihoods. Organizations that can’t deliver quality and reliable digital experiences to their customers will find it difficult to maintain or grow their market share.

Due to its impact on different departments and stakeholders, proper communication and strategic alignment are vital to make the most of digital experience investment decisions, as well as:

• An assessment of qualified requirements and vendor performance.
• Risk mitigation through background checks and a proof-of-concept.

Data and Analytics.

If you want to win customer loyalty, you have to listen to your customers. The thing is, the majority of times, they won’t exactly tell you what they want—you have to gain an in-depth understanding of their behavior and signals.

Nevertheless, the application of data and analytics in CX is quite challenging—companies tend to struggle with organizational data silos and data integration from diverse sources.

• Don’t wait to have the perfect dataset; start gleaning insights from the data you have now.
• Get references from existing clients.
• Ask about adherence to time scales, budget, and service level agreements.

“Don’t just consider the current features and functionality of CX technologies; dive into product roadmaps, company vision, and growth plans to ensure this partner will enable you to continue innovating and staying ahead of the curve for years to come.” John Quaglietta, Global vice president, office of customer experience at Talkdesk.

Voice of Customer.

Voice of customer technology allows organizations to uncover perspectives from their audience and make CX decisions based on this understanding. Leaders have to be sure, however, that data integrity is maintained to avoid outdated and misleading information.

You should:

• Check vendor’s ability to provide face-to-face interaction during planning and execution phases.
• Ensure your supplier is not at risk of going out of business.
• Seek partners that will push you to innovate in the future.

Before You Go.

Delivering better customer service enhances brand loyalty and business growth. Investing in CX technology is an important step in this approach, as your business’s reputation is strongly influenced by your provider’s output. That means you need to choose wisely.

This blog post has been re-published by kind permission of Talkdesk – View the Original Article

For more information about Talkdesk - visit the Talkdesk Website

Call Centre Helper is not responsible for the content of these guest blog posts. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect those of Call Centre Helper.