{"id":10891,"date":"2023-06-12T01:47:00","date_gmt":"2023-06-12T01:47:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.salesforce.com\/?p=10891"},"modified":"2023-08-31T01:50:45","modified_gmt":"2023-08-31T01:50:45","slug":"scale-customer-service-with-automation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.salesforce.com\/in\/blog\/scale-customer-service-with-automation\/","title":{"rendered":"Who\u2019s Responsible for Customer Service? [Hint: It Isn\u2019t Just the Service Team]"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

As companies, we all want to deliver exceptional service experiences that delight customers. So, some of us try a new approach to service, or change a few processes. Others embark on a major digital transformation. Yet, even after all that, we don\u2019t always achieve the ideal level of service that\u2019s scalable and loved by customers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Perhaps it\u2019s time to look at things differently \u2013 to get back the basics, and ask ourselves one simple question.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Who\u2019s responsible for service?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

If your answer is \u201cthe customer service team,\u201d you\u2019d be right \u2013 but only partially. The truth is that everyone in the organisation needs to be working together to deliver memorable service experiences.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Let\u2019s say a customer calls their bank\u2019s service centre to register a credit card complaint. When they visit the bank branch the next day, the staff should already be aware of the service issue, so that they can proactively update the customer on the ticket status, explain how quickly it will be resolved, and perhaps even offer an alternative credit card.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Similarly, sales teams talking to a customer should proactively mould their pitches if the customer already has an open service ticket. Or, if the customer is browsing a website and doesn\u2019t know which product is right for them, a chatbot should pop up to provide assistance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are many more such examples that demonstrate how service can be embedded at every level of the organisation. The goal is to ensure that customers enjoy a connected and seamless experience<\/a> across touchpoints. That\u2019s the hallmark of great service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now that we know that customer service is everyone\u2019s responsibility, have we designed our organisations that way? Is service embedded into every level of our enterprise?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Think of it like this. As humans, we all want to enjoy good physical health \u2013 so, some of us do intermittent fasting, while others experiment with ketogenic diets. Similarly, as organisations, we all want to deliver great customer experiences \u2013 so, we embrace automation and process improvements, but we do it in silos across various departments. To truly satisfy customer needs, all our teams have to work together as a collective.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What does it take to build a customer-centric culture where service is part of everyone’s job?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Exceptional customer service is built on three pillars \u2013 the customer, the service rep, and other supporting teams. When they\u2019re all connected through streamlined and automated processes, and when they\u2019re united around common goals and metrics, the result is a truly customer-centric service culture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Here are three key steps to delivering great service,and unlocking customer loyalty:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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1. Scale processes with automation<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

For service to scale, automation has to be all-pervasive. Both business and IT users need to work together to ensure that people-to-people and system-to-system processes within service are automated. That includes legacy systems which aren\u2019t open for API-based integrations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Automation is that real revenue driver. It changes the boardroom conversation from “How are we going to scale service – look at what we\u2019re spending!” to “Look at what we’ve saved by deflecting cases to chatbots, minimising escalations, and using our reps more efficiently\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Salesforce Service Cloud<\/a> has over 700 out-of-the-box automation and chatbot solutions that are tailored to your industry, enabling you to:<\/p>\n\n\n\n