Deon Scheepers, Interactive Intelligence

In the contact centre, the key to excelling at customer service is to integrate all customer touch points. When the customer calls, agents have access to all information regarding that customer and what they’ve been through, allowing the agent to help resolve the issue quickly, and the customer is spared from having to repeat the same information over and over again.

The contact centre industry has been perfecting these techniques for decades; but the mobile revolution has thrown a new wrinkle into the mix. However, as people become more attached to the mobile lifestyle, it will be critically important to integrate the mobile experience successfully with the rest of the customer support plan.

Mobility is changing how people live, and excellence in the customer service provided to those mobile users will be an all-important factor to business success. Already, customers prize effective, well thought-out mobile applications that make their lives easier. But, customers also bristle at mobile apps that perform poorly, that take time out of a busy schedule, and that prove to be more trouble than they’re worth. In that context, companies that can create a seamless mobile (and social) experience – which get the job done in a fast and efficient fashion – can form winning customer relationships.

The key is recognising that customer service is at the core of these relationships. As the number and types of customer touch points continue to increase, companies will need to look at the full arsenal of tools they have to serve these customers. And it’s not just having the tools, but integrating them effectively across multiple mobile channels. Whether a customer reaches out by phone, social network, e-mail message, Twitter, or text on a wired or wireless device, they will get the same level of efficient service.

Companies need to deploy a complete mobile platform that allows them to build constant improvement into customer service capabilities, to differentiate their offerings and result in stronger customer bonds. Customers are going mobile and they’re going social, but they still expect an exemplary service experience. That’s where you want to be.

About the author: Deon Scheepers is the regional business development manager at Interactive Intelligence Africa.