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Leading edge companies regard their support organization as a strategic enabler, empowering support agents and focusing on impacting customer satisfaction. In doing so they are adopting a cross-channel support strategy, which includes remote support technologies. The results are real boosts in customer satisfaction and reduced support costs.
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InfoWorld QuickPulse * Service and Support
Customer service has evolved from a reactive
activity viewed largely as a cost center-based tac-
tical necessity, to a proactive management task
that can in many ways set a company apart from
the competition.
At the same time, the channels by which cus-
tomers receive support are growing and fragment-
ing very rapidly. The telephone is still the primary
mode of support, but is steadily declining as text,
social media, chat, knowledge bases, email and
online communities provide new avenues for cus-
tomers to get the help they need.
Some organizations are embracing this evolu-
tion by implementing technologies that enable
them to interact with customers regardless of the
channel or the device they’re using. This approach
not only improves customer service, but also
boosts the brand image and helps companies
achieve broader business goals.
Simply put, great products are not nearly
enough to maintain a competitive edge. In a
September 2012 guest column in The Wall Street
Journal, Forrester Research analysts wrote that, in
the age of the customer, “past sources of compet-
itive advantage have been commoditized … in this
age the only source of competitive advantage is
the one that can survive technology-fueled disrup-
tion: an obsession with customer experience.” 1
Customer Service is Job 1Businesses are heeding the call. According to a
recent survey of IT managers conducted by IDG
Research, 47 percent view service and sup-
port desk operations as a strategic enabler to
achieving broader business goals. Further, an
overwhelming majority of respondents say that,
among other things, improving customer service
increases customer loyalty, raises customer life-
time value and improves customer acquisition.
How do they know? Fifty-seven percent ac-
tively track and correlate the success of their ser-
vice and support operations to the achievement of
broader business goals.
One example: A leading games-on-demand
provider has embraced advanced chat services
that drastically cut problem resolution time, in-
crease customer retention and boost support staff
productivity, resulting in cost reduction of more
than 30 percent.
The chat services used by the gaming compa-
ny go beyond the basics and include click-to-call
technology, and a tool that lets customer service
representatives connect to a consumer’s mobile
device (with permission) to remotely diagnose and
fix technical problems.
SPONSORED BY:
Service and Support as a Strategic Imperative Focus on customer experience yields tangible business benefits
1 “How CIOs Can Help Companies Survive the Age of the Customer,” The Wall Street Journal, September 18, 2012
In a September 2012 guest column in The Wall Street Journal, Forrester Research analysts wrote that, in the age of the customer, “past sources of competitive advantage have been commoditized … in this age the only source of competitive advantage is the one that can survive technology-fueled disruption: an obsession with customer experience.”
Best-of-breed chat technologies enable
support staffs to manage simultaneous chats,
servicing more customers faster. Further, organi-
zations can use chat technologies to boost sales;
for example, by promoting services that convert
customers to a paid service.
The Evolution of Remote PC Support Despite the torrid growth of everything mobile,
many organizations have not deployed tools that
would enable them to most effectively support
their mobile customers.
Only 24 percent of respondents to the IDG sur-
vey have a remote support solution enabling them
to connect to a customer’s mobile device. At the
same time, more than 60 percent say that such
a solution would positively impact their customer
service and satisfaction metrics.
That disconnect suggests that many organiza-
tions might not be supporting their customers
most effectively.
Support solutions like Rescue from LogMeIn
let technicians remotely support a user’s Android,
BlackBerry, iOS, Windows Mobile or Symbian
device, and quickly resolve issues.
It is the logical evolution of remote PC support.
Indeed, when Telenor Group, one of the world’s
largest wireless carriers, wanted to change the
way its mobile customers receive and experience
support, the company deployed technology for
remotely supporting smartphones.
With permission, Telenor’s support staff can
remotely control a smartphone, helping custom-
ers set up wireless networks, manage security
settings, transfer files and install software, even
rebooting the phone if needed.
“The remote capability allows us to provide a
far more satisfactory customer experience and
one that you’d expect from a leading mobile oper-
ator,” says Lars-Erik Monsvik, product manager in
Telenor’s premium support services department.
Taking it a step further, some leading device
makers are bundling remote control software on
their devices, enabling support staffs to remotely
configure, diagnose and troubleshoot problems
wherever the customer has a data connection.
This technology also lets technicians collabo-
rate on a remote session to solve more complex
problems. Collectively, these tools help solve
problems in a way that leaves the customer with a
very positive brand experience.
Time for a Strategic ApproachMore than half of the organizations in the IDG
survey cite high customer satisfaction as the most
critical goal for their service operations. However
that is getting more challenging as customer
service fragments and becomes multidimensional.
Customers are communicating with vendors in
different ways depending on who they are, where
they are and what device they are using.
“Customers will choose which channels to
engage with you whether you like it or not,” says
John Purcell, director of products at LogMeIn Inc.
“The question is, will you be there to meet them?”
The multichannel aspect of modern customer
service may make some organizations feel a loss
of control, particularly in social media, but tech-
nology provides an important way for organiza-
tions to have at least an equal voice in controlling
perceptions about the brand.
InfoWorld QuickPulse * Service and Support
Source: IDG Research, November2012
Customer Satisfaction’s Effect on Key Business Outcomes
71%
55%
39%
35%
29%
20% 91%
90%
88%
90%
84%
35%
49%
55%
55%
Increased customer loyality
Increased customer lifetime value
Improved customer acquisition
Higher employee satisfaction
Workflow sustainability
Dramatic positive impact Moderate positive impactDramatic/
Moderate positive impact incidence
“Customers will choose which channels to engage with you whether you like it or not,” says John Purcell, director of products at LogMeIn Inc. “The question is, will you be there to meet them?”
“Customers may not want to engage with you
on the phone, but that doesn’t mean you have to
surrender your influence over their experience,”
says Purcell.
Tools that help organizations engage custom-
ers on all levels, particularly mobile, will be key to
satisfying needs in an on-demand world. Busi-
nesses need to understand why customers are
InfoWorld QuickPulse * Service and Support
Visit www.LogMeIn.com
engaging with them, who their customers are and
how they are engaging.
When service providers have a better under-
standing of these elements, they extend brand
influence and drive more positive outcomes with
customer interactions. Forrester Research has a
model showing the three ways in which revenue is
impacted by positive customer experience: incre-
mental revenue from existing customers, revenue
saved by lower churn and new sales driven by
word of mouth.
Considering their daily interactions with cus-
tomers, there is likely no department closer to
customers, no group that understands customer
behavior better, than customer service.
Their critical and unique insight into customers
Propensity for Organizations to Correlate Service/Support Desk Operations to
Business Outcomes
57% Yes31%
No
12%Don’t know
SOURCE: IDG Research Services, November 2012
adds value to the business in ways that no other
discipline can, which makes them a strategic part
of the organization.
ConclusionIn an exhaustive 2011 report2, Accenture surveyed
10,000 consumers and found that, not surprising-
ly, expectations of customer service were higher
than ever. At the same time, Accenture found, the
digital age has made relationships between cus-
tomers and providers more personal because it
provides myriad ways to understand what matters
to and motivates customers.
“If you do not have a customer-centric view of
the world you are denying yourself the opportunity
to drive lifetime value,” says Purcell.
That’s surely true. It’s also true that simply
measuring customer satisfaction through surveys
is not enough. Organizations must collect, evalu-
ate and act on customer feedback, using all tools
available. Doing so is a proactive management
discipline that has a quantitative, demonstrable
impact on business results.
The number of organizations that view cus-
tomer support (and more importantly, customer
experience) as a strategic imperative will continue
to grow. The companies that recognize and
embrace the evolution and importance of the
customer experience will be more likely to achieve
broader business goals.
2 Accenture 2011 Global Consumer Research Study