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Discover how embedding service at every step of the customer journey generates growth for your business.to-Endless Customer Service. End-toWhen most people think about customer service, they think about fixing something that went wrong: The package that arrived late. A double-billed service. Power and internet outages. Its true that solving problems is an important role of service. But it should no longer be the sole focus.For decades, customer service has functioned as a silo and focused on efficiencysolving problems and answering questions at the lowest cost possible. Service has been stuck in a maintenance phase at the end of the customer lifecycle. Reactive and transactional, it has been a cost of doing business, not an engine for growing it.Most companies have been investing in better digital capabilities, including self-service, artificial intelligence (AI) and automation. Their goal: faster, less expensive and more flexible service. Though important, that goal alone misses the larger opportunity to transform service into a growth driver.Customer service has had a long, successful run in its traditional role.2End-to-Endless Customer ServiceImagine service as a function so essential to your organization that it engages customers at every step of their journeyfrom learning and purchase to usage and, ultimately, repurchase. Its integrated, indispensable, influential and seamlessly embedded into your operations. Its a driver of continuous innovation. It reduces customer effort, helps customers achieve maximum value from their purchases and provides customer insights into product development.No longer a traditional cost center, service contributes to business growth, customer loyalty and trust.This is End-to-Endless Customer Service. This is End-to-Endless Customer Service.Service.3End-to-Endless Customer Service1 in 5view service completely as a value centerrevenue growth3.5x +50These companies drive more than triple the revenue growth of companies managing service as a cost center.These high-growth companies are spending an average of only 50 basis points more of their revenue on customer service.2A small proportion of companies are fully committed to service as a value center that improves customer relationships and drives sustainable growth.basis pointsFocusing only on the speed, efficiency and cost of reactive customer service is a race to the bottom.It also puts revenue at risk. Its time to seize larger, more strategic opportunities in service of growth. Leading brands are shifting the focus of the traditional service centerOur research1 has revealed that leading companies are already embracing an end-to-endless customer service mindset.This approach is paying off. These companies have shifted their model and transformed service from a cost center to a value driver.4End-to-Endless Customer ServiceFigure 1: When customer service is perceived as a value center, revenue growth is higherFigure 2: High-growth companies are spending an average of only 50 basis points more of their revenue on service3% 4% 5% 6% 7% 8% 9% 10% 11% 12%Service spend as a percentage of total revenueOthercompaniesHigh-growthcompanies50BPS3.5x morePerceived as acost centerCAGRPerceived as avalue center5.8%1.6%Base: N=761 based on pairings between Executive survey and supplemental financial data pack. Note: Annualized total company revenue growth (2018-2020), periods N=2; CAGR. Based on local currency. Source: Accenture End-to-Endless Customer Service Research 2021, coupled with publicly available financial data.Base: N=2030. Note: Service spend as a percentage of total revenue. High-growth companies vs. other companies based on self-reported revenue growth averages (2018-2020) for top industry quartile vs bottom three quartiles (7% vs 6.5% of total revenue spent on service). BPS represents basis points. Source: Accenture End-to-Endless Customer Service Research 2021.This transformation starts with a mindset shift around customer servicefrom treating it as a problem solving function and a cost center to viewing it as value creation function responsible for delivering memorable customer experiences. Our study asked customer service executives how leaders within their company perceive the customer service organization. Leveraging a 5-point scale, we found that only one in five organizations fully views service as a value center. These companies achieve 3.5 times more revenue growth than those perceiving service entirely as a cost center.These high-growth companies are not spending a lot more, either. In fact, compared to their peers, they are spending, on average, only 50 basis points more of their revenue on customer service.5End-to-Endless Customer ServicePutting the customer at the center to fuel growthService transformation must extend beyond technology investments and process redesign to also focus on re-imagining the service and experience that is delivered to customers. As experience becomes increasingly important to growth, service plays an even more critical role in exceeding expectations for all customers across all channels. Customers want interactions that align with their motivations, desired outcomes and preferences for how to achieve these outcomes. A purely cost-centric approach to managing service will fall short in delivering the experience customers want and value.Customer service. Customer care. Customer support. No matter what you call it, how can you transform service interactions into an opportunity for shared value creation?Our research and advanced modeling uncovered three key opportunities to activate customer service as a value center today.Polestar revs proactive customer service as key differentiatorAs Polestar set out to capture more of the booming electric vehicle market, it eyed a unique opportunity: leverage the car as a customer experience platform. From the ground up, it built its business and technology infrastructure to serve the digital consumer. As Chief Marketing Officer Tim Heldmann explained, “At Polestar, we wanted to replicate a state-of-the-art infotainment that is very similar to what consumers are used to today: their current smartphone. We want to get the car experience closer to how people interact and use their smartphones.”3 Polestar captures and analyzes driver information in an instantenabling proactive service, a much higher degree of personalization in marketing and aftersales, and more value for its customers.4 Case study6End-to-Endless Customer ServiceMitigate the severity and frequency of customer-initiated effort by injecting proactive and predictive capabilities into end-to-endless service.Maximize value delivered to customers by providing personalized and contextually relevant strategic advice on how to get the most value from their purchases.Modify how products and services are developed by integrating insights from the service organization into the product innovation process.Three key opportunities for end-to-endless service 78% B2B and 65% B2Ccustomers indicate proactive service solutions are important but less effectively provided.#2 value driverB2C customers benefit when service helps them get more value from their products.10X+ higher revenue growthwhen companies involve their service organization in the development of new products.Grow Usageby helping customers get more valueGrow Possibility by activating service insightsGrow Trustwith proactive, predictive service7End-to-Endless Customer ServiceGrow TrustMitigate the severity and frequency of customer-initiated effort by injecting proactive and predictive capabilities into end-to-endless service.8End-to-Endless Customer ServiceWe measured 19 different service experiences to gauge how important they are to B2B and B2C customers. These service experiences ranged from anticipating a potential issue before it becomes one to advising customers on the best products and services based on their history/usage. We also asked how well their providers deliver these experiences.We discovered customers highly value proactive service experiences and communications.These are also the experiences underserved by most organizations. By shifting to a more predictive service model, businesses have an opportunity to provide greater value to customers and drive growth for the organization.Figure 3: Customers value proactive support but are being underserved EffectivenessImportanceOther service experienceAnticipating issues Communicating issuesProactiveservicesOther serviceexperiencesBase: B2C survey, N=13327. B2B survey, N= 2886. Note: Customers that view proactive service experiences as “important” or “very important”, vs. “effective” or “very effective”. Visualization for B2C Customers, whereas B2B Customer charting shows similar outlier pattern for proactive services. Source: Accenture End-to-Endless Customer Service Research 2021. B2Bcustomers reported proactive service as important.3/4B2C2/39End-to-Endless Customer ServiceGrow TrustCompaniesthat arenot effectiveCompaniesthat are veryeffectiveRevenue growth (% 3yr average)5.6%-1.8%-0.6%Anticipating issuesCommunicating issues5.9%Figure 4: More effective proactive service solutions can result in greater revenue growth potentialBase: N=2030. Note: Average company self reported revenue growth % (2018-2020) based on effectiveness of proactive service solutions. Source: Accenture End-to-Endless Customer Service Research 2021.Even with this increased value of service, one-third of customers still view service as a utilitysomething they need but dont think much about unless they have an issue.Is customer service a functional silo within your organizationonly engaging with customers reactively when they have an issue? Or have you created the skills and capabilities to monitor, identify and proactively resolve customers problems?10End-to-Endless Customer ServiceGrow Trust36%40%32%23%74%72%58%44%Gen ZMillennialsGen XBoomersB2C customersB2B customersFigure 5: Share of generational groups that are willing to pay more for improved service featuresBase: B2B survey, N=3341. B2C survey, N=12335. Note: Based on responses for Definitely or Likely willing to pay more. Gen Z = ages 18-24; Millennials 25-40, Gen X 41-56, Boomers 57-75. Generations based on appropriate age ranges during time of fielding. Source: Accenture End-to-Endless Customer Service Research 2021.Its human nature to try to resolve an issue when it arises. Well-designed self-service tools enable a customer to address their own needs quickly and easily. Thats a good outcome for the customer and the company. An even better approach is to predict and proactively address an issue to further reduce customer effort and avoid negative impacts to customer experience.Truly proactive support demands a deep understanding of customer needs with predictive capabilities powered by data that anticipates and identifies when youre at risk of not meeting customers expectations or promised product or service performance. When you take responsibility for proactively understanding, anticipating and meeting customers needs, your company becomes an “invisible” presence they know they can trust.Customers dont just want proactive service; they are also willing to pay for it. Compared to those who do not consider proactive service important, customers who do are 30% more likely to pay a premium for proactive service.Interestingly, younger generations of B2B and B2C customers are more willing to pay a premium for proactive support.11End-to-Endless Customer ServiceGrow TrustAs you shift your support model to incorporate more predictive and proactive service, it will be important to:Identifywhen and where to apply these capabilities to improve customer journeys.Definetriggers for predictive problem identification and proactive customer communication.Establishanalytics processes for consuming and analyzing data in support of proactive trigger identification. Invest in the technology capabilities required to enable your proactive customer engagement strategy.12End-to-Endless Customer ServiceGrow TrustAvailable data sources are vast and ever expanding. They extend beyond “traditional” support channels, making it critical for service to have a scalable data and analytics strategy.For example, consider data generated via IoT wearables. This data can inform proactive, personalized recommendations to help improve a customers product usage. As part of advanced infrastructure monitoring, IoT sensors can also help predict maintenance needs and timing. Beyond your own data, consider external events that could trigger a need for proactive communications or issue prevention. With their vast physical infrastructures, communications and utility companies need to track environmental and weather concerns. This monitoring is key not only to protecting assets but also to proactively communicating with customers about potential disruptions and offering tips for preparing or recovering from a weather event.In our study, companies reported lack of adequate technology as the top barrier hindering their customer service organizations ability to deliver growth outcomes.Only 13% of service organizations operate heavily in the cloud (60% of workloads). The companies they support are realizing higher revenue growth compared to those that have not started or just started migrating to the cloud. 13End-to-Endless Customer ServiceGrow TrustFiling for unemployment benefits can be fraught with emotion and complexity. When people are counting on these benefits they need clarity on their responsibilities and want transparency into the status of their claim.The COVID-19 pandemic created unusual demands on state unemployment agencies. One state was overwhelmed with claims volume 40 times higher than the norm with more than 100,000 people applying for benefits each week. And many claimants were navigating this process for the first time. The call center was inundated with questions, service issues and requests for status updates.The state launched a solution focused on personalized engagement and more intuitive service using data-driven triggers and an AI-powered engine to gain contextual awareness. It continuously tracked responses and sentiment to adjust conversations and improve outcomes. The agency crafted proactive citizen conversations to address anticipated needsmaking it possible to engage thousands of people via automated SMS text messages (with live agent escalation available to handle unique cases).5State agency grows trust with more personalized and proactive serviceCase study14End-to-Endless Customer ServiceGrow TrustOur survey affirms that proactive service solutions are important to both B2B and B2C customers.Meeting the expectations of todays customers requires investmentboth to increase efficiency and to drive continual innovation in how you deliver proactive support.15End-to-Endless Customer ServiceGrow TrustGrow UsageMaximize value delivered to customers by providing personalized and contex
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