A couple of weeks ago I attended the “Close Network for Contact-Centre-and-Customer-Services Managers” in Sweden. “Close” is the largest and most professional manager network in Sweden and a great forum for discussing challenges with experienced people in the same profession. It´s always interesting and fun to meet counterparts and learn from their challenges and processes. It was my first time representing Calabrio / Teleopti.

One topic under discussion was customer expectations: how it grows and changes as quickly as technology evolves. What we had yesterday is not valid today and for sure not tomorrow.

Customers have the power. They expect good experiences and the best service. They want rapid resolution, regardless of the channel. Furthermore, the trend today is that customers have more knowledge about their needs when contacting customer services. Companies and their customer-service organisation need to be highly adaptable and meet these demands.

During the discussions we also found that about 70 percent of all organisations are now using social media as part of their customer services. For those not on board, these are certainly challenges to live up to. It´s simple but, at the same time, hard. Contact centres and customer service organisations need sound processes and strong leadership to deliver great customer-service experiences.

Customer services need to provide experiences that actually exceed customer expectations. From my point of view, workforce management (WFM) is what ensures the right person and  the right skills in the right place and at the right time to satisfy customers. If this is in place, you have a good platform for success in achieving customer satisfaction.

To retain customers and grow, proactive and personalised customer service is in order. Having said that, it´s not easy. It´s actually hard work meeting customer expectations, yet great fun! For inspiration, I leave you with a quote by professional ice hockey player, Wayne Gretsky: ”I skate to where the puck is going to be, not where it has been.”

Good luck!