The Changing Expectations Of Technology In Customer Support

Technology is moving fast, and rapid developments in innovation are playing an essential part in customer service expectations. Today, customers have a low tolerance for slow answers and anything less than outstanding service. Their expectations far exceed anything they would have wanted a decade ago, and businesses have to keep up. Customers want a quick and slick experience every time and refuse to settle for anything less. Organizations are adopting technologies, like knowledge sharing software solutions, to build and strengthen their relationships and improve customer support.

Technology Is an Expectation, Even When You Can’t See It

Going back a few years, having technology that assisted your customer service strategy wasn’t a requirement; it was a luxury. Today, customers expect their service providers to integrate technology into their strategy, even if it isn’t obvious. Customers expect personalization and automation, and support should be intuitive. The only way to accomplish this is with the help of technology.

One way to improve customer support is by implementing a customer facing knowledge management system (KMS), often referred to as a customer support portal. An external-facing KMS will allow your clients to log in to a support portal and quickly search for the answers to their problems. Consider a system that implements machine learning to get to know your customers’ wants even better. Machine learning means faster results for your customers, who will notice and appreciate the smarter system.

Customers Expect All the Information

The customer service expectations for finding information have fundamentally changed. 77 percent of US consumers rank “valuing my time” as the most important part of online customer service, and that means customers don’t want to wait for minutes on end while a service rep searches for the answer to their question. Customers expect information at their fingertips when interacting with your customer support team–much like when they search for information online.

With a customer-facing knowledge management solution, you can provide your customers with all the information they want, and monitor what is being searched for, read, and used most often. This means you can make sure your customers are getting what they want when they want it — and you can build a library of knowledge that meets their needs.

Customers Expect To Help Themselves

We’ve talked before about the trend of customers not wanting to pick up the phone and talk to customer service personnel. Customers, especially millennials, want to type in their questions and get an answer — like magic. Thanks, Google.

By giving your customers access to a knowledge sharing solution with intelligent, industry-leading search, you’re giving them the opportunity to help themselves. They don’t have to talk to anyone if they don’t want to. But if they need some extra assistance, having the ability to comment and ask questions directly on a content piece gives them the feeling of doing it themselves.

We are in the midst of a customer service revolution, and we have rapidly changing technologies to thank. Knowing what your customers want, when they want it gets you one step ahead of the game. Implementing an intuitive customer support solution, like knowledge sharing strategies, means continuously striving to improve customer support and meet customer service expectations consistently.