Customer Service: past and future
How customer service, consumers and contact channels have evolved over time: from posted letters to intelligent chatbots with natural language recognition.
When we began working in customer service more than 40 years ago, consumers were shy and sometimes a little hesitant. They wrote handwritten letters to report issues or request information. Some even sent Christmas cards to thank us for solving their problems. They were grateful simply for the time devoted to them. Communication was asynchronous, however, and the wait for a response increased the distance between company and customer.
The introduction of freephone numbers, email, SMS and contact forms led to an increasingly customer-focused approach. As consumers and their needs evolve, companies recognise that customer service strongly influences purchase and repeat-purchase decisions. This has encouraged the use of increasingly effective, connected, efficient and productive support channels, including intelligent automation.
The evolution of contact channels using generative and conversational AI is reshaping support services, making them more digital in their configuration, training and skills development.
This channel fully meets the needs of today's typical consumer: someone who prefers self-service, always available at any time and on any day, without waiting. For today's connected consumer, support received through this channel must match the standard of a human operator: it must ask intelligent questions, be proactive, resolve reported issues and answer requests.
Today's contact centre, across all its channels, not only manages contacts, complaints and requests: it supports, helps, suggests, simplifies and listens. It is fully integrated into the company's strategy, creating a seamless, continuous experience.
