How Customer Service changes with Covid 19: new strategies for companies

"The impacts have been significant and on different levels. Organizational processes have been transformed, both from a logistical point of view, with the relocation of workers and the creation of virtual teams, and from a managerial point of view, with the definition of new processes and operating procedures; in addition, relevant technological innovations have been introduced to enable, with reliable, secure and effective solutions, remote work.

In recent months, customer service has been called upon to be in effect customer care, offering customers proactive, multichannel, real-time customer service that can be used from any device by limiting waiting times and offering the customer a simple journey in line with his or her expectations.

In order to cope with the variability of volumes and sudden peaks in requests, the integration of the technological and human components was crucial. In particular, I am referring to the integration between natively digital customer care solutions (Cloud IVR, Progressive Web app, Chat Bot) and multiskill specialists capable of enhancing the Customer experience and perfecting with their work the quality of the assistance provided to the customer."

"At Increso, the well-established presence of this digital ecosystem has enabled us to rapidly convert 100 percent of our resources to smart working, ensuring business continuity for our clients in complex phases characterized, as anticipated, by peaks in activity and, above all, guaranteeing high service levels thanks to the scalability of the digital solutions adopted.

In recent months, for example, for a Leading Client in the logistics industry, we have handled a significant increase in requests for assistance with shipments and returns (+83%), which we have processed nimbly, reshaping, based on changing habits and needs, the channels set up.

Progressive Web Apps (PWAs) and specific Cloud IVR treeings, developed for the customer and included long ago in customer journey maps, have absorbed the growing need for support, offering a complete, integrated and customized service based on the customer's needs. In addition, the integration of traditional channels, voice, SMS and e-mail has made it possible to support the customer in the most complex cases."

"Focusing on Training and Sharing. Smart working is an equally useful and complex tool, and it only works if it is truly supported by clear organizational models that are shared by all.

Still in Increso, 100 percent of the resources are in agile work, and training is now more than ever a vital moment of discussion and sharing. Each project, whether already established or in the start-up phase, includes specific training sessions for each operator and figure involved, with shadowing and simulation of possible crisis scenarios.

This allows us to map and enhance the skills possessed by our teams, as well as quickly identify any critical issues and areas for improvement, planning and developing corrective actions and targeted training."

"Yes, absolutely. I would add that they are also the pivotal elements of Customer Experience, which has become a central theme and goal for any entity, regardless of its industry and business model.
There can be no effective and resilient Customer Experience Strategy without a cohesive team with the right mix of specific technical skills and key soft skills such as team working and problem solving."

"In recent months, people have made recurrent use of digital channels and services, sometimes using them for the first time. With greater recurrence than before, the benchmark for evaluating one's CX has become: Amazon (if we think of 'e-commerce), Just Eat, Glovo etc. (for food delivery) and so on, i.e., digital and markedly omnichannel realities.

This phenomenon has highlighted the need to design customer journeys and touchpoints that are developed through the right mix of channels in real time (such as voice and messaging) and in selfcare (apps, chatbots, etc.).

Putting the customer at the center of every choice is the action to which the Customer Experience as a whole is devoted. Making it usable for them the channel that makes them most comfortable is the challenge of Customer Service, keeping in mind that the choice of channel is itself a construction of the experience that the customer will have.

At Increso, for example, we not only develop the client company's identified customer relationship solutions, but first support it in the design of the customer journey of its touchpoints and processes. Intervention in the design phase then ensures the development of scalable, customized and customer centric solutions."

"Yes in a pronounced way and from multiple perspectives.

Think, for example, of the request for a swab and how useful it could be to avoid lines and queues through a booking web app integrated across all channels made available to the client (telephone, email, web, ...) with shared agenda of facilities and geolocation of the client. Or again, having chatbots capable of providing first-level assistance regarding diagnostic tools prepared by health facilities.

The point is that our customer experience expectations do not disappear when we become patients-in fact, they become, as never before, pressing and relevant to the evaluation of the care received.

Listening, Empathy, Quick Response are cornerstone values of our customer experience, but they are also key aspects in evaluating our patient experience."

"One above all: continue to develop the digital ecosystem that many companies have enhanced precisely in this period of extraordinary emergency, enriching it with services designed for an in-person experience, but that are also capable of rapidly switching to the digital dimension, enhanced by additional features and capabalities of interaction and sharing.

Continuing to invest in the customer relationship, in fact, means intercepting innovation drivers early and fully satisfying its customers before competitors.

A strategic competitive advantage that in the face of unforeseen or completely unprecedented scenarios, as we have seen, can really make a difference not only in the acquisition of new customers but more importantly in the retention and retention of existing ones."