Unlocking Customer Service Excellence Through Innovative Technology

Is your organisation leveraging the latest technology to deliver outstanding customer experiences?  

In a recent panel discussion hosted at our Disrupt event in London, a group of industry experts explored how emerging tools and platforms are empowering companies to elevate their customer service to new heights. 

The session kicked off with the panelists agreeing that while the core challenges in customer experience remain similar to a decade ago, the technology to solve them has advanced rapidly. “The features that were cutting edge, even a year ago, will largely become standard offerings,” noted Rob Scutchings, Sabio's Chief Technology Officer. “We'll really see an acceleration in new capabilities being delivered.” 

He emphasised that with many solutions now available off-the-shelf, imagination and budget are the only limits - not the technology itself. However, conservative thinking can sometimes stifle innovation. The key is empowering frontline staff to embrace change. 

Building a Unified Customer Engagement Platform 

Guillaume Faure, Solutions Manager at Sabio, highlighted the growing importance of unifying contact centres, CRM, AI and data management and analysis into cohesive platforms. This breaks down silos and enables seamless orchestration of customer journeys across channels. 

“Traditionally, different elements have been considered separately,” he explained. “That was leading to either a complete lack of ability to innovate or very costly and lengthy upgrade projects.” In contrast, modern platforms allow implementing new features, like adding a channel, with just a few clicks. 

From a supervisor's perspective, integrated quality management and analytics allow the automatic evaluation of interactions to identify best practices and improvement opportunities. While obstacles exist, Guillaume emphasised that organisational barriers tend to be more significant than technological hurdles. 

The Transformative Potential of AI 

Kevin McGachy, who oversees AI Solutions at Sabio, painted a compelling vision of AI's potential to deliver the effortless interactions customers crave. “I want a contact centre operation that is available 24/7,” he said. “I want to contact you in the channel that I want, at a time that feels convenient for me.” 

When live agents are needed, they should have full context to quickly resolve the issue on first contact. Kevin argued that the only way to affordably provide this level of service is by deploying AI to handle a greater share of customer interactions. The AI itself can be tailored to match customers' communication preferences. 

Agents can be elevated to oversee teams of AI, stepping in selectively to handle more complex or sensitive situations. All the while, AI is generating rich insights to identify pain points and improvement opportunities. Organisations that fail to progress in this direction risk losing ground to competitors. 

A Robust Data Foundation is Essential 

Andrew Fernandez, a CRM expert in Sabio's Salesforce Practice, emphasised the importance of unifying customer data as a foundation for any AI initiative. Too often, information is siloed across sales, marketing, service and other functions, leading to a disjointed customer experience and an inefficient workforce. 

Platforms like Salesforce are designed to provide a unified view of each customer and their full journey. This enables more personalised service, while making agents' lives easier. “It's almost equivalent to ensuring your house has solid foundations before you start painting the walls,” Andrew explained. 

With this robust data layer in place, AI tools like Salesforce's Einstein can be applied to supercharge productivity and service. For example, Einstein Next Best Action uses machine learning to guide agents on optimal next steps. The platform can also auto-generate personalised emails, saving agents valuable time. 

Develop Your AI Strategy 

Of course, implementing AI requires more than just procuring a platform. Kevin recommends that organisations first develop a clear AI strategy: 

• Identify high-impact use cases 

• Ensure data and infrastructure are AI-ready 

• Define KPIs to measure success and value 

Ultimately, this panel discussion at Disrupt UK demonstrated that the technology to deliver world-class, loyalty-building customer experiences is here today. Moreover, it will only grow more powerful with continued advances in AI and data unification. 

Forward-thinking organisations must develop a strategy to leverage these innovations to their full potential. Re-imagine your customer journeys. Empower your frontline. Embrace the disruption.  

The companies that do will be strongly positioned to delight customers and lead markets for years to come. 

If you missed the panel session at Disrupt, you can still take a deep dive into the discussion to find out how your organisation can harness innovative technology to disrupt the status quo. Watch the full expert panel discussion here.