Integrator Insights: How Integrators Can Modernize the Customer Service Experience

Customer service means speed in response, self-service capabilities, omnichannel options and almost-instantaneous resolution of issues.
Published: July 24, 2024

Earlier this year, I took over the customer success department at PSA and, since then, I have been working with our excellent team to bring our processes, policies and procedures up to date.

While it’s no small undertaking, we’ve already made tremendous progress in making PSA easier to do business with. Amazon, Zappos and others have revolutionized customer service expectations for organizations.

Customers desire speed in response, self-service capabilities, omnichannel options and almost-instantaneous resolution of issues. Although younger generations like to problem solve on their own, most also want a real human when issues arise.

These days, organizations must be prepared for all scenarios.

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While many items on PSA’s future roadmap have a heavy cost associated with them, others are simpler fixes that we plan to implement. Here, I’ve outlined some of the items relevant to systems integrators’ businesses, as well.

Low-Cost (or Free) Options

Customer feedback is an important tool in measuring the success of your teams. From overall satisfaction to measuring “ease of doing business,” there are numerous criteria on which an organization should regularly be polling its customer base.

Although there are plenty of costly systems that can be implemented to roll out a customer satisfaction (CSAT) and Net Promoter Score (NPS) program, you can also accomplish this with tools you already have at your disposal: for example, Microsoft Forms or Survey Monkey.

The key is to research the various kinds of customer satisfaction surveys, whittle down the list to the questions most relevant to your organization and then determine a regular interval at which you will ask your clients.

Then, set a baseline score and measure how you improve. Last, and most importantly, listen to what they have to say and actually implement the changes.

Data Analytics

Whatever Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system you use, it probably has reporting capabilities. There is a wealth of data available, such as verticals your clients serve, project sizes, seasonality of projects, etc.

Studying this information gives your organization many opportunities to upsell other products or services, be proactive in the support you provide, forecast upcoming needs and more.

Likewise, you can track your team’s response speed, time to resolution, case load, etc. This allows you to identify operational efficiencies, see where bottlenecks exist and properly allocate resources.

Self-Service Customer Service Options

I, as a millennial, love the ability to place orders for myself online and schedule my own appointments, rather than having to call. Anything I can do quickly in an app or on my computer greatly improves the experience for me.

There are many low-cost or free tools that your organization can implement to help clients act on their own. Tools like Calendly allow them to schedule appointments without having to call.

Some online services you could provide your clients are as follows: bill payment, education and training, order tracking and status updates, technical resources like FAQs, online quote and estimation.

Options Requiring Long-Term Investments

Although there are many low-cost options for modernizing the customer experience, there are also some larger investments that could have a tremendous impact on your organization’s success.

A customer relationship management (CRM) system is an investment to consider. These tools help centralize customer information, which allows your representatives to provide seamless, personalized support.

Multiple customer service representatives can work on one case or issue without skipping a beat or missing any details, since it’s all documented in the system. Likewise, many CRM systems allow users to automate tasks, such as follow-up e-mails, database updates, etc.

AI-Powered Customer Service Tools

We all love to talk about artificial intelligence and how it’s going to improve our businesses. Some are even afraid that it will take their jobs. We’ve been utilizing AI in some capacity at PSA for a few years, and we’re benefiting greatly.

From automating order entry to responding to requests for shipping information, AI can help your teams manage their workflows. Likewise, organizations now use many sophisticated, AI-enabled chat bots as a first line to answer inquiries from customers.

Sometimes, it’s hard for business owners to step away and work on their business, rather than in their business. It’s a necessary exercise, though, to review processes and practices to see how to gain efficiencies — especially when we are looking between the lines to see how we can improve the experience for our customers.

 Candice Aragon is the chief experience officer for PSA Network.

Strategy & Planning Series
Strategy & Planning Series
Strategy & Planning Series
Strategy & Planning Series