Introducing Dynamics 365 Customer Service
Customer service is a key aspect of an organization’s customer engagement strategy. Your customers' perception of you is often directly tied to the service that you're providing them. As an organization it's important that you find out what your customers’ expectations are and understand what they consider to be good customer service. Once you better understand what your customers are expecting, you can more effectively implement a strategy to servicing your customers. Microsoft Dynamics 365 Customer Service has many features that organizations can use to manage the services they provide to customers.
Overview of the customer service landscape
To help you better understand the context of customer service, let's review some real-life customer scenarios.
Addressing and solving customer or product issues: A customer at a local bicycle shop recently discovered that the suspension on their mountain bike is defective and isn't working correctly. They contact the shop to discuss the issue and get help with their bike. The issue is created and routed to the organization's Mountain Bike Support Request queue.
Rob, the Mountain Bike support specialist for the shop, receives the issue through Dynamics 365 Customer Service. After speaking with the customer, he schedules service activity to repair or replace the defective suspension.
Receiving and answering customer questions: A customer recently purchased a new table from a furniture stores website. After the table arrives, the customer tries to assemble it, but they aren't sure they're doing it correctly. They contact the furniture company to ask questions and get help with the table.
Sidney, a customer support specialist, receives the customers' questions. Sidney uses the company’s knowledge base in Dynamics 365 Customer Service to find a frequently asked questions (FAQ) document related to the table. Sidney then uses that document to help answer Jim's questions.
Collecting and applying customer feedback: Maria, a product manager for tables and chairs at the furniture company wants to collect feedback related to the at-home assembly process when customers contact support. Maria uses the case management functionality available in Dynamics 365 Customer Service to capture this feedback. By analyzing case data, Maria can identify the tables and chairs that cause the most issues during at-home assembly, and those models that are easier to assemble. Additionally, Maria can determine which instructions for at-home assembly of tables and chairs must be prioritized for editing and review.
Proactive support: A customer recently purchased a whole home monitoring system from a regional security company. In addition to security cameras, the system included security, smoke, and moisture sensors along with other smart devices. During the evening, one of the moisture sensors located in the customer's basement goes off. This triggers an alert that automatically creates and escalates a support issue in Dynamics 365 Customer Service.
Jennifer, a home protection expert, receives the issue and initiates an investigation call to the check on the customer. The customer indicates they're getting water in their basement. They can identify that the customers sump pump isn't working. Since the customer has a backup pump, they unplug the old pump and plug in the new one. The water in the basement subsides before it does any damage.
Understanding today's customer
With all the information and platforms available, Customers today are more informed than they ever were before. They're used to getting what they want, when they want it, and the way they want it.
Think of the typical process of buying a TV:
Before you start the process, you're likely to do some research on the internet to identify important information like new features & technology, customer satisfaction scores, and top brands.
You likely check out customer reviews and determine which TV you think is best before you visit the retailer website where you're going to purchase it.
While on the site, you might select multiple TVs and do a side-by-side comparison.
If you have questions, you might use the chat option to engage with someone.
If you're still unsure, you might visit their brick-and-mortar store where you can engage with a sales rep. You already know what you are looking for, but now you can put eyes on the TV and touch it.
The same process can be applied across different experiences. Customers want to be in control of the experience. More customers prefer little or no interference as they work through what-ever the process is. They want the peace of mind in knowing someone is there if they need them, but they want the flexibility to drive the engagement experience themselves and engage with live individuals on their terms.
Trends influencing customer service
There are many trends affecting how customer service is provided to customers today. As a service organization, it's important that you understand what those trends are and how you can take advantage of them to enhance and drive the customer experience.
Here are some of the trends influencing service today:
Mobile devices: With so many mobile devices available today, people are no longer engaging with customer service just through a phone call or email. They want to be able to access portal information on their mobile devices or engage with representative through a chat that they initiate on their device.
Social media: People aren't usually shy when it comes to expressing their thoughts and opinions on social media. You must be able to take advantage of this platform to ensure that customer issues or complaints are handled the same way they would be if the customer engaged directly with support.
Self-service: Self-service can mean different things:
It can be as simple as providing a knowledge base that customers can use to find answers to simple procedural questions.
It can involve letting customers manage their accounts.
Sometimes, it can involve giving customers a way to engage with other customers who are in the same situation.
Internet of Things: With more devices connected to the internet and communicating back and forth, it's important to take advantage of the technology used on these devices to engage in service calls. Here are some of the ways this can be done:
Anomaly detection
Predictive maintenance
Using the data that's collected to help drive service offerings in the future
Customer engagement: Engagement is more than just reaching out to gain customers' opinions. It can include knowing these details:
When is the right time to engage?
What channels should be used?
What information should you collect?