Your Other Customer in Digital Transformation
Blog: Kofax - Smart Process automation
You’ve probably heard about how today’s savvy customer expects you to provide prompt, seamless and convenient digital experiences. Customers may not be aware of the work required for you to achieve and fine-tune digital transformation (DX), but your employees are aware, especially those employees who interact with the customers. If your customer-facing employees like how their jobs and responsibilities evolve due to digital transformation, the world will know it. If they don’t like it, the world will know that, too. Employee buy-in and input to DX is critical. Think of your employees as your other customer in digital transformation.
Your employees are just as important to your success as your customers
Nonsense, you might say. Employees have a job to do and they do it. Yes, they do the job but your customers can sense attitude changes and customers talk to each other via social media. Also, your employees are just as savvy about social media as your customers. Have you looked at your Glassdoor ratings lately? Glassdoor can keep you informed on your DX progress. If your DX is right with your employees, you can expect positive results on social media as well as on your bottom line.
Change can be painful
In my previous job, my cubicle was located next to customer support representatives and I could witness the success and failure of change. Occasionally, these unfortunate reps would be burdened with a new wrinkle in the support procedures. For example, the reps would have to extract additional account information from the customer (for some reason, it was not available on the CRM system) or the rep would have to go through additional approval steps before escalating the call. I could overhear the dread in the reps’ voices, and detect additional strife on their calls. The reps’ sense of humor grew darker during these times of change. I don’t know if the reps got any grief for the longer call times as a result these changes, but I bet they did.
Obviously this was a situation that could have used a dose of digital transformation. Imagine how a case management system could address customer support issues. For example, the customers’ aggravation was exacerbated by unhappy reps. could management have anticipated issues when adding these new steps? Maybe. Could added stress have been avoided by soliciting the reps’ input? Absolutely.
Happy employees help make happy customers
Here is a positive example on DX and employee-customer interaction: Last week, my credit card information was stolen, but my experience with my credit card phone rep and the adjudication was fantastic.
Here’s what happened: I received a fraud alert email, checked my card activity online and confirmed that there was suspicious activity. I clicked a button on their website to have a rep call me about the issue. I received their call within seconds. The cheerful rep had all my information handy, explained everything to me and set the repair process in motion. Total time spent from the alert email to concluding the call with the rep: Five minutes. The rep never had to say “I don’t know” or have to transfer me. That was one empowered and happy representative, and I am a happy customer. I don’t know if my card issuer sought input from their support reps when they digitally transformed the fraud prevention system, but I bet they did.
Your employees can provide you with a competitive edge
It is safe to assume that your market is the most competitive it has ever been due to the disruptive nature of DX. The decisions you make on your DX journey can be difficult. They may be gambles. Your customer-facing employees can provide you with an edge in your DX decision-making due to:
- The experience they can share. They can be a focus group.
- Their sense of ownership. If they have input in the process, they will be more likely to accept or even champion the outcome.
Enthusiasm is contagious. Whatever new products/services that come out of your DX, you want your customers to feel your employees’ excitement. Not only will this ensure you success but it will also give you a competitive edge. In these disruptive times you can’t get enough competitive edge, so start talking to your employees. Now.
Find out more.
To learn more about how your organization can provide your employees with prompt, seamless and convenient digital experiences that attract and keep more customers, download your free white paper: Banking on a digital future: achieve digital transformation in banking
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