The Rise of Customer Expectations - Mobile First (1/6)

In my previous post - The Rise of Customer Expectations, I outlined the 6 digital trends that have significant implications on the future of customer service.

Next we will start diving into each one of those trends in more detail:

Mobile First:

The Explosive adoption of mobile devices like smart phones and tablets is changing the way the internet is consumed, along with customer expectations.

The speed at which consumers adopt new technology is faster than ever before. Businesses previously drove technology adoption with the telephone, fax, PC, Mobile Phones and emails, were all adopted by business users first, then consumers. However, today consumers are leading technology adoption – and at a staggering pace.

The IPhone 5 sold over 2 million units in less than 24 hours. In contrast to 2002, when it took Apple over a year to sell half the number of iPods. The adoption of mobile devices is also changing how the internet is consumed, with mobile devices expected to surpass desktop usage in the not-too-distant future. With the introduction of 4G into the UK, mobile devices can only get better and faster.

Anytime, Anywhere, Data Driven Customer Service

Online Customer experience has traditionally been restricted to the time and place in which consumers had access to a desktop PC. However, with the majority of consumers never too far from their mobile devices, they are now able to access online customer service at any time and almost anywhere. With customers constantly engaging online and via mobile channels, pressure on the traditional business support model is increasing. Service organisation need to take a close look at their customer journeys and make sure that their operating model is evolved to support all the important concepts of ‘Anytime, Anywhere’.

Context is everything

Mobile now offers the opportunity to deliver highly personalised, compelling customer service experiences. Through carefully designed mobile services, a customer’s location, social activity and other valuable insights can be gathered and then incorporated into unique user experience. Starbucks recently introduced a good example of this. By leveraging Near Flied Communication (NFC) and smart phone capabilities, their customers favourite coffee can appear on the register before they have end placed the order! (Go check it out)

Different approaches exist to deliver mobile experiences

Developing a commercially sensible and compelling mobile strategy is not easy. There are multiple devices and mobile operating systems to consider. Organisation need to build the mobile experience around the customer, the devices they use and the context they use them in. There are a number of options to consider, like building NATIVE applications for specific devices or using Responsive Web Design (RWD) to provide an optimal viewing experience across a wide range of devices whereby resolution, image sizes and scripting adjust to the device used with minimum resizing, planning or scrolling. The right answer will depend on why your customers are using their mobile device to interact with you or your brand and the impact on the way they use other channels.

Tablets Here, There and Everywhere!

Tablets such as iPads are no longer a luxury item for the minority, they are very much mainstream. Their portability and ability to deliver innovative interactive content provide new opportunities to deliver differentiated service experiences. It is essential to have a clear tablet strategy that answers how you can make the tablet absolutely integral to customer service. Organisation need to determine the right balance between consistency of experience, functionality and content between touch points and creating device-specific, differentiated service experiences built around user needs and context.

Conclusion

Given the explosive adoption of Mobile devices, organisation who seek to deliver true customer service excellence in the digital era must start with a ‘mobile first’ strategy. Customers are consuming more and more content through mobile devices and organisation need to respond quickly by creating and adopting a wider range of mobile accessible services. Mobile is redefining how organisations serve their customers. It therefore requires and in-depth understanding of how customers want to interact with a brand and a subsequent refocusing of customer service strategy. Only then will organisation effectively develop the right service strategy in the digital era.

Stay Tuned!

In my next discussion, we will explore the Omni-Channel Trends and how this impacts the service operation for tomorrow!

So Come Back Soon! :)

Best Regards

Coreen Head

CX Evangelist, Advisor & Advocate ► Helping Brands Deliver Compelling Customer Experiences

** In Conjunction & with permission from Deloitte