MANILA, PHILIPPINES — With the shift towards the digital marketplace last year, both businesses and their respective customers are going to continue working and interacting remotely in 2021. With that comes a very important aspect – ventures should definitely place emphasis on a seamless customer experience.
Customer experience is a silent game-changer set to regain customer inflow, especially for businesses or companies who had to move away from physical, on-ground set ups. While this experience was initially designed to just provide support or troubleshoot problems for customers, it has now evolved into a deeper and dynamic understanding of what customers go through–especially during this time.
Customer feedback, in addition, has provided crucial insights and points of action for businesses to integrate as they build experiences that can adapt to each customer’s needs.
“Designing experiences for customers now requires a more deliberate and ever-evolving approach, entailing precision, customization, and thoughtful details,” said Regional Vice President Rajiv M.Dhand from TELUS International, a leading digital solutions and customer experience (CX) provider.
“At a time like this, when companies like ours have access to insights from customer feedback, we treat them as a valuable stimulant to adapt to as we create a more personaliz ed and unique experience for each customer, which is our goal for each and every interaction,” Dhand explained.
Undeniably, digital platforms have given the much-needed flexibility for customers during this time. As these platforms are here to stay, TELUS International Philippines shares these three important learnings on customer experience that can help businesses improve how customers experience their brands in the current situation and for the years to come.
Being digital-first should put a premium on data privacy and security
The swift migration of businesses to digital solutions heightened the focus on immediate accessibility and user experience; however, it can also leave loopholes in data security if done in haste. This movement paved the way for leaders in tech and CX to stress the need for firms to ensure that they have the proper IT and data security systems and tools to ensure that data and transactions are always secure.
With adaptation now more settled for companies, setting standards and stricter systems on oversight for remote work should be the next priority to ensure longevity when investing in these tech solutions.
Remote or hybrid set-ups demonstrate the power of cloud
Applying remote work set-ups happened faster than expected even with the limitation of stable internet infrastructure in the Philippines. Businesses were able to continue and adjust with the enforcement of skeletal capacity in workplaces with the aid of cloud-enabled platforms.
Cloud solutions paved the way for smoother transitions and collaborations for users in different locations. This has become instrumental for companies who are designing their way forward. Even traditional businesses who are new to this kind of work, now improve process flows with the real time updates they get from operations managed by the cloud technology. These significant improvements have ushered in efficient ways of working, which will be here to stay.
Conveying empathy and transparency through digital channels are an edge
Minimizing face-to-face interaction and boosting virtual ones does not mean losing empathetic forms of communications. In times of crisis, silence or canned responses may seem impersonal or out of touch leading to customers’ disinterest or worse, mistrust.
Companies need to level with that by bringing the same personal experience and empathetic messaging to any channel available to its customers. This comes with being more transparent on what companies can offer, as well as what their limitations are, during this time. It helps manage customers’ expectations and lead them to proper channels where they can be serviced better.
“Through these learnings, we are able to go beyond simply delivering easy, real-time support to our customers. There is another layer of care and thoughtfulness that we add in the overall experience. While that might seem intangible, it makes a great difference,” said Dhand.
Technologies will become more advanced as tech and CX experts in companies like TELUS International Philippines relentlessly find ways to bridge needs through digital solutions.
For TELUS International Philippines, their commitment to providing world-class customer experiences will create a sustained evolution as more people rely on digital solutions as the world continues to transition and learn from the wave of experiences that the COVID-19 pandemic has brought about.
Dhand added, “In the years to come, the surge of innovations and omnichannel solutions will continue to define how customers experience different brands, but one thing that will remain constant is how, as a company, we can show our care and dedication as we design human-centric customer experiences.”
