For my birthday, I received a gift card from a well-known high street fashion retailer, a thoughtful and generous present that I set aside for just the right moment. A couple of months later, when I finally decided to treat myself, I was surprised to find the card had a balance of zero. Unfortunately, a case of fraud had occurred, and somebody had been able to access the code and spend it before I had been able to. After doing some research, I now know that it is not an uncommon experience and one that should have been easily fixed, but when I tried to get in touch with the company to resolve the issue, I fell headlong into the WhatsApp ‘loop of doom’ – endless automated messages, no phone to call, and, most frustratingly, not a human in sight. A simple problem became a slow, unravelling of my patience, extreme disappointment and frustration and, by the time I gave up, the feeling had expanded into a real sense of distrust in the brand.
“I fell headlong into the WhatsApp ‘loop of doom’ – endless automated messages, no phone to call, and, most frustratingly, not a human in sight.”
This experience made me think about how customer service has evolved over the last decade or so. At MBS, we speak about “the customer” every single day, and as consumer specialists, it is the customer that is core to all of the businesses that we are advising. AI and technology has been an incredible force, particularly in consumer-facing sectors like retail and hospitality, allowing quick, efficient services such as online booking systems and the ability to chat online when you need help. We’ve all felt the dread of knowing you’ll need to set aside an hour or two to sit on hold for a three-minute conversation, and those kinds of interactions have, on the whole, been digitised. It’s opened up the possibility of omnichannel systems, allowing businesses to provide a consistent communications journey for the customer – for example, the customer may begin by talking to a chatbot, but need to leave before the issue is resolved, so they are then offered the option of receiving a response by email instead. This is possible because all of the information and data gathered is joined up between channels, allowing for a smoother customer journey in a way that hasn’t been previously possible.
There is no doubt that these systems and a shift towards a more digitised customer experience is efficient, but, as my experience proved, automating entirely can become impersonal and leave customers feeling unvalued and unheard – and the research tells us that it is having a detrimental business impact. A report by McKinsey found that companies who focus on complete customer service bring in double the revenue of those that don’t, tangibly showing that customer-service focused companies perform better than those that are not.
Creating a human connection with customers is something that has always been crucial to customer service, but with this increase in technological advancement, striking the balance can be more challenging. Anna Cook, who has most recently been Managing Director, Customer Service at Sky, and who will be joining M&S as Customer Director next year, described to me the following: “What people think of as customer service has changed. It’s not just about being there when the customer needs you, but the customer expects you to be proactive and for organisations to know them and come to them.” This evolution has brought on the rise of hyper-personalisation, which gives retailers the ability to use the data and insight they gain from new technology to both respond to problems and anticipate them. As Anna told me, when companies, “get the interaction right, they gain the trust, and with that will come a loyal customer, who will buy more.”
When it comes to customer service, we can sometimes focus exclusively on exploits online, but it also runs through every aspect of the customer experience in-store. There are multiple elements to consider including, fitting room experiences, creating a welcoming environment for customers and keeping on top of store presentation. Although it can feel as though online is dominating the retail space, 83% of UK adults still shop in-store, and, as Macy’s Chief Stores Officer, Marc Mastronardi explained in an interview with Vogue Business, engagement with shopping in real life alongside the digital journey can create an opportunity for businesses. He said: “Customers today want a great digital experience, a great store experience and fair value.” Anna agrees, telling me that the opportunity comes from being there for customers “at moments that matter” in the smoothest manner possible.
Some will take the lead from luxury businesses, introducing greeters and a carefully designed and well-maintained store to create a personalised shopping experience, whilst others will focus on their multi-channel strategies for a similar outcome. And in the same way that the retail landscape has evolved, Anna explains that customer service itself has become more fluid. She tells me: “Customer service used to be quite static, but if you look at innovation, it has to adapt in order to meet people where they are and make it easy.”
“What people think of as customer service has changed. It’s not just about being there when the customer needs you, but the customer expects you to be proactive and for organisations to know them and come to them.” – Anna Cook
An interesting example of adapting to meet customers where they are, sits outside of retail and in the entertainment industry. Celebrities are able to create communities and ‘fandoms’ around their customer relationships, with one of the most high-profile examples being ‘Swifties’, who are notoriously devoted fans of popstar, Taylor Swift. They are a powerful indicator of what happens when a brand is able to cultivate a community that not only buys product – in Taylor Swift’s case, her music and merch – but also become advocates for it. Football clubs do the same – I should know, I live in a household with three football obsessed boys, and a husband who has supported Spurs his whole life. They are all devoted fans, and loyal customers because they feel involved in a way that has been cultivated by the clubs, and the construction of a sense of community for customers is truly at the heart of what customer service is.
Customer service lives in every step of the retail experience. From personalised offers and resolving grievances, it is part of the fabric that makes up the identity of a retail business. But with the increasing switch to AI and digitisation, the question remains, how can retailers bridge the gap between humanity and technology, efficiency and empathy? Everyone will have their own stories of who they buy from and why, and where customer service has been exceptional and where it hasn’t. The businesses that will be best in class, and future-ready, will be the ones that are able to prioritise customer experience as well as customer service and where human touch is never underestimated.
