The benefits of optimized Customer Service Management are becoming more widely understood every day. Of course, within any given organization, not everyone will recognize the value at the same time—in which case you may be interested in some communications tips we've seen from our clients.
Whether you're a C-level leader looking to rally your teams to investigate and adopt state-of-the-industry methods, or a CS/CX manager who needs to win support and resources from the boardroom, it's essential to have a strategy for communicating your vision and advocating for the action and resources required for success.
If you’re a Senior Leader looking to drive change...
- Work to understand the reasons for current systems and processes—but quickly articulate your vision for the future state of your organization.
- Stress that this effort has the attention of senior leaders, that the organization is counting on them, and that the required support for change is forthcoming.
- Articulate your expectation for the solution, the implementation vendor/partner, and new capabilities you're looking to achieve.
- Provide the appropriate guidance in sharing some of the benefits of Service Optimization (e.g. renewals/repeat business, customer retention, upsell/cross-sell wins, etc.)
- Discuss the KPIs you expect to be tied to Customer Service and share current-state baselines as available. For KPIs that aren’t currently tracked, outline a method and timetable for discovering them.
- Set an agile cadence for work periods, dependencies, and check-ins with the appropriate teams.
If you’re a Customer Service Leader looking to gain executive support...
Find a sympathetic Senior Executive (or two) and prepare these steps:
- Discuss how some enhanced Customer Service capabilities have been shown to improve critical business outcomes such as renewals/repeat business, customer retention, upsell/cross-sell wins, etc.
- Try to discover what top management’s priorities are for the coming year or quarter and discuss how you think your team could contribute to advancing those goals.
- Frame your discussion around those make-or-break business outcomes that are driven by customer satisfaction. Get people to appreciate the role you’re playing in the organization’s very survival.
- Next, help inspire confidence that—with the right resources and support—you can deliver an optimized service organization built around a proven methodology and supported by technology that will demonstrate significant ROI.
