Scaling Support Delivery requires the digital transformation of support and an increased use of digital technologies to improve and extend core support processes and enable new service capabilities. Digital transformation includes human-assisted, self-assisted and fully automated support transactions. This article defines and introduces key characteristics of the digital transformation to scale support delivery.
Support Digital Transformation
The digital transformation of support is enabled by customers desire to help themselves and their broad access to digital devices and platforms from which support may be requested and delivered.
The use of digital technologies in support is not new, but the rate of adoption by service providers and acceptance by customers has accelerated digitization. Today most support transactions are digitally enabled, many do not involve direct support assistance or human interaction.
Support Digital Transformation
Some unique characteristics of Support Digital Transformation are noted below.
Support Delivery and Interaction
Support Digital Transformation enhances companies’ ability to engaged and interact with customers through assisted, automated and self-help service delivery channels.
Self-Help
Self-help tools and content allow customers to access information and resources they need to resolve their own issues. Access to self-help is primarily facilitated through web support sites accessed from desktop computers and mobile devices.
Automated
Intelligent automation increasingly supplements delivery of some services freeing humans to focus on tasks not suitable to automation (yet). Automated support includes unassisted transactions such as chat-bots, renewal notification, monitoring and alerting.
Human Assisted
Digital support platforms enable humans to perform service and support transactions efficiently. Ticket tracking and management, access to customer data and the ability to collaborate with customers through remote tools enhance assisted support transactions.
Technology Enabled
Support Digital Transformation leverages digital technologies to achieve predictable outcomes and enhanced efficiencies by leveraging customer data and organizational knowledge.
Process Efficiency
Vital support processes such as case submission, entitlement validation, escalation, and the interaction between support experts and customers are digitally enabled through, CRM, case tracking, escalation and bug tracking and customer success management platforms. Support today cannot operate efficiently without extensive use of technology to enable core support processes.
Data Driven
Digitally enabled support processes assure that what is known about a customer and the products they use can help streamline, personalize and automate customer interactions. Collection, storage and access to customer data including user preferences, usage behaviors, skill level, and previous interactions establishes a foundation to enhanced future interactions.
Customer data can be supplemented with product data including, configuration, health, and performance. Data access can help anticipate and respond to customer needs and monitor relationship health.
Knowledge Enabled
Customers have more options for access to support knowledge. Well documented domain knowledge enables searchable knowledge access, just-in-time training, on-demand coaching and guided assistance (human and automated) delivering the answers customers need quickly.
Additional Benefits
Support Digital Transformation offers the following additional benefits.
Expanded Channels
Digital technologies make access to support easier. Customer can seek support assistance from mobile devices, the web, and directly though product interfaces.
New Service Value
Digital technologies extend support beyond its traditional boundaries. Self-help, peer-to-peer communities, just-in-time learning, and ever-increasingly sophisticated automation assume a greater burden for overall support delivery.
Proactive
Digital capabilities introduce the means to deliver services before they are requested by customers. Monitoring and analysis of data helps to anticipate customer needs and provide solutions before they are requested by customers.
