VIRTUAL ROUNDTABLE: How do you ensure your digital-first service is also customer-first?

The last 18 months have seen an acceleration of digital as the channel of choice for customer queries. So it is little surprise that digital transformation of customer service has leapt forwards dramatically as a result of the pandemic. 

Plans for a "digital-first" approach to customer service have become increasingly attractive to businesses as they look to improve efficiency, reduce costs and futureproof their operations. 

But true digital-first strategies also ensure that customers are beneficiaries, providing always-on, omnichannel, personalised service, while still being able to triage to human agents for emotional or complex queries.

Is the digitisation of customer service benefiting customers as much as companies? The evidence suggests not, with research by the Institute of Customer Service indicating that service complaints have risen to their highest since 2009, and a study by NTT finding that it is digital interactions in particular that are the cause for dissatisfaction. 

So why are organisations still getting their digital service strategies so wrong? And how can they ensure that their digital-first approach is also customer-first? 

Watch our on-demand virtual roundtable featuring MyC managing editor Neil Davey, customer service experts Peter Massey and Faran Niaz, and Neel Davda of Genesys, as they field questions from the audience and discuss:

• What is – and isn’t – digital-first customer service? 
• Why is digital-first customer service coming to the fore?
• Where are digital efforts going awry and damaging customer trust? 
• What are the cultural/structural/technical changes required to build a truly digital-first strategy?

Watch now.