How To Win The Technology Revolution

The following is content taken from John’s new book The Relationship Economy, Building Stronger Customer Connections In The Digital Age. (October 2019 Greenleaf Books)

“The world is becoming a little less human, and that has a cost. So it’s time for leaders in the business world to think about how they can recognize the benefits of technology while also accepting its limitations. Leaders need to consider how they can get back to a more human approach to business that acknowledges our universal need for interaction and understanding.”

—Dan Schawbel

Tech Tsunami

The applications of Artificial Intelligence are barely scratching the surface. Servion predicts that AI will power 95 percent of all customer interactions by 2025 and will do it so effectively that customers will not be able to “spot the bot.”

There is no arguing that machines and AI are faster, cheaper, more efficient, and make fewer mistakes than humans. When a bank started using chatbots to handle more than 1.5 million claim requests each year, it found that the work of 85 bots was equal to the output of 200 full-time human employees at only 30 percent of the cost. As for the future, Juniper Research predicts that chatbot conversations will be responsible for cost savings of more than $8 billion per year by 2022, up from $20 million in 2017.

Tom Peters, for example, in his book The Excellence Dividend, refers to the advancement of technology as the Tech Tsunami. “There is a larger threat looming, one that has been building for a long time, and which, over the next five to fifteen or twenty years, is likely going to knock us back on our heels with once- in-a-century consequences.”

How Are You Going to Compete?

In order to dominate in the Relationship Economy, organizations have to become a Customer-Obsessed Organization. That starts at the very top. And while the CEO needs to be the executive sponsor, it has to be someone different who oversees the entire company’s customer service—every department.

Leaders love to talk about revenue streams by showing graphs and charts with a breakdown of sales by categories. Of course, it is important to know the percentage of sales generated by products or services and to monitor trends, especially the growth or decline of your business revenue. However, there is one critical component that every business has in common, which is never discussed: 100 percent of your sales come from one place—your customers!

Similarly, executive leaders frequently focus on analyzing the company’s profit and loss to determine where the company is over-spending and being wasteful and then figure out how to reduce expenses to drive more profit to the bottom line. However, once again, the company’s biggest expense does not show on your P&L, at least not directly. There is no line item for poor customer service, but nothing may have a greater impact on your bottom line than dissatisfied customers. Poor customer service dramatically causes loss of sales, decline of company reputation, lack of new customers and referrals, an increase in returns and refunds, increased discounting, more service recovery, higher advertising expenses, lower morale, higher turnover, increased hiring, and more training—which further perpetuates a poor customer experience. It is imperative that every person in your company understands that your biggest expense is dissatisfied customers.

It’s clear that developing a customer-obsessed organization extends well beyond your customer service team. It has to be the responsibility of every single department: human resources, training, marketing, support, sales, IT, finance, operations, and most important, leadership. Employee compensation needs to be as focused on customer retention—delivering world-class customer service—as it is on customer acquisition.

Three CX Consultants Presenting at the 2019 Customer Service Revolution

Dave Murray

Dave Murray, Senior Customer Experience Consultant for The DiJulius Group, is presenting How to create your World-Class Internal Culture. Increase engagement and

morale, while creating an overall better working atmosphere. Learn how you can start your Internal Culture Revolution!

Jess Pischel

Jess Pischel, Customer Experience Consultant for The DiJulius Group, is presenting two different breakouts. Jess’s first breakout is Create Your Day in the Life of a Customer Story. Creating a Day in the Life of a Customer script will be one of the best exercises your company can do to change the

mindset and service aptitude of your entire organization.

Jess’s second breakout is Be Brilliant At The Basics By Building Your Customer Experience Cycle. You will be able to identify the inconsistencies in your business and others. As the end of the session, you will know how to create your nonnegotiable service standards to become the brand customers can’t live without!

Brittni Walker

Brittni Walker, Customer Experience Consultant for The DiJulius Group, is presenting  Implementation – Bringing Your Ideas to Life. Learn how to roll out your ideas with flair and spark a fire

that keeps on burning, how to set a path, train on it, and stick with it, and how to keep the flame alive

and keep your ideas from becoming just the “flavor of the month”.

Download The 2019 Customer Service Revolution App

If you are one of the 700 Revolutionaries attending the 2019 Customer Service Revolution September 11-12 in Cleveland, make sure you download the free app. The app will allow you to view the agenda, learn about all the speakers, choose which breakouts you and your team want to attend, communicate with other attendees, and enter to win prizes. Click here on your phone or tablet to download the Customer Service Revolution App. *Please use the email associated with your registration to prevent a duplicate profile and ensure the best experience.

Special Day

I hope you don’t mind me sharing one of the best days of my professional career. When years of hard work pays off and it becomes real.

Quote of the week

“Those who understand that human touch is the most important part of any experience—especially a great customer experience—will flourish.”