When it comes to improving services, various levels can be distinguished.
Customer Success: Putting the Customer First
Customer Success is nowadays the overarching term for everything related to customers: supporting the customer in achieving their goals by engaging with your organization and thereby generating (additional) revenue. This encompasses activities from pre-sales to aftercare and, ultimately, to contract renewal and/or expansion.
Two perspectives are crucial in this regard:
- Outside - In: What is the business outcome of using your product/service for your customer, and what is their experience during the collaboration?
- Inside - Out: What is the customer journey in your company, and how do you ensure a positive outcome and experience so that the customer renews their contract and/or generates additional revenue for your organization? And all of this, of course, at costs that are justified by the generated revenue: operational excellence.
Customer Service: Optimizing the Operation
Customer Service has traditionally been defined as the aftercare for customers: after the product or service is purchased, you can turn to technicians, consultants, and support departments to assist you in using it. Sometimes these are paid services, sometimes (free) services included in the product's price.
Today, with the rise of Customer Success, all phases a customer goes through within your organization are considered part of Customer Service. To respond faster and meet the expectations of buyers/consumers, a positive experience with this (online) service is crucial for optimizing revenue and margin. To achieve this, individual departments can explore aspects such as organizational optimization, process improvement, tool implementations, and analysis of the service portfolio. Of course, all of this should be done without losing sight of the overall customer experience throughout their journey with your company.
Digital Customer Experience: SelfService First
In addition to the product or service experience itself, the customer's overall digital experience around it is crucial nowadays: 24x7 self-service is the keyword. How easily can a customer (or a suspect/prospect) independently find relevant information? How can customer success be digitally scaled? How easy is it for the customer to get in touch with the right person in your organization?
