How to maintain a scalable customer service

Traditionally, customer service has been handled as a succession of steps and procedures that respond to different Customer requests or problems. For example, if a customer complains about a sneakers order, this goes through a decision tree or workflow that navigates through the different possible scenarios (type of customer, channel, type of request...) until the reason for the contact is answered or resolved.

The main problem with this approach is that it does not scale. It ends up being very difficult to keep in the same decision tree all the possibilities and variants of processes. And if we have several channels... even more.

At Schaman, we treat customer service by analyzing the ultimate reason or root cause that originates the customer's contact. Following the example of the sneakers order: the customer may be complaining because the order has not arrived, but the reasons or root causes behind that complaint may be several (the package has been delivered to the wrong address, it has not left the warehouse...). This allows us to create as many root causes as possible problems a customer may have, and to each cause, we assign an automatic solution, such as "Send the parcel to the customer".

Why work with root causes?

A root cause is divided into two parts:

1. Detection of the customer's problem.
2. Resolution to be made.

This allows you to focus on what is wrong with the customer, and not what the customer tells you. Once the root cause of the customer's problem is clear, it is very easy to apply a definitive resolution. In addition, by having the logic in one centralized place, it is extremely easy to allow customers to self-diagnose from digital channels. And if that's not enough, all of this is recorded and allows you to analyze reports such as the most frequent customer root causes and how effective the resolutions are.

Benefits of working with root causes

1. Predictive and personalized attention

If we as a company are aware of the root cause behind our customers' problems and needs, we would be able to predict (even without asking) the reason for their call and apply the best solution creating a much more efficient and personal experience.

To achieve this new stage of attention, it is necessary to focus on building knowledge around the identification of the set of root causes that may generate a customer's need for contact to automate the detection of this subsequent situation, as well as the automation of the best resolution.

2. Achieve a self-care with the quality of your best agent

If we look at what differentiates the best agents when achieving higher resolution rates, we are likely to find that the highest agent can get to the root causes of problems.

By working from the root cause, it seems easier to generate the necessary automation to discard or emphasize them and direct the key points of the interaction with the customer.

3. Proactivity

Anticipating customer needs and being proactive is one of the aspirational challenges for customer service teams. In this mission, knowing the root cause of customer contact needs is undoubtedly one of the key elements to build proactive policies that anticipate the need and minimize customer effort.

4. Make things work

It seems simple, even basic, to aspire that the best customer service is that which is not needed because things just work. But the reality, especially in large companies with many products, processes, and people, seems to be away from that goal. To eliminate defects that affect the customer experience, the main source of information is the customer's contacts. This is why customer service teams spend time typifying why customers are contacting them, which are usually manually classified by the agents at the end of the interactions. All of us who have worked in customer service know the great limitations in the processes to understand the reasons behind the customer's need.

Working with root causes allows putting the collected data at the service of the organization, both in customer service and product and back-office areas, thus facilitating joint work, an understanding based on data, and moving forward to drastically improve the efficiency of the customer service processes, as well as to reduce the impact on customers by eliminating the root causes that lead them to contact.