Client communications will drive competitive success
Added on Tuesday January 31, 2012
A new report on the importance of quality service provision has uncovered a number of 'megatrends' that will continue to shape organizational success until 2020.
Prepared by the Economist Intelligence Unit at Binder Dijker Otte (BDO) Global, the survey involved in-depth interviews with 479 business leaders around the globe.
The final result - titled Service 2020: Megatrends for the decade ahead - shows that increasing levels of competition will make a mix of speed and accuracy the new determinants of excellence in the years ahead.
According to the chairman of BDO Australia Tony Schiffmann, the years leading up to 2020 will be characterized by the pursuit of excellence in client interactions - with products and price levels no longer guaranteeing success.
Schiffmann asserted: "While service can sound like an ambiguous term, your customers inherently know whether you deliver great service or not."
"The quality of the customer experience is the added dimension which will impact businesses, regardless of their size, or whether they are operating from a shopfront, office or online."
Globalization was one of the key factors that would serve to drive up demands for quality in all areas of customer communications and solution provision.
Added to this is the new-found 'need for speed' that has been brought to the fore by advances in 'intelligent web forms' and publicly-available technology such as smartphones and tablet devices.
The social element rendered by advanced communication channels also needs to be addressed, with increased interest in transparency demonstrated by modern consumers.
Perhaps most important of the 'megatrends' is the upsurge in demand for customized content - with personalized services taking into account the range of information kept on hand by many forward-thinking organizations.
Being able to collate this data into a usable format that helps to drive further interactions will be one the best uses of such proprietary information.
Couple this point with new types of market segments that depend on digital channels and businesses will need to consider the provision of specialist 'niche' client communications strategies.
This is especially true for those organizations that maintain a physical presence such as a public storefront or office space, as new technologies shape the expectations of client bases.
Schiffmann explained: "Customer service has never been as important to business as it is now, with good service set to become a key competitive differentiator in a global marketplace, with new technologies playing a huge role in doing so."