Customer Service Decisions Not Directed by Data Are Mere Assumptions – How to Change That

Making a data driven decision provides a leverage to every situation. Hiring employees after contacting past employers, vetting a contract specialist before handing them an important project, and setting up monitored trial periods for services or products before launching. All of these measures taken by businesses generate the opportunity to make well-informed data driven decisions. And as innovative technologies continue to reshape industries across every sector, the connection between business decisions and the customer experience has never been more relative. At the same time, the challenge that presents itself is how to effectively gather authentic data and turn it into metrics that can drive crucial business decisions.

Ignited by Technology, The Customer Experience Trumps Price as The Deciding Factor in Supply and Demand

. But as technology advances and speed becomes the norm, the customer experience has taken over as the central determinant. As a marketplace becomes more inundated with suppliers providing the same product or service at the same price, customers are basing purchasing decisions on three things:

1. The speed at which they can receive a product or use a service
2. The ease and functionality of the process
3. The quality of support both during and after the process

The choices that drive customer demand are no longer confined to price, but have more attachment to overall sentiment for a brand and the quality of the process to attain it. When a customer is unhappy, or even frustrated, at any point of the purchasing process, they have the freedom to abandon the supplier and move to another with ease.

As the playing field is evolving from fact based equations surrounding price, to the opinions and preferences of customers, businesses must also alter their method of gathering, and using, data. Companies that get caught up on measuring something that isn’t tangible are the ones that are no longer steered by data, but mere assumptions. And why would a business want to base their critical operating decisions on assumption, a thing that is accepted as true, without proof?

Knowledge is Only Power if It is Harnessed Correctly

The power of knowledge, if harnessed correctly, can be the crucial factor in staying ahead of the competition. With the advancements in technology there is virtually an unlimited amount of information to access. The problem is not the availability of knowledge, but the way in which you gather, analyze and utilize it. In order to tap into the intricacies of the customer experience, the tools used to extract the data must be effective.

Making the Connection Between Authentic Data and Business Decisions

The system itself is simple:

1. Extract useful data from customers.
2. Use that data appropriately to drive decisions.

Straightforward as it may appear, most businesses are getting caught on either extreme of the spectrum. On one end, companies are extremely adept in developing systems and surveys to generate customer experience data, but fail to use the metrics correctly to drive decisions. Scaling the other end of the spectrum are businesses making decisions they think are based off customer feedback, when in all reality, they do not have systems in place to effectively gather the data.

In order to create data driven solutions for businesses across the spectrum, there are three simple steps:

1. Drive Feedback with products that allow for in-app feedback, in-app campaigns, end-of-purchase or use feedback, and simple one-click surveys.
2. Funnel Metrics to the correct departments in order to analyze and prep for use in making decisions.
3. Make the data actionable by utilizing it to drive decisions, not create vanity metrics.

Driving feedback with Helpshift’s Analytics and Reporting gives businesses the tools to promote authentic feedback. Our product gives direct access to data points captured directly from your users automatically, helping businesses gather and analyze accurate data to make well-informed decisions. Refreshed every 30 minutes, the data generated gives your teams the ability to observe feedback as its happening. Our analytics empower your teams to make impactful decisions around product or service issues, discover trends in customer issues, and even identify areas of improvement for your team based on the customer satisfaction data.

It is time for the way in which a business perceives, collects, analyzes and uses data to evolve. The power of technology and knowledge can bring your business closer to the customer in a way it never has been before.