For customer service professionals, when it comes to reaching the new "connected" consumer, it’s no longer a question of doing what’s always been done, only better. It’s now a question of doing customer service differently. This meta study takes a look at leading analyst research from firms like Forrester and Altimeter Group to identify how customer service models must adapt to keep up with the evolving needs of new consumers to deliver exceptional, frictionless experiences across touchpoints.

1. WITH MALCOLM NETBURN
Customer Service that’s Different,
Not Just Better, Will Win the Hearts of New Consumers
Malcolm Netburn
Chairman and CEO of CDS Global

2. FORWARD: with Malcolm Netburn August 2012
Customer Service that’s Different,
Not Just Better, Will Win the Hearts of New Consumers
In the era of digital disruption, customer service models that adapt to the
needs of new consumers will deliver exceptional, frictionless experiences
across touchpoints.
Overview
For customer service professionals, when it comes to reaching the new consumer and preserving
competitive advantage, it’s no longer a question of doing what’s always been done, only better.
It’s now a question of doing customer service differently.
A new consumer revolution, driven in part by a growing Millennial
customer base, has emerged, resulting in a sudden outgrowth of new Consumers boast
consumers with unprecedented influence over brands through the use unprecedented
of digital and social channels. Businesses are left struggling to manage
influence over
an increasing volume of real-time customer interactions surfacing
across a multiplicity of unorthodox customer service channels. This brands through the
sudden shift in interactions is dramatically increasing the importance use of digital and
brands now place on the customer experience. social channels.
But traditional customer relationship management (CRM), lacks
meaningful business intelligence (BI) around social data and
online behavior, creating an increasingly fragmented view of the
customer. Consequently, these outdated consumer profiles lead to
disjointed, slow-moving customer response. Additionally, businesses
that outsource their customer service may feel it places them at an
increased risk. These concerns clash with the realization that contact
center services are not among their core competencies and are better
placed in the hands of partnered suppliers who specialize in contact
center support. Brands that integrate
a 360-degree view of
The solution lies in contact centers integrating internally across
the customer across
departments, and externally with partnered clients, to deliver real-time
customer service across channels while simultaneously integrating a new departments are
breed of CRM capable of building a holistic, intelligence-driven view of equipped to provide
the consumer. Brands that integrate a 360-degree view of the customer frictionless, rapid
across departments are equipped to provide frictionless, rapid response
response service
service across touchpoints. These brands will not only be able to reach
the new consumer in real time, but will be equipped to provide an across touchpoints.
experience worthy of new consumer loyalty.
© 2012 CDS Global. All rights reserved. 2

3. FORWARD: with Malcolm Netburn August 2012
The Consumer Revolution
New media has created different, real-time touchpoints between consumers and brands. A new
breed of consumer, known as the connected consumer, has emerged as a result. These consumers
are more empowered than any other form of consumer. Connected consumers have figured out
how to leverage these new touchpoints to obtain better customer service.
Connected consumers are empowered through their extensive social graphs, their access to
publicly visible online channels and their constant Internet connectivity. This segment of
consumers is growing rapidly across demographics. The power that connected consumers
wield has been overwhelming for many brands ill-equipped to respond in real time through
non-traditional channels.
Supporting Research from Forrester:
“In our recent survey of 118 customer experience decision-makers, 86% said that delivering a
good customer experience is one of their top strategic priorities.” – The Forrester Wave™: CRM
Suite Customer Service Solutions, Q3 2012, Forrester Research, Inc., July 11, 2012
“This focus on customer experience changes how firms must evaluate their contact center
sourcing and technology options, requiring a comprehensive self-assessment that includes the
soul searching of examining organizational alignment both within teams and in relation to
external teams.” – Update 2012: Self-Assessment for Contact Centers, Forrester Research, Inc.,
June 1, 2012
“Customers demand a choice of channels and expect to receive the same level of service across
all of them. Customers want to communicate online, via email, and through speech self-service
in addition to having the option of fully assisted services.” – Update 2012: Self-Assessment for
Contact Centers, Forrester Research, Inc., June 1, 2012
Pain Points
Because connected consumers expect businesses to solve customer service
issues in real time and via the channels these connected consumers Businesses are under
communicate in, businesses are under immense pressure to overcome immense pressure
several customer service challenges:
to overcome several
bb Businesses currently have a narrow, limited view of the customer and customer service
lack adequate social data. Businesses must resolve to tie customers’ challenges.
social profiles in with traditional customer service profiles and to
deliver rapid social responses.
“Now, businesses must start to construct a unified experience that
addresses the needs of all consumers. … Businesses will have to redesign and socialize CRM to
facilitate collaboration and co-creation to effectively manage and lead customer relationships at
every touchpoint.” – The End of Business as Usual by Brian Solis, p. 245
© 2012 CDS Global. All rights reserved. 3

4. FORWARD: with Malcolm Netburn August 2012
bb Fragmented sales, marketing and customer service silos inhibit effective, real-time responses to
customers’ online complaints, sometimes resulting in online PR/brand crises. (These online crises
are on the rise and will continue to increase until companies change their customer service
models to respond in the ways these new consumers expect.)
bb Connected consumers expect human interaction and transparency, but 1:1 customer service
online and in real time isn’t scalable.
“The brand, product, or service must connect with its consumer personally.”
– The End of Business as Usual by Brian Solis, p. 14
Millennial Customer Behavior is an Inevitable Customer Service
Change Agent
The ability for customer service channels to reach Millennials will be increasingly important to
retaining brand relevance and fostering brand advocacy.
Although it’s true that connected consumers run the gamut of
sociographic and demographic backgrounds, the Millennial generation Millennials exhibit a
are inherently connected consumers. Millennials exhibit a very different very different approach
approach to brands and customer service than the Baby Boomers and
to brands and customer
even Generation X. They proactively seek their own solutions via the
Internet first when looking to resolve product or service issues. service than the Baby
Boomers and
Millennial consumers, like the rest of the connected consumer
even Generation X.
population, are significant because of their highly visible and highly
social brand interactions, and because they demand real-time response.
But unlike Gen X and the Boomers, they represent a quickly growing population of consumers.
Millennials currently represent 25 percent of the U.S. population. As of 2012, the Millennial age
group spans 17-32. Although the median age in U.S. is 36.8 and the average age worldwide is 28, it
is falling. In 2015, the average age worldwide will be 25.
bb Millennials do not contact call centers for customer service support.
“When it comes to customer service, Millennials do not see call centers as centers for customer
service. Less than 1 percent of Millennials will actually let companies know they have a problem
through a traditional call center or email.” – The End of Business as Usual by Brian Solis, p. 10
bb Millennials seek customer service resolution through company websites and online search first.
© 2012 CDS Global. All rights reserved. 4

5. FORWARD: with Malcolm Netburn August 2012
Millennials seek resolution through:
Company website 50%
Search 48%
Store location 45%
Friends 30%
Family 22%
Social networks 20%
– The End of Business as Usual by Brian Solis, p. 10
Solution: Customer Service Can Adopt a Proactive Strategy to Meet the
Needs of Today’s Consumer
Businesses must break down departmental silos and adopt an adaptive business model to support
seamless customer service across all channels, including social networks. Customer service contact
centers should incorporate social CRM to tie in customers’ social profiles.
Brian Solis, analyst at Altimeter Group, recommends that contact center outsourcers partner with
outside suppliers to deliver a 360-degree view of the end customer to their clients. Contact center
outsourcers must also find ways to plug into clients’ social media sites to deliver real-time customer
service through clients’ own social channels.
“[Connected consumer] activity is being measured by an emerging class of customer relationship
management systems (CRM) that are changing the dynamics of business to customer
engagement.” – The End of Business as Usual by Brian Solis, p. 87
“Many companies use processes that are inefficient and that do not deliver the same customer
experience across the voice, electronic (e.g., email, chat, short message service [SMS]), and social
(e.g., Facebook, Twitter) customer interaction channels. Outsourcers can help standardize the
information, knowledge, and data delivered across communication channels as well as across
the processes customer service agents follow.” – Decide Whether to Build or Source Your Customer
Service Operations, Forrester Research, Inc., February 28, 2012
“To meet the ever-rising demands of customers who expect responsive and multichannel
support – at a cost that makes sense to the business – organizations are turning to outsourcing
their contact centers to third parties.” – Decide Whether to Build or Source Your Customer Service
Operations, Forrester Research, Inc., February 28, 2012
© 2012 CDS Global. All rights reserved. 5

6. FORWARD: with Malcolm Netburn August 2012
Join the Conversation
For reports on the CDS Global website: cds-global.com/forwardreports
For reports on SlideShare: slideshare.net/mnetburn
Find me on Twitter: @mnetburn
Twitter hashtag: #ForwardReport
Resources
The End of Business as Usual by Brian Solis, Altimeter Group Analyst
Social CRM – The New Rules of Relationship Management by Altimeter Group, March 5, 2012
Decide Whether to Build or Source Your Customer Service Operations by Forrester Research, February 28, 2012
Update 2012: Self-Assessment for Contact Centers by Forrester Research, June 1, 2012
The Forrester Wave™: CRM Suite Customer Service Solutions, Q3 2012 by Forrester Research, July 11, 2012
© 2012 CDS Global. All rights reserved. 6