The Best Use of Tech in CX

I wrote previously about why so many Customer Success systems become disappointing in practice. It has to do with not focusing first on people and process before selecting technology. A good rule of thumb is to assume that any given tech tool comes with zero processes or best practices. Too often that’s true. But, if you can nail your roles and processes, those you know produce your desired results, then finding a tool to facilitate that work becomes much easier.

• But, what exactly is meant by “facilitate?”

• And how can technology best help in CX, anyway?

The answer lies in our ability to prioritize. I’ve written previously about how important prioritization is, and I also shared some tools to help you do exactly that. But let’s get more specific with an example.

Let’s say you have a 20-step process for driving first value in a customer. No doubt, all 20 steps need to be done; otherwise, the customer won’t experience value. But if you were to put those 20 steps, and their detailed sub-steps, through a process such as the Eisenhower matrix, it’s likely that not all the steps will be in your urgent+important quadrant.

Maybe a third of those tasks will be things you personally should own and do right away. That means the majority of items will be:

• things owned by others;

• things you need to remember to do later, and;

• things no one should have to do but need to get done anyway.

And now you can begin to see the benefit of having technology involved. A really good tech tool can do a few things really well:

1. Manage task ownership across multiple roles;

2. Track dependencies and completions and remind people when things are due;

3. Complete items where employees add no value (automation).

Those first two items will surprise no one. Everyone expects current systems to be good at those basics – allowing you to set up projects or workflows, have task assignments, and remind you when it’s time to do something.

The problem? Most of the critical systems thinking tends to end there. How do I know? Because of the number of CS systems I’ve seen that are filled up with dozens and dozens of overdue tasks that CSMs never have time to do.

Here’s what you do.

Step One: Prioritization

All of those projects, workflows, and tasks need to be put through the priority ringer to make sure they’re something of importance.

When you’re evaluating a system, make sure it has the ability to help you do this prioritization for you. Your system should be monitoring attributes and calculating risk and opportunity so that tasks that appear are already prioritized

Step Two: Automation

Use the system to automate the work for which humans add no real value. One of the best uses of systems is automating mundane work that must be done but is not urgent and important to the CSM.

When you evaluate systems, make sure they have the ability to automate mundane work on behalf of the CX team.

Conclusion

So, the very best applications of tech tools in CX are to:

• prioritize work;

• automate work.

Already have a tool? Do a rigorous assessment of its capabilities regarding these things. Looking for one? Be sure to assess these capabilities.

Just make sure to have your roles and processes defined first. If you do, technology can add some amazing value for CX teams.