Top takeaways from the Service keynote and actions you can take

Connected Customer Service Built for Effortless Experiences

Our top takeaways from the Service Cloud keynote and actions you can take 

By Bob Furniss, Senior Director 

 

In a moment where disruption has become the norm, contact center leaders have an opportunity to leverage rapid change to increase value for both their customers and their employees. A solution like Salesforce Service Cloud makes this opportunity more accessible by bringing together powerful tools that are designed to adapt to change and scale for growth.  

 

Clara Shih, CEO of Service Cloud at Salesforce put it this way at Dreamforce: “This is the moment to lead. Together we can build trust to drive transformational growth in the enterprise.” 

 

The Service Cloud keynote highlighted some of the dynamic features that are helping contact centers thrive in an evolving industry. Read on for our five key takeaways.  

 

#1: Slack is a digital front door for customers

As customer touchpoints continue to trend towards digital, Slack will be a powerful tool for agents to engage and delight customers. A number of its features are tailor-made for solving customer service problems quickly and efficiently, without sacrificing the personal touch that can make all the difference for customer experiences. 

 

Actions you can take:

ow you should respond to this trend depends on the complexity of your typical cases. When cases need support from other internal groups, new Slack interfaces within Service Cloud will allow your agents to reach out to other experts in your company—creating a “swarm” of expertise to resolve difficult cases.  

 

#2: AI-powered collaboration promotes efficiency 

Every service department or contact center is looking for ways to improve their operational efficiency and maintain a high standard of quality at the same time. Artificial intelligence tools in Service Cloud are already empowering faster and simpler collaboration for a wide variety of cases. And the more we use them, the smarter they will become. 

 

Actions you can take: 

Look for ways to incorporate AI tools into your operations and workflows. The payoff is worth the learning curve. From case intake and collaborative internal support to recommended knowledge articles and next-step suggestions, AI can quickly transform every step of the customer service journey.

 

#3: Flexibility benefits both agents and customers 

Customer touch points are more diverse and interconnected than ever. Service Cloud’s new all-digital Contact Center lets agents work from anywhere by providing a platform to collaborate across any channel. Agents can also review interactions on one channel and pick up where those communications left off on another. With the power to manage asynchronous interactions from any location, remote agents have less obstacles to helping themselves and their customers feel more connected.  

 

Actions you can take: 

We recommend evaluating when and on what channels you’re communicating with your customers. Asynchronous interactions will require most contact centers to rethink many of their current digital channel processes. Creating seamless transitions between channels can add significant value and generate memorable moments that win customer loyalty.  

 

#4: You can now turn voice calls into actionable data 

Service Cloud Voice transcribes and analyzes voice conversations in real time so agents can spend less time looking for answers and more time resolving cases. Moving forward, we’re likely to see more contact centers leveraging live video to “see” the problems they are resolving.  

 

Actions you can take:

Evaluate how many interactions it takes to solve a typical customer problem and, with that clearer picture, identify opportunities to improve efficiency. Confirm which voice interactions can use the power of Service Cloud Voice to “see” what the customer is saying and how AI can augment the workflow. For example, features like a live video feed could help agents identify and solve issues more quickly. Imagine a manufacturing customer is troubleshooting equipment that your company sold them. Using a mobile phone as a real-time camera, your agent can diagnose the problem faster and dispatch a field service technician with the exact parts needed to resolve the issue.  

 

#5: Field service technicians can have customer data on the go 

Onsite technicians tend to have complex and critical jobs that require clear and timely information. With Salesforce’s Field Service mobile app, they have access to customer data and all the other information they need to support the wide range of solutions they provide for their customers.  

 

Actions you can take: 

If you’re a customer service leader with field service technicians, evaluate the number of options available to your customers, and whether the solutions you offer are flexible enough for their needs. Using a tool like the Field Service mobile application, which allows unique customizations using Lightning Web Components, will help streamline processes and provide more targeted solutions.  

Another tool to consider is the Next-Best-Offer feature of the Field Service app, which leverages AI to provide even more options to customers and improve your company’s bottom line at the same time.  

 

Customer service: optimized 

Service Cloud is a powerful tool for streamlining service operations and upgrading customer experiences. And despite customer expectations being higher than ever, leaders who take advantage of the above-listed features can consistently exceed those expectations.  

 

Explore our other takeaways from Dreamforce 2021 here

 

Watch Slalom's Service Office Hour On-Demand Session 

 

 

 

Slalom is here to help.  If you have additional questions or want to brainstorm ways we can help your business, feel free to reach out.