giosg ServiceCon 2023: Unveiling the Future of Customer Service and CX

On the 19th of April 2023, we hosted our 2nd event of the year, giosg ServiceCon, at our HQ in Helsinki.

In this article, we will share the key highlights and insights from giosg ServiceCon where we discussed the most recent trends and developments in digital customer service and customer experience (CX), shared exclusive findings of our customer service trends 2023 survey and introduced the latest updates and tool for producing world-class customer experiences.

The event was filled with innovation, thought-provoking discussions, and networking opportunities. Some of giosg's long-time customers also joined the stage to share their perspectives on the hottest topics in the industry and answer burning questions.

The giosg team concluded the event by sharing the latest updates and tools for providing customer experiences that meet today's trends and demands.

Customer's perceived value will be more important than ever

The event kicked off with Peter Björkvist, Chief Revenue Officer at giosg, providing insights from industry thought leaders such as Gartner, Forbes, and McKinsey on the current trends in customer service and CX. He then presented the key findings from giosg's original research survey, which had nearly 250 respondents sharing their perspectives on current priorities, focus areas, and challenges related to customer service and CX. Throughout his presentation, Björkvist's message was clear:

"In order to guarantee quality customer experiences, customer service must be proactive, easily accessible and provide value to the customer."

A major topic of this discussion was specifically the increasing importance of delivering customer experiences that are not only efficient but also value-enhancing. In fact, according to Gartner, up to 40% of customer service and support functions will measure their success through the value they are able to provide.

In addition to this, the findings from giosg's original research survey revealed also a clear and consistent focus in the upcoming years on increasing sales, improving customer satisfaction, and enhancing the efficiency of customer service. This corresponded to the challenges organizations are facing today.

These findings are not only logical but also highly insightful and comprehensive, reflecting the current global trends and predictions in the industry.

But balancing efficient and value-enhancing services can be extremely challenging and often leads to businesses compromising one over the other.

So how can businesses do this and maintain efficient and profitable customer service processes while providing excellent customer experiences?

Personalization, not over automation

Although automation is one of the most common go-to solutions to increase efficiency, this requires caution regarding how it can affect the customer's experience.

While automation can increase efficiency, over-automation can result in the loss of unique and valuable human interactions and empathy. The presentation emphasized that instead of solely focusing on replacing human interactions with technology, there's a need to leverage automation to enhance personalization in customer service.

This approach often requires a change in mindset and organizational culture, recognizing that customer service is not just a cost centre but a profitable and efficient tool for generating sales and delivering quality customer experiences. Marianna Artman highlighted this in her commentary about the crucial role of customer service for the overall customer experience and sales:

“[Customer service] is not just a cost centre but we solve problems, bring growth and improve the overall customer experience."

The panel dove deeper into the best practices for optimizing customer service operations, including adopting a 360 view of the customer, guiding them through their buying journey, and offering relevant support across different channels. The focus was on bringing engagement from in-store experiences to the online realm.

The discussion was engaging and insightful, providing valuable perspectives on the evolving landscape of customer service and the importance of integrating sales and customer satisfaction efforts.

In the panel discussion, Kia Viljakainen and Sara Liljedahl-Färlin from giosg, were joined by Marianna Artman from VR and Krista Patronen from XXL. The discussion gained a lot of participation from the audience and included active discussion about the theme of digital customer service and how to balance it with customer satisfaction, now and in the future.

Another crucial topic that emerged during the discussion was the need for businesses to collect and utilize customer data to provide efficient and personalized experiences.

The discussions highlighted the increasing importance of leveraging customer data to gain insights into customer preferences, behaviours, and needs in order to deliver tailored and meaningful experiences. An important part of this was also to gain a holistic view of the customers and use this to serve customers and solve possible problems wherever they occur.

The speakers emphasized the significance of data-driven decision-making in customer service and CX strategies, and how businesses can harness data to better understand their customers and create more relevant interactions. A poll revealed that 80% of our audience is looking to utilize artificial intelligence (AI) for these processes in the near future.

Unleashing the power of digitalization