The Emerging Alliance of Design and Customer Service (Relate Live London)
Transcript of The Emerging Alliance of Design and Customer Service (Relate Live London)
#RelateLive
Ryan DonahueZendesk VP Global Design
@rydonahue
Designed with ServiceThe Emerging Alliance of Design and Customer Service
Peter Thiel Billionaire Investor, author of Zero to OneElon Musk Founder of Tesla, Spacex, SolarCity
Peter Thiel Billionaire Investor, Contrarian, Author of Zero to One
“By 2016, 89% of companies expect to compete mostly on the basis of customer experience, versus 36% four years ago.” - Gartner Research
Customer Experience as Innovation
Customer experience innovations are typically cheaper and easier to create than “zero to one” leaps in technology or product.
Design and service are two of the most important layers of CX. Can be done quickly and relatively cheaply.
Add great design to your support experience and stand out from the crowd
Technology Drives Commoditization
Commoditization driven by tech:
It has never been easier to start a company (e-commerce, web hosting, social media, google, etc.)
Cheaper, scalable storage (Moore’s law, AWS).
Lower barrier to entry for software development.
Customer experience is one way of defending against look-a-likes
The Heart of Customer Experience
Customer Service
Design
Customer Service
Design
Today these things are largely disconnected
Customer Service
Design
The Heart of Customer Experience
Part OneWhy designers really need support people
Design Needs Love From the Support TeamAsking a support team to “live the brand” requires lots of trust and buy-in
For a brand, support personnel are the critical human layer of the brand.
Great support people speak, act and listen like the brand would do if it were human.
Brand managers can provide direction for how the brand personality should come across.
Designers Need Constant Validation of Their IdeasInteractions with customers are coveted and necessary to designers
Getting in front of real customers with new ideas is part of the everyday function of a user-centered design team.
However, access to customers is often challenging.
Artificial Customers are Costly and Lack ValuePaid respondents (in place of the real customers) is often the norm
Design teams spend lots of time and money working with customer proxies when they could be talking to the real thing.
You’re Swimming in Customer DataSupport organizations are immersed in what designers need - customer insights
Support organizations are swimming in data that could be used to drive innovation, but it is rarely leveraged to its full potential.
Part TwoWhy support people really need designers
Cost Center Innovation Center Profit Center
Value Perception of Support OrganizationsBy aligning with design, support is more likely viewed as an innovation center
Value Perception of Support OrganizationsBy aligning with design, support is more likely viewed as an innovation center
Cost Center Innovation Center Profit Center
When support orgs align with design
Support Teams Need to Align With the BrandIf your support personnel aren’t on-brand, you’re hurting the business
Service orgs are hurting brands everyday by not having a brand team available to design the service experience.
Design and Support Must AlignTo compete on customer experience these teams must join forces
Here’s How to Get Started
Make Designers Provide Service
Have designers work as customer service advocates for a day (or longer). First hand experience is invaluable.
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Let Service People Design
Customer service people are always invaluable in design thinking workshops.
Tag Your Data Train and incentivize your agents to tag and route insights to design stakeholders.
4 Design Your Service Make the brand design of your service experience a top priority for your design team.
Designers as Part-Time Support AdvocatesFor just a day, or on a regular basis, allow designers to work as support advocates
Irina Blok, a designer at Zendesk, started her first week on the job by working as a support advocate.
Your Design Thinking Needs Support PeopleSupport professionals strengthen the design process
Support people bring an informed perspective to customer-centered design thinking. Sadly, their knowledge largely goes untapped.
Tag Your Support Data with Designers in MindIf scientists can tag a butterfly, you can tag an email
First response time and CSAT are critical metrics but there is so much more.
Design a Unique and Branded Service ExperienceGreat brands invest their creativity in serving customers well, and uniquely
Warby Parker advocates all wearing Warby eyewear, whether their eyes require glasses - or not.
Its Time to Align
89% of companies plan to compete mostly on the basis of customer experience1
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Support and design are at the center of customer experience, but are deeply disconnected within the org
By aligning, both teams benefit greatly
Q & A