Nearly Half the Desired Results from New Customer Service Technology Don't Materialize

Customer service leaders who are  effective at vendor and product evaluation saw only a 50 percent increase in the likelihood that they'd achieve their technology goals, according to a survey by Gartner.

By contrast, leaders who are effective at organizational readiness saw a 300 percent increase.

The shortfall in achieving their goals is attributed to missed opportunities in evaluating organizational readiness, developing the necessary talent to manage or use the technology, and aligning stakeholders with the set goals.

"Rather than asking if the technology is ready for their business, customer service leaders must ask if they are ready for this technology," said Eric Keller, senior director of research in the Gartner Customer Service & Support practice. "By focusing on organizational readiness, leaders can prepare employees for change, align stakeholders to goals, and incentivize vendors as partners in achieving business outcomes."

Gartner's research also found that the activities that most significantly influenced success were not primarily about choosing the right technology. Instead, they focused on the internal preparations necessary to implement and manage the technology within the organization.

Based on the data , Gartner determined that to prepare for investments in customer service technology, successful organizations must do the following:

• Evaluate key elements of readiness. Customer service leaders are often enamored with slick technology features, neglecting the essential prerequisites needed to enable them. They require a structured approach to assess the necessary data, technical skills, business processes, and infrastructure.
• Align stakeholders around investment goals. Vendors often position their technology as being able to do it all, and internal stakeholders might disagree on the most important objectives. Customer service leaders should make operational and incentive changes to align stakeholders to their goals.
• Develop talent to better manage and use technology. As technologies become increasingly complex, expertise is needed to supervise them, and front-line staff require support to fully adopt these tools. Customer service leaders need to take a larger role in developing technical talent and managing change.