October 2023

Customer Service
Excellence 2023
European survey conclusions
Contents

01 02 03 04 05 06
Introduction Methodology Customer Employee Manager Board
and demographics perspective perspective perspective perspective
Executive summary Research and analysis Deep dive into contact How to help Customer Service KPIs and performance Priorities and upcoming
methodology channels. agents to succeed? measurement investment plans with
Why do customers contact focus on AI
Customer Service?

PAG E 3 PAG E 7 PAG E 1 1 PAG E 1 5 PAG E 1 9 PAG E 2 3

2 | © 2023 Deloitte Digital

 01
Introduction

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INTRODUCTION

Utilize Deloitte’s new insights on Customer

Service to improve your business!
Welcome to the 2nd edition of Deloitte’s international The conclusions presented in this report indicate that
Customer Service Excellence report! Our survey investment focus changes every year, most likely as a
intends to track insights into factors that impact Service result of business optimization driven by changing
Excellence. We define Service Excellence as managing the demands. Alek Pruziński
right mix of organizational measures, processes & tools that Further, all kinds of pressure resulting from the recent Partner
results in exceptional performance in Customer Service economic downturn and the AI deployment for Customer
organizations, which means exceeding customer Service purposes will force leaders to choose between Head of Customer Service Excellence
expectations and keeping the operations effective while low-cost service and investing in new AI-driven Deloitte Digital Central Europe
enabling the employees to stay engaged. technologies to maintain their competitive advantage,
unless they can find the golden mean and reach both
The past couple of years have been pivotal for Customer objectives.
Services, as the pandemic has significantly affected Therefore, this year, the Customer Experience (CX) and
operational dynamics of Customer Service: Employee Experience (EX) are supplemented with the
Operational Excellence (OX) indicator to allow full

The shift to remote work offered initial

assessment of Customer Service organizations. The
results are very interesting!
Nathalie Ramsbjer
advantages in the form of flexibility and cost Senior Manager
efficiency. However, now it becomes a Enjoy reading our conclusions from Deloitte’s
challenge as overall productivity and Customer Service Excellence report 2023! Head of Nordic Service Excellence,
employee engagement decline. PhD in Customer Service & Relations

The rise of digital platforms, whether The AI revolution is inevitable.

driven by external circumstances or not, The right approach to investments and a
prompted an accelerated digital
transformation that increased reliance solid technical foundation are required to
on digital channels and self-service. make it successful.
In addition, customer expectations increase continuously
and pose particular challenges for Customer Service,
necessitating deployment of the right mix of modern and
traditional channels to allow all customer groups
convenient access, at the same time maintaining the
efficiency of operations.
4 | © 2023 Deloitte Digital
INTRODUCTION: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Executive summary

Elevating Human Experience is key to succeed with Customer and

Employee Experience, as well as with Operational Excellence

01 02 03 04
PREPARE FOR MORE AI SELF-SERVICE IS ON THE PERSONALIZED SERVICE ELEVATE THE BASICS –
AND AUTOMATION RISE at every stage of the journey elevate the usage and
to reduce routine tasks, which but still not in line with is what affects customer and experience of traditional
requires strategic customer needs. It is time to employee experience, and channels to the next level
alignment to bring actual rethink and redo! efficiency, but needs to be while moving to digital
value prioritized channels

5 | © 2023 Deloitte Digital

INTRODUCTION: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Executive summary
Elevating Human Experience

In the current report, each survey question is linked to the a clear focus on the elevation of Human Experience, Focusing on time and efficiency of the Customer Service
performance indicators: Customer Experience, Employee including both Customer and Employee Experience, organization instead will adversely affect both Customer
Experience and Operational Excellence, which indicates shows positive effects on Operational Excellence. and Employee Experience, despite high efficiency.
the importance of balancing business outcomes. However, certain prerequisites, such as matching tools Therefore, making a conscious tactical decision on
In essence, managing the Customer Service business with and skills to business and customer needs, and the use of what outcomes are most important in the business is
customer insights, are crucial. an imperative.

Insight 1 Insight 2 Insight 3 Insight 4

Time to start utilizing the full The adoption of self-service Leverage personalization Elevate your traditional
value of AI and Automation channels increases, but lags to drive value contact channels - the basics -
behind customer needs while preparing for
Despite low adoption across The analysis shows that what digitalization
industries, using AI and automation Self-service options are offered by business leaders consider important
to streamline service operations vast majority (85%) of survey for customers in the course of Although it is quite clear customers
and improve cost-efficiency is participants, which denotes a interaction with Customer Services is need access to suitable digital
on the top of investment agendas significant increase year-on-year. The somehow disconnected from the channels, traditional channels
going forward. current investment plans indicate actual manner of delivering services.
remain the most frequently
AI is believed to positively impact that self-service will remain in focus in Contrary to leaders’ understanding, used.
performance, which can enable the coming year. Still, there is much personalized service has the highest
left to be done. The number of enquiries made on
an increase in the rate of processes impact on CX, EX and OX within
the phone and via e-mail is nearly
automation and as a result reduce According to available data, the Customer Service.
twice higher than of those placed
costs. available self-service solutions do not This implies an untapped potential using chat tools and contact forms,
To capture the full business value of match customer needs. to use personalized service which indicates that service
AI and automation, businesses need Therefore, businesses need to as a strategic factor of truly customer businesses are still transitioning
to align with strategy and reconsider the usage of self-service centric approach, allowing its from a traditional to a fully digital
customer needs and prepare tools and functionalities before transition from a cost center to a channel strategy
properly to ensure its successful investing in new ones to satisfy actual value driver.
implementation. needs of their customers.
It is time to rethink and redo!

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 02
Methodology
& demographics

7 | © 2023 Deloitte Digital

METHODOLOGY & RESEARCH

Research methodology How to read the charts?

The following report is based Definitions: Example question: Do we have the right tools?

on the findings of the Customer Highlighted

60% outstanding 4,5
Service Excellence 2023 survey values (high
4,08
4,20
or low)
50% 4,15
To gain a deeper understanding of how operations 4,0
3,95
in Customer Service are influencing experience
3,71 3,75
and operational efficiency, we benchmarked the survey Customer Experience means customers’ perceptions
40%
3,67
results against Customer Experience (CX), Employee and feelings related to the overall interaction with 3,5 3,5
Experience (EX) and Operational Excellence (OX) ratings. 3,44
employees, systems, channels or products of a 30%
business. It this report, we use respondents’ 3,12 3,14
The ratings were founded on respondents’ evaluation of assessment of Customer Satisfaction. 3,0
overall CX, EX and OX performance of their Customer 20%
Service, which we used to analyze the collected answers 2,81

from the perspective of customers, employees and 2,5

10%
business management.

14%

31%

48%

7%
The survey was conducted using Computer Assisted 0% 2,0
Web Interview in Q2 2023.
Employee Experience is an indicator that describes
Percentage
how employees internalize and interpret their
of answers
interactions with the employer and their context. In
this report, we use respondents’ assessment of
Employee Satisfaction. Average Customer Experience (CX) for Average Customer Experience ratings
the specific response to a given in the entire survey
exemplary question

Average Employee Experience (EX) for Average Employee Experience ratings

the specific response to a given in the entire survey
Operational Excellence. means continuous exemplary question
improvement of all business aspects and processes to
enhance efficiency and adaptability to change and
other outcomes. In this report, we use respondents’ Average Operational Excellence (OX) for Average Operational Excellence ratings
assessment of Operational Efficiency. the specific response to a given in the entire survey
exemplary question

8 | © 2023 Deloitte Digital

CX EX OX CX Average EX Average OX Average
METHODOLOGY & RESEARCH

Research scope and demography

The purpose of our research is to:

01 02 03 04
Gain insights into the
overall international status
Measure the impact
of Customer Service
Explore future trends and
directions of development
Investigate industry
differences
297
Customer Service
of Customer Service activities on Customer within Customer Service leaders responded to
and Employee Experience
the survey
as well as on Operational
Excellence

The research specifies the following thematic areas:

• Basic information about Customer Service organization • Channels, Technology and AI

• Customer Service Performance • Current state and future direction
• Customer Enquiries and Tools • Industry and Company Information

Company size: Top industries represented in the survey:

>5000 30% 3,96 3,94 4,00
500-5000 3,89 3,92 3,92 3,94
25% 3,91 3,80
Average CX, EX and OX ratings:
3,80 3,79 3,79
20% 20%
3,82

26% 15%
3,41
3,60 3,60

3,36 3,35 3,40 Average Customer Average Employee Average Operational

10% 3,34
3,29 Experience (CX) rating Experience (EX) rating Excellence (OX) rating
5% 3,20
22% 16% 12% 11% 10% 23%
0%
3,06 3,00
2023 3,84 3,82 3,31
Moving Consumer

Manufacturing
Financial Services

Education & Health

Other industries
Energy, Resources

26%
Goods (FMCG)

Industry (FSI)

& Industrials

Public Sector,
Retail & Fast

Care

28% <100
2022 3,77 3,52 N/A
100-499

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METHODOLOGY & RESEARCH

Ratings depend on the setup of Customer Service teams Size of Customer Service

50% 4,10

45% 3,92 3,96

3,90
40%
3,78
35% 3,88 3,75 3,76
3,70
The analysis of Customer Experience (CX), Employee Clear tendencies related to the existing Customer 30%
3,72
3,65
Experience (EX) and Operational excellence (OX) Service team size can be observed:
shows significant performance differences regarding 25% 3,50

the considered indicators: 20% 3,38

3,35
Surprisingly, smaller Customer Service 15%
3,30
3,24
Businesses that primarily cater to other teams generate higher CX and EX,
10% 3,13
businesses (B2B) show higher CX and EX possibly owing to direct communication 3,10

scores, most likely due to a more and a strong sense of community 5%

50% 18% 16% 15%
focused and personalized nature and ownership within the teams. 0% 2,90

Between

Between
than 50
of these interactions..

than 500
100-500
50-100
Less

More
Businesses primarily targeting consumers On the contrary, mid-sized teams show
(B2C) show better operational excellence, slightly lower satisfaction and Target Customer
which suggests efficient processes excellence scores, which indicates that
of managing larger volumes maintaining the right balance of close 50% 4,10
of transactions. collaboration and well-defined roles
45%
poses a considerable challenge. 3,87
3,92
3,90 3,88 3,90
40%
3,86
Businesses carrying out both B2B and 35%
3,70 3,70
B2C operations produced mixed score, In larger teams, specialized roles 30%
which may reflect the need of balancing and opportunities for career growth
varying customer expectations with might contribute to higher satisfaction.
25% 3,50

operational requirements in both B2B 3,39

Such factors as management practices, 20%
and B2C segments technology utilization, and process
3,33 3,30
15% 3,27
optimization could contribute to higher
10%
Operational Excellence scores in larger 3,10
organizations (which invest more in such 5%
50% 32% 19%
solutions as AI). 0% 2,90

Both B2B

primarily

primarlily
and B2C

Only or

Only or
B2B

B2C
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CX EX OX CX Average EX Average OX Average
 03
Customer perspective:
Deep dive into contact channels.
Why do customers contact Customer Service?

11 | © 2023 Deloitte Digital

CUSTOMER PERSPECTIVE

Personalized service has the greatest impact on Customer What do customers care about?

and Employee Experience, and on Operational Excellence 50% 4,30

45%
4,10
4,05
40%

35% 3,83 3,80 3,89 3,90

3,87
Personalized service has the greatest impact The approaching AI revolution will enable and require 30% 3,83
on performance, but is not the main priority robust usage of customer data and insights to 3,67
3,70

offer personalized recommendations for a 25%

Unlike last year (when ranked first by 30% respondents), business to understand the customers and increase
3,53 3,53 3,50
20%
personalized service ranks only as the third factor most value.
important for customers. Two most frequently selected 15%
3,29
3,30
options include first contact resolution and resolution Although many businesses begin to break traditional 10% 3,23 3,17
time, whose scoring of across the three rated criteria was barriers and increase focus on experience, apparently 3,10
5%
considerably lower than that of personalization. Contrary customer centricity is not the core of the service 45% 25% 22% 8%
to leaders’ perception, personalized service has the business. Customer centric initiatives need to include 0% 2,90
highest impact on CX (4.05), EX (3.89) and OX (3.53). all aspects of the operating model used to allow Solving the case on Time required to Personalized service The ability to solve
This indicates a discrepancy between the business positive impact on experience and operational
first contact solve an issue from your agents problems end-to-end
offer and customer expectations. Businesses should through self-service
excellence. Only then a business can succeed in shifting
focus on delivering Operational Excellence through from perceiving service as a cost center to treating it as
personalization! a value driver. Reasons to contact Customer Service

Leveraging personalization to drive value Reporting an issue of the product or service 51%
Self-service and automation provide
Customers expect highly individualized treatment. Hence, considerable opportunities to reduce Requiring product or service information 51%
meeting them in the right time, context and using the right incoming routine errands Payment or invoicing information 49%
tools is crucial. Companies must tactically and
According to the survey, customers usually engage with
strategically plan for customer touchpoints and Order or delivery related issues 48%
Customer Service to report an issue or to find product
interactions at every stage of the journey to meet
or service-related information. This shows the Complaints about a product, service or of the company 42%
their expectations. It is about providing the correct
importance of providing customers with easily
information and support in a timely and intuitive manner. Reporting a technical problem 40%
accessible tools (e.g., self-service) to raise and resolve
enquiries and with readily available, precise To buy a product or service 38%
Personalization rewards companies with stronger loyalty,
information. Similarly to last year’s results, this year’s
greater engagement and increased revenue1. Moreover, it Checking the status of a case 38%
data indicate that repetitive, routine tasks could be
is no longer the simple question of understanding the
handled using automation and/or self-service tools Need to update customer or contract information 31%
customer history data and previous interactions.
producing equal or improved outcome. GenAI will
now enable companies to provide to their customers To return a product 6%
much better experience in searching the Wanting compensation 5%
troubleshooting or product knowledge base.
1DeloitteDigital (2022). Embrace meaningful personalization to
12 | © 2023 Deloitte Digital maximize growth. New research on the value of personalized CX. CX EX OX CX Average EX Average OX Average
CUSTOMER PERSPECTIVE

A flexible contact channel strategy is Contact channels supported by the Customer Service team

required to capture the benefits of 100%

91% 89% 4,04

both traditional and digital channels 90%

3,93
4,0
3,95
3,91
4,0

3,86 3,9
80% 3,87 3,88
3,82 3,78 3,87
3,83 3,79 3,82
3,81 3,83 3,8
70% 3,82 3,77
3,78 3,81 3,78 3,79 3,75 3,71
Traditional channels continue to prevail over digital ones 60% 56% 3,67
52%
3,6 3,6
Despite the increased focus and the need to face customers with smart, 50%
digital channels, traditional channels, such as email and phone calls, 43% 3,52
remain the most frequently used contact options. Compared to last 40% 37% 35%
year, no radical shift to digital technologies can be noticed. Examples: 3,36 31% 31% 31% 31% 3,4
3,36 3,33 3,35 3,38
30% 3,34 3,34
• Last year 98% respondents claimed to support chat technologies or plan 3,32 20%
3,29
to invest in them; however, their usage rates remain flat 20% 3,27
15% 3,2
• The usage rate of customer portals declined
10%
The dominance of traditional channels has several reasons: some
customers (or large customer groups) prefer well-known legacy contact 0% 3,0
E-mail Call Contact Chat Social Media Website for Customer Website for Mobile SMS Proactive e- Video call Proactive
channels; and certain businesses do not offer good digital options to
form logged-in portal not logged Application mails sms
replace traditional ones, thus failing to support the corresponding shift customers in
of their customer base. customers

Additional potential related to the use of standard and Top four channels ranked by volume of enquiries
proactive SMS
100%
There is an increase in the adoption of SMS and mobile apps 87% 86%
90%
compared to last year, which conforms with the growing popularity of
80%
mobile devices to manage both personal and business needs. Moreover,
70%
SMS communication stands out in terms of high quality of both
60%
Customer and Employee Experience, which suggests that efficient
50% 44% 43%
delivery of concise, effective communications is a good idea to be promoted
40%
in Customer Service. 25%
30% 21% 19% 19%
20%
15% 14% 13%
8%
10% 2%
0%
Call E-mail Contact form Chat Customer Social media Mobile Website for Proactive e- Website for SMS Video call Proactive
portal application logged-in mails not logged- sms
customers in customers

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CX EX OX CX Average EX Average OX Average
CUSTOMER PERSPECTIVE

Businesses offer more self-service solutions, which, Which self-service solutions/options do you offer
customers?
however, do not meet customer expectations Website 67%
Customer portal 50%
Mobile application 35%
Self-service use rate continues to grow The quality of the offered self-service
Chatbot 34%
In this year’s survey, 85% of respondents claim to solutions is more important than having
multiple self-service capabilities Other digital assistants 12%
provide customers with at least one self-service solution,
which denotes a 25pp increase vs last year. This may Self-service functionalities enable customers to handle Voicebot 10%
suggest an improved understanding of possibilities self- enquiries related to an offer, product or service (56%).
service offers. However, those allowing customers to solve their What can customers do with offered self-service
problems without any manual interaction of agents solutions?
For example, the rate of self-service use in problem receive the lowest interest (24%). Interestingly, the use
solving is considerably higher than last year (according to of such self-service tools is correlated with the 50% 4,10

36% of respondents the demand increased). Websites highest CX (4.03) and OX (3.61) ratings. 4,03
are the most popular self-service solutions, followed by 45% 3,95 3,95 3,93
3,91
customer portals, mobile apps and chats. A question arises whether businesses offer the 3,88 3,93
3,90 3,88 3,90
3,88 3,94 3,88
right self-service functionalities and what is the 40% 3,89
potential to reduce manual support scope through 3,82
automation. Although the share of those offering self- 35%
3,70
service solutions is relatively high, the offer may not
match actual customer needs, especially that 34% 30% 3,61
of service leaders consider self-service capabilities
they offer poorly or very poorly matched to customer 25% 3,50
expectations.
20% 3,41
The results disallow determining assumptions that 3,33
3,33 3,31
underly the implementation of self-service solutions or 15%
3,30 3,29 3,30

verifying whether quality of the options offered was

treated as a priority. It is time to reconsider your
10%
self-service strategy! 3,10

5%

56% 51% 51% 43% 41% 41% 24%

+25pp
0% 2,90
Actions related to Downloading Place an order of Searching for Submitting Actions related to Solving their
increase in the the offer, documents, e.g. a product or help articles applications and personal data enquiries entirely
organizations offering product, service invoices,
duplicate copies
service enquiries without any
manual
self-service solutions interaction from
our agents

14 | © 2023 Deloitte Digital

CX EX OX CX Average EX Average OX Average
 04
Employee perspective:
How to help Customer Service
agents to succeed?

15 | © 2023 Deloitte Digital

EMPLOYEE PERSPECTIVE

Provide the right tools and access to Do we have the right tools?

information to ensure high overall 60%

4,08
4,20 4,3

performance
4,15
4,1
50%
3,95 3,9
3,71 3,75
40% 3,7
3,67
3,44
3,5
30% 3,5
3,3
3,12
Levels of CX, EX and OX levels are correlated with the
20% 3,14 3,1
accuracy and customization scale of tools used and the
intuitive nature of interfaces used to look for the right data 2,81 2,9
10%
Most respondents believe their tools are acceptable or good. However, 2,7

14%

31%

48%

7%
only 7% consider the tools they use excellent and well-customized to their
needs. Thus, improving the quality of tools used by agents means 0% 2,5

increased opportunities to score high in CX, EX and OX.

Insufficient tools Excellent tools

Is the information easily accessible for the employees?

Easy access to information by agents is correlated with high
70%
CX, EX and OX scores 4,11 4,1

Only 33% of service managers believe their agents can easily find 60% 3,83 3,97
3,9
information necessary to help customers. Interfaces that force agents to
repeatedly switch pages to access the information they need to help 50% 3,78 3,7
3,53
clients are a good illustration of the problem. The right data format may 3,59
serve as another example. Interestingly, providing agents with easy access 40% 3,5
to information they need translates into improved CX, EX and OX scores.
3,3
30% 3,15 3,27
These findings indicate the importance of providing agents with
3,1
suitable tools and good access to information as a success 20%
trigger of any Customer Service organization. 2,9

10% 2,64
2,7

58%

33%
9%
0% 2,5

Difficult Moderate Easy

16 | © 2023 Deloitte Digital

CX EX OX CX Average EX Average OX Average
EMPLOYEE PERSPECTIVE

Matching skills and knowledge to

goals in Customer Service has never
been more important Assessing the level of skills and knowledge in Customer Service

Providing appropriate professional training for agents

60% 4,5
Our survey indicates that a good match between skills and knowledge
of agents and customer needs is correlated with high CX, EX and OX 4,21
scores. However, most Customer Service businesses have failed to
perfectly match the qualification of their agents to the needs of their 50% 3,96
4,0
customers. 3,91
3,63

Hence, prioritizing the process of obtaining and training agents in any 3,87
40%
Customer Service organization opens up considerable opportunities to 3,63
3,77
generate strong positive impact. The expected advancement of 3,5
technologies used, such as GenAI, which require new types of skills, will 3,48
increase the importance of the issue. Understanding the needs is, 30%
therefore, extremely important and necessitates efficient collection and
utilization of data, the analysis of which will allow business performance 3,0
2,90
improvement owing to the right use of agents’ skills (read more in Manager 3,03
Perspective and Impact of Customer Satisfaction on change and improvements). 20%
2,90

Recognizing correlation between tools used and experience

2,5
and operational efficiency level 10%

If a business strategy and goal assume surpassing its current CX, EX and OX 2,2
ratings, this approach is certainly worth attention. Tools that offer broad

29%

55%

11%
4%
possibilities at the same time being user-friendly enable employees to
0% 2,0
efficiently perform their tasks in a flexible and organized manner. The
ultimate goal should be a single, unified source of truth, integrating
various types of data into a coherent and intuitive interface. Q Poor match between skills and knowledge Perfect match between skills and
in Customer Service to meet the customer knowledge in Customer Service to meet
needs the customer needs

17 | © 2023 Deloitte Digital

CX EX OX CX Average EX Average OX Average
EMPLOYEE PERSPECTIVE

Empowering employees: Unleashing the positive effect on

Customer Satisfaction
Important: Conduct thorough
research to understand your
agents only when you are Correlation between Employee
prepared to receive feedback and Customer Satisfaction indicators
and are fully committed to take
actionable steps to improve 45% 5,0

your business. 40%

4,35
4,5
4,02
4,0
35%
3,57
Being aware that CX and EX are interrelated,
businesses broad their research to include employees 3,5
30%
along with customers. Although surveys provide
2,83
valuable information, questions businesses ask their 3,0
2,50

70%
25%
employees, recipients of the survey results, the format
of companies carry out of data provided and timing, as well as the subsequent 2,5

employee satisfaction surveys steps taken (e.g., how a business will act on the survey 20%
2,0
on a regular basis outcome, whether it implements the proposed
improvements and monitors quality on a continuous 15%
1,5
basis) are of key importance.
Happy employees lead to happy customers! 10%
1,0

Most of the Customer Service organizations included in 5% 0,5

this study (70%) carry out employee satisfaction surveys

15%

42%

30%
1%

2%
on a regular basis. Almost the same number of leaders 0% 0,0
(72%) consider their employees to be satisfied or very
satisfied. When looking at the correlation with Customer
Low Employee High Employee
Satisfaction, the more satisfied the employees are, Satisfaction Satisfaction
the higher the CX. This is another proof that customer
and employee experiences are interconnected and their
alignment accelerates business growth. In short, happy
employees lead to happy customers!

18 | © 2023 Deloitte Digital

CX EX OX CX Average EX Average OX Average
 05
Manager’s perspective:
KPIs and performance measurement

19 | © 2023 Deloitte Digital

MANAGER PERSPECTIVE

Organizing Customer Service: How are the Customer Service teams organized?

A multi-skilled team setup provides 50% 3,97 4,00

multiple benefits
45% 3,95 3,86 3,89 3,90
3,88
40% 3,80
3,75
3,77 3,76
35% 3,70

3,63
Multi-skilled teams generate higher CX, EX and OX 30% 3,60

25% 3,50
A multi-skilled team setup is the one most common in Customer Service. It 3,47
allows individualized customer approach and a faster resolution time; 20% 3,40
therefore, not surprisingly, CX is the highest for this type of team. 3,32
15% 3,32 3,30
3,28 3,27
Compared to last year’s results, an increase is observed in the EX level 10% 3,20
achieved by multi-skilled teams, which seem to be the best solution
5% 3,10
to reach high OX as well. This may result from a reduced number of 35% 34% 31% 27% 25%
handovers as multi-skilled team employees can solve most problems 0% 3,00
themselves. Teams that focus on specific customer needs or processes One multi-skilled team with By 1st line , 2nd line and 3rd By customer need or By service channel By customer
also generate high CX and EX scores, but their Operational Excellence ratios a broad distribution of work line, or similar process being serviced group/segment/priority
remain lower. Multiple variables and switching context require the use of types
good tools and efficiency of operation

Unsurprisingly, Customer Service team organization based on service How are customers’ enquiries assigned to employees?
channels (e.g., telephone, written messages, etc.) generates the lowest CX,
EX and OX values, which implies that the absence of a seamless customer 60% 3,97 4,0
service process and monotony of work performed by employees adversely 3,85
3,9
affect performance. 50% 3,83 3,8
3,69
Automatic assignment of enquiries improves performance 40% 3,74
3,7
3,66 3,6
Fifty percent of Customer Service leaders participating in our survey claim
30% 3,5
that in their companies, enquiries are automatically assigned to employees.
3,32 3,4
This strategy positively affects CX, EX and OX ratios. The use of self- 20% 3,35
assignment produces slightly higher EX scores, as it may be more 3,3
3,18
comfortable for employees giving them the sense of control. Having tasks 10%
3,2

50%
assigned manually by another person is the least favorable option, resulting

28%
22%
3,1
in lower OX, CX and, in particular, EX levels. 0% 3,0

Most enquiries are assigned Most enquiries are assigned / Most enquiries are assigned to agents
to agents by someone else in selected by the agents automatically, according to skills
the same role themselves or other pre-decided rules

20 | © 2023 Deloitte Digital

CX EX OX CX Average EX Average OX Average
MANAGER PERSPECTIVE

Agents need to uphold a wide range of KPIs to

meet performance targets

Higher focus on quality, but little variation Most popular metrics used to measure the
among KPIs performance of teams and individual employees
Similarly to last year’s survey, a majority (68%) of Customer
Service managers report focusing on Service Quality as a 80% 4,2

measure to evaluate the performance of their employees

70% 3,97
and teams. This may explain why two KPIs: Time taken to 4,0
3,90 3,90
resolve an issue and The number of issues solved in a 60%
3,86
3,87 3,81
given period are ten percentage points lower than last
3,78 3,8
year. 3,84
50% 3,79 3,78 3,84
3,72
Despite differences in the numbers of responses 40% 3,6
regarding each KPI, variations are insignificant, which
indicates that Customer Service teams are evaluated using 30%
3,40
3,40 3,4
several performance indicators of various nature (both 3,32
3,37
qualitative and quantitative). For an employee who has 20% 3,30
3,27
to meet multiple targets it may be difficult to decide 3,2
10%
what to focus on when managing enquiries (e.g., time

68%

52%

42%

41%

34%

34%
spent on each customer vs the quality of solution).
0% 3,0

If the Service Quality receives the highest score with a Quality of SLA FCR – First Time taken to Sales The number
service/ fulfilment Contact resolve an indicators of issues
small margin, differences in CX, EX and OX ratings are contract/ Resolution issue solved in a
also insignificant. Thus, a question arises whether fulfilment given period

focusing on fewer KPIs would result in bigger differences

among their ratings as a result of more focused
performance approach adopted by employees.

21 | © 2023 Deloitte Digital

CX EX OX CX Average EX Average OX Average
MANAGER PERSPECTIVE
Most popular metrics used to measure customer satisfaction
Measuring customer satisfaction and 60%
3,95
3,84 3,87 4,0

utilizing the insights improves 50%

3,79 3,9
3,8
3,7

Customer Experience
40% 3,53
3,6
30% 3,5
3,4
20% 3,3

10%
57%

57%

29%

21%
10% 3,2
3,1
0% 3,0
1: Measure, measure, measure C-SAT - Customer NPS - Net Promoter Score FCR - First Contact CES - Customer Effort Score We do not measure
Companies that measure customer satisfaction have higher overall CX Satisfaction Resolution customer satisfaction
than those who don’t, with best performance seen by the ones focusing on
C-SAT. Another important ratio is FCR - First Contact Resolution - resulting in How often do you analyze customer satisfaction survey results?
high CX. However, 42% of respondents use this KPI to measure individual
agent performance, and only 29% to measure customer satisfaction. This 30% 4,20 4,25 4,4

calls for a shift in focus to increase the use of FCR to further improve CX. 25% 4,2
3,94 3,96
3,85 4,0
2: Frequently analyze the findings 20%
3,73
3,8
15% 3,54
Frequent data analyses are correlated with higher CX values. Real-time 3,6
analysis seems the best way to reach high performance. However, it 10%
3,4
requires reaching organizational maturity with inherent use of data in the

21%

17%

28%

18%
5%
business operations, including organized efforts and dedicated resources. 3,2

7%

2%

7%
0% 3,0
3: Use customer insights to plan and implement Yearly Quarterly Monthly Weekly Daily Within hours Real-time
improvements
Utilizing customer insights to plan for changes and improvements results Impact of customer satisfaction on changes and improvements
in better CX scores, as it is clearly customer centric. For instance, improving 3,94
60% 4,0
products and/or services along with the accompanying processes based on
3,78
customer data allows businesses to meet customer needs and create value. 50%
3,8
This, however, requires devoted resources and tools to process the
40%
data, produce actionable insights and implement changes in a consistent 3,46 3,6
manner. 30%
3,4
20%

3,2
10%

33%
14%

53%
0% 3,0

Low impact Some impact High impact

22 | © 2023 Deloitte Digital

CX CX Average
 06
Board perspective:
Priorities and upcoming investment plans
with focus on AI

23 | © 2023 Deloitte Digital

BOARD PERSPECTIVE

What’s next? Highest Customer Service priorities for the upcoming year

Priorities in almost all Customer Service areas grow in

importance, in particular those related to satisfaction
improvement 78% 68% 59% 54%
Customer satisfaction improvement is by far the highest investment priority
(an increase by 17 p.p. vs last year). Compared to last year’s survey, the
priority of all Customer Service areas grows except for employee
retention, which is replaced by agents’ well-being perceived by
employers as a potential retention driver. Increasing customer Improving self-service Increasing the process Reducing Customer
satisfaction channels automation rate Service response time
New technological investments aimed at cost efficiency
improvement put self-service and AI/Automation in the
spotlight
It is evident that investments in technological capabilities will become the
area of focus, aligning with improvements in self-service channels and
increased process automation rate to support agents, customers and the
43% 38% 35% 23%
business as a whole.

• Although self-service channels remain in focus, only 8% of service

managers believe their customers want to be able to solve their
problems themselves. It may also indicate that the existing self-service Increasing employee Increasing the number Increasing up-selling Increasing employee
channels are underdeveloped and require more attention to generate satisfaction of issues resolved per and cross-selling ratios retention ratio
true value for customers. day

Top four opportunities for improving cost-efficiency

• The use of AI and/or process automation is considered an effective
solution reducing costs of service and improving cost efficiency.

Customer Service managers seem to be certain that technology

investments will streamline their Customer Service and replace current
manual processes.
27% Leverage AI capabilities
to support service delivery 26% Automate processes to eliminate
repetitive tasks

19% Modernize IT infrastructure

to strengthen performance 14% Advance self-service solutions
to eliminate manual work

24 | © 2023 Deloitte Digital

BOARD PERSPECTIVE

Elevate channels to elevate % Of companies wanting to invest in a particular channel

experiences 45%
40%
40% 39% 39% 38%
35%
35% 32%
30%
25% 22%
20% 16% 15% 14% 14%
15% 11% 11% 11% 11%
10% 7%
5%
0%

More does not mean better; start by utilizing what you have
New digital channels, such as chatbots and digital assistants, are the
focus for investments, often increasing the number of contact possibilities
already supported by service organizations. Investments in traditional
channels (such as phone calls and e-mail), however, are limited despite
enjoying most popularity among customers. This raises the question
of coherence, as companies continue to invest in new supporting digital Current usage and investment plans for channels
channels although most of their customers still use the conventional
options. 100%
1%
90%
10%
While providing customers with a wide choice of channels is important, 80% 14%
a growth in their number results in specific challenges, the most common 70%
34%
including operating in silos, without sharing information on prior 5%
60%
interactions with agents or systems. Inability to provide consistent 22%
6% 6%
experience across the offered channels adversely affects customers, 50%
21% 11% 7%
employees and decreases cost effectiveness. 40% 80% 22%
8% 3%
75% 28% 18%
30% 10% 7%
7% 3%
The right strategy, therefore, should assume investing in capability 49% 18% 16%
20%
improvement in both current and new channels to allow guiding 29% 34% 4%
24% 27% 24% 27%
customers to the ones matching their needs. This will allow businesses to 10%
17% 15% 15%
capture most value of both their investments and current channel selection. 0%
E-mail Call Chat Proactive Contact Customer Mobile Social Website for Website for SMS Video call
Comms form portal Application Media logged-in not logged-
customers in
customers
Using Using & Investing Investing

25 | © 2023 Deloitte Digital

BOARD PERSPECTIVE

Exploring the untapped potential of AI AI usage per industry

Energy, Resources & Industrials 60%

AI can be used as a process automation Retail & Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) 50%
enabler to eliminate manual tasks2, for
instance in the form of chatbots providing agents Public Sector, Education & Health Care 50%
with appropriate information. This issue is
included in the service managers’ agenda; they Transportation and logistics 47%
want to improve costs efficiency of their functions
through the utilization of AI (27%) and process Financial Services Industry (FSI) 43%
automation (26%).
Telecommunications & Media 39%

Professional Services & Technology 32%

46%
Automotive 30%
of companies are
currently using AI Manufacturing 19%

Low adoption rate across industries AI impact on Customer Service metrics3

The presented survey results suggest that for most
companies, the use of AI remains a relatively new concept,
with just 46% deploying its capabilities. In a few industries
only (Retail & FMCG, Public Sector, Education & Health Care,
and ER&I) more than half of respondents are using AI. In
the group of service leaders who do, 23% deploy chatbots
and 11% voice to text and sentiment analysis.
Positive Impact No or Negative Impact
Potential to tap into AI to improve efficiency
Tapping into AI can positively affect many business #1 Resolution time (68%) #1 Case deflection (44%)
metrics, the highest improvement being observed in relation #2 Costs (65%) #2 Customer satisfaction (37%)
to the resolution time: according to 68% of service managers,
it decreased considerably following the implementation of AI. #2 Employee satisfaction (65%) #3 Costs (35%)
Improvement can be observed in relation to case deflection #3 Customer satisfaction (63%) #2 Employee satisfaction (35%)
as well, albeit slightly lower.
#4 Case deflection (56%) #2 Resolution time (32%)

2Gartner 3Percentage of respondents identifying specific AI impact on CS metrics

(2023). How Can Generative AI Be Used to Improve
26 | © 2023 Deloitte Digital
Customer Service and Support?
BOARD PERSPECTIVE

Time to start using the full value of AI powered by GenAI

>50% Of answers
Most common priorities:

Suggesting Summarizing the

Chatbot
the best answer customer request

20% >60%
of companies are not plan to invest in

40-50%
considering AI as a generative AI
Of answers
priority solutions
Common priorities:

The future prepares for more AI AI requires thorough preparation

When asked to rank future AI investments for the coming As a new, diverse and powerful tool AI can pose Suggesting
Sentiment
year, 80% service leaders consider the AI adoption as their challenges as regards capabilities it may support or its the best Voice to text
analysis
priority and one fifth of the companies decides to focus on application in daily operations. As the technology is knowledge article
other areas. still immature, and just one in four AI projects turns
out to be successful4, some companies may be
Those planning to invest in AI most frequently indicate reluctant to invest. Digital
generative technologies, such as suggesting the best assistants
answer and summarizing a customer request, with GenAI- While AI-powered tools can improve performance and
powered chatbots as the second most popular priority. strengthen the decision-making process, it is crucial to
The shift towards GenAI is clear; it outruns such make informed decisions and to ensure coherency
predictive solutions as NBA, NBO and other technologies of the channel strategy, capabilities and data to
(such as voice to text, sentiment analysis or voicebots) capture its full business value. A failure to thoroughly
considered a hot topic during last two years. assess the appropriateness and applicability of the Less common priorities:
technology in business operations may erode
Importantly, businesses should avoid treating GenAI as a customer trust and adversely impact experience as a
buzzword or a must-have solution. Only utilizing the full whole3. Implementing the correct AI functionality is
potential of the new tools they will be able to not enough; both the business and processes must Next Best Action Next Best Offer Text to speech
improve agent productivity and cost efficiency. be prepared for it to enable the improvement of
human experience in alignment with the vision
adopted by the business.
Voicebot Image processing

4Deloitte Digital (2023). New realities drive new models for contact center
27 | © 2023 Deloitte Digital transformation. Our latest research shows recent talent and technology
shifts are changing the future of contact center operations.
Authors

Alek Nathalie
Ramsbjer Filippa
Pruziński Lundqvist
SENIOR MANAGER
PARTNER
Head of Nordic Service Excellence, SE CONSULTANT
Head of Customer Service Excellence
PhD in Customer Service & Relations Customer & Marketing
Deloitte Digital Central
Deloitte Digital SE

Tomas Caroline Reeta

Rylander Barle Kalmari
MANAGER CONSULTANT CONSULTANT
Customer & Marketing Customer & Marketing Customer & Marketing
Deloitte Digital SE Deloitte Digital SE Deloitte Digital FI

Joanna Felix Viksjø

Järvi Skarlund
CONSULTANT SENIOR CONSULTANT
Customer & Marketing Customer & Marketing
Deloitte Digital FI Deloitte Digital NO

28 | © 2023 Deloitte Digital

Thank you!

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