Can You Wait Any Longer to Go All-In on Digital Transformation?

Can You Wait Any Longer to Go All-In on Digital Transformation?

For companies that have been operating in a phone-based Service environment for years—or decades—it’s probably easy for executives to talk themselves into hesitating just a bit longer before going all-in on digital transformation.

Hey, as long as your company is at least somewhat more “digital” than it was just a few years ago—isn’t that enough? No one ever lost their job by “doing a little better every year.” So it’s only natural to question whether the move toward operating in a Digital Customer Service (DCS) environment is absolutely necessary right now.

Is DCS a nice-to-have? Or a need-to-have? And that might feel like a fair question.

But here’s something to consider: If you—depending on your age—were working anywhere in the professional world in the mid-90’s, you can probably remember a time when the leaders of [whatever company you were working for at that time] were asking themselves THIS question:

Does our company really need our own WEBSITE?    

That was a legitimate question at one point in time. Now, it’s just funny/sad. 

I remember sitting in a hospitality company meeting in 1992 when the head of Sales (who I knew to be a very smart guy) exclaimed to the entire leadership team: “The day that regular people are able to make hotel reservations on the World Wide Web is the day I’ll eat my hat.”  I hope you were wearing a nacho sombrero that day, Jack.

As we move into 2022, consumers have already transformed. We all have. Our expectations and everyday behaviors have been adapted to living in an on-screen world. And… we’ve evolved our usage of the phone accordingly. The vast majority of people don’t dial a phone number for information or assistance anymore—to find out the time and temperature, to hear movie times at the local theater, or to get the latest sports scores. We used to use the telephone in that way, but we don’t anymore. When’s the last time you called 411 to get someone’s phone number? Any time we need information or SERVICE, we go right to our screens. “Phone bad, screen good.” That’s how all of our brains are wired today.

Therefore, because of the critical nature of Customer Service interactions (the most important factor in long-term customer loyalty and lifetime value) companies can no longer accept that so many customer interactions are still taking place by dialing a phone number. We’ve evolved past that. Digital transformation of Service is no longer a nice-to-have. It’s a must-have.

This is why Digital Customer Service (built on a foundation of OnScreen Enhancements) is the gold standard for how companies need to serve their customers. It conforms with the way people now live: On their screens.

Digital Transformation: The Time Is Now

So what are you waiting for? What is holding back your digital transformation journey? The move to Digital Customer Service is happening, so join us in meeting customers where they are: OnScreen.