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Hello, I’m Ron Kaufman. You may know me as the author of uplifting service and someone whose life is dedicated to uplifting the spirit and practice of service worldwide. You may also know this company -Salesforce the fast-growing always changing, cloud-based platform that started as a CRM and today includes commerce cloud, sales service, data marketing clouds, community cloud, analytics and app cloud. And through Salesforce org nonprofit education and philanthropy cloud. In addition to product design development and customer support, Salesforce invests in wide-ranging research always scanning to bring you what’s happening what’s changing and what’s coming in the future.

This report, the third edition of the state of service includes results from a survey that reached more than 3,500 agents and service leaders worldwide. The insights from this report are key. Today’s customer expects more than ever before and wants it faster than ever before. And the tools exist for companies to serve customers better. But only the leading companies are unifying their technology and inspiring their teams to implement and capture the benefits of what’s possible today. 

Let’s take a closer look. First, keeping up with the customer is the number one service challenge. This makes sense because the customer you serve is also being served by many other organizations. Commercial social medical financial retail recreation government and a lot more. And this is happening in person, online, over the phone, through apps, face-to-face, at work and home. And this level of service expectation is on seven days a week, 24 hours a day, every day of the year. When service improves in one area, expectations climb in all the others. When your online shopping is smooth and easy then you expect everything online to be smooth and easy. If you have one great experience with a service agent or call service agent to serve you just as well. Now, this is not going to change. Keeping up with the customer also means keeping up with the competition, the latest in technology and the standards and the practices of delivering outstanding service.

Number two, four out of five customers now say that the experience they have is just as important as the products that they buy. The only surprise here is that it’s not already five out of five. Products don’t exist in isolation anymore. The products are just one important part of the overall experience that a company delivers. That experience includes marketing, so customers learn about the product, sales, so customers choose and buy the right product smooth and timely delivery of products support for customers to learn more about their products and troubleshooting replacement or repair if anything ever goes wrong with the product.  Experience is how companies build brands, differentiate from the competition and create more loyal customers. It’s no longer true that a better product a better mousetrap will bring more customers automatically to your door. Today it’s better experience that brings new customers to your door and keeps happy customers inside your doors.

Number three, 79% of decision-makers say that field service drives new revenue streams. In the old days, field service was the place for repairs, spare parts, maintenance warranties. It was like the caboose at the end of the linear train. Product development, marketing, sales delivery and then field service but only needed if something goes wrong. Today the value train is continued and not just linear from start to finish. One purchase naturally leads to upgrades add-ons, loyalty, status subscription revenue and automatic renewals. In this new world, it’s your field service agents who know the customer and understand the customer. And these field service agents are in the best position to make trusted recommendations to the customer. This is an incredibly powerful and profitable position. But it must be supported by instant access to the latest information, easy access to specialist support, AI-generated insights and recommendations. When  field service agents are equipped with an integrated mobile, always-on service platform, then your old caboose can become a brand new engine for customer loyalty and more sales. 

And number four, 71% of agents say their work is more strategic than it was just two years ago. Service agents know that they are more important to their companies than ever before they want better and faster tools. They expect to get better support and they will move if they must to join a company that values their role in taking good care of customers which means taking good care of the business. The problem is that not every company is getting this essential message. Only  69% of service agents say they have all the tools and technology they need to do their job. And that’s a huge issue for everyone to understand because companies that leave service behind are going to fall behind. Find out more for yourself. Get a free copy of the Salesforce state of service report by clicking on the link in the text you find on this page. Share the details and share this video with everyone who needs to understand. Companies that invest in service will create a future that is better and stronger for everyone.