This is a guest post from Ashwini Dave who is working with Acquire as a digital marketing expert. 

“If I had one hour to save the world, I would spend fifty-five minutes defining the problem and only five minutes finding the solution. “

​– Albert Einstein

Whether or not Einstein said this about workflow management, it is nevertheless extremely relevant to this area. After all, the sign of a good business is that its various functions are running smoothly – like cogs in the wheel. And this impact that workflow has is as true for customer service as it is for any other area.

Now, if you aren’t sure what exactly we mean by workflow management, then think about it as a process that has been put in place by experts. It involves a set of activities that are designed in a sequence with a desired, shared goal in mind.

These set of activities and sequences have been identified, defined, and set in stone by experienced individuals in the company who have tested these variables to figure out the most optimum process that’s possible. Why is this important?

• It standardizes processes.
• Helps in identifying and reducing errors and problems in the process.
• New members of the team learn better and faster.
• Problem-solving becomes easier.
• Redundant activities can be automated.

5 Tips to Create a Good Customer Service Workflow

Here are some best practices that have proven useful when implementing a good workflow management process. Remember, that the steps can be different for you depending on the nature of your business and your customer service goals. These important steps will definitely help you get started:

• 1. Workflow Automation

Like we mentioned earlier, workflow management enables automation. Now, what you need to remember is that this is a two-way process – Automation becomes easier due to Workflow Management, while Workflow Management in turn can be implemented better through Automation. This is the same for Customer Service as well!

For example, using a chatbot can smoothen customer service interactions. As you would know already, a sizable portion of customer queries are rather routine and can easily be handled by a bot. Naturally then, when you are trying to implement good customer service workflow management, having a tool that reduces the workload of your customer service team can prove to be a game-changer. At the same time, if you are trying to revamp your organization by automating various tasks, it will be easier for you to identify areas and one can add  automation with the help of good workflow management.

Customer service workflow management reduces errors in customer service and enhances the quality of support provided in terms of time taken to solve problems, quality of conversations, ease of getting feedback and so on.

• 2. Identify overall challenges

Trying to introduce a workflow management process without even knowing why you are doing it is counter-productive. For one, you will not be able to design a process that accurately suits your needs. Besides that, you will find it even harder to get your whole team aligned to it because, well, you yourself don’t have concrete reasons for this change!

So, always identify and define the challenges and problems you are facing. Einstein would have done it too, remember?

• 3. Create a workflow chart

A workflow chart is the heart and soul of workflow management. To create a workflow chart, you have to:

• Identify important touchpoints.
• Find out important problem areas and most frequent complaints.
• Identify the right sequence in which output is maximum.
• Define various variables – what they mean, what they don’t include and so on.

A workflow chart is super helpful because it visually explains the whole process to the team at one glance. Nobody has the time or patience to keep referring to detailed guides – and let’s face it, nobody wants to either.

• 4. Reward programs for employees

Customer service is stressful through and through – and it goes without saying that each person on the team will have his/her own way of dealing with customer-related issues. Naturally, you bringing in workflow management that they will have to recalibrate with will not sit well with them.

No matter how great your plan is, the idea of change will definitely meet some resistance. So what do you do? The age-old method of winning their favor by giving them a reason to accept the change, of course!

The ‘reason’ cannot be ‘organizational goals’ – that is YOUR reason for implementing change. You need to give employees something that resounds with them. If you incentivize adherence to the new processes well, you are halfway there!

• 5. Test and update

We often implement a solution and sit back, expecting it to work some magic. However, the truth is that in business there is no one sure solution – you only have possible solutions. And no solution can be a permanent answer to any business problem. That’s why, our suggestion would be for you to constantly examine your workflow and see if it is giving you good results. Are your customers happier? Are certain kinds of complaints reducing? Are problems getting resolved faster? Keep testing!

You must also remember that there is no ‘best’ – you can always improve. If your customer service workflow management has proven to be of help, test and see if it can be enhanced further. Don’t get too relaxed – you’d never realize when your process becomes obsolete!

Let’s Look at Some Examples of Customer Service Workflow Management

If you are wondering what good customer service workflows should look like, we found a goldmine in a post by Acquire to set your customer service goals. Here are a few:

• Customer Support workflow:

Customer calls → Customer is asked contact details by automated voice assistant → Customer waits on hold until an agent becomes available → Agent picks up and asks how they can help → Customer explains their issue → Agent asks for clarifications → Agent opens a ticket if needed → Agent provides a solution OR escalates the issue to the right person.

• Chatbot workflow:

Customer types a phrase or sentence → Chatbot responds to offer its services → Customer asks a question → Chatbot matches question to its database → Chatbot gives customer a set of questions to choose from → Customer chooses option → Chatbot responds

• Customer order workflow:

Customer places order → automatic invoice is generated and sent to customer → invoice is sent to the finance department → order is confirmed → warehouse receives order and checks inventory → warehouse updates inventory and website → package is shipped → tracking number is created and sent to customer → customer receives package.

Take a look at some more examples Acquire has given in their post here.

Well, Get Started Then!

With a great workflow management system in place, all chinks in the armor can be repaired, and all leakages sealed – and this is true not only for customer service, but also for any business function. You will definitely meet some resistance – but trust us, the future You will really thank the current You for making this investment. If you need more ideas, or tips on this, you can always reach out to us. All the best!

This is a guest post from Ashwini Dave who is working with Acquire as a digital marketing expert. 

Author bio:

Ashwini Dave is passionate about Business, Entrepreneurship, E-commerce, emerging technology and Digital Marketing. She is working with Acquire as a digital marketing expert. She is a free soul and adventurous scholar who spends her free time with herself and loved ones, music, as well as watching & playing sports. She is ocean addicted and on roads being a thrill-seeking traveler to get new experiences as she looks at life as our very own works of art.

Say Hi to her on Twitter at @AshwiniDave1 and feel free to connect with her on LinkedIn here.

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay