Best Tech Investment in a Shaky Economy? Bet on Self-Service

This is #2 in a series of articles about the ways digital innovation can help businesses remain resilient in the face of economic disruption. 

Inflation. Talent shortages. Disrupted supply chains. Today’s economy is full of uncertainties. Yet there is consensus among industry analysts, economists, and business leaders on one thing. In stormy economic waters, businesses should keep investing in digital innovation. 

Of course, that begs the question, what kinds of digital initiatives should they prioritize? 

Not surprisingly, customer experience is at the top of most people’s priority list, with more than half of surveyed companies saying they actually plan to increase CX technology spending an average of 17.3% in 2023, a recent study found. 

Why not start with customer self-service? 

When looking at opportunities to digitize CX, customer self-service is an obvious win-win—that sweet spot in which you can both drive revenue and lower costs. 

Back in the day, self-service was seen largely as a cost-cutting measure, one that often came at the cost of poorer customer experiences. However, that old calculus is no longer valid, as customers increasingly prefer the speed and flexibility that self-service enables. A Nuance study found that 75% of consumers believe self-service is a convenient way to address solve issues, with 67% actually preferring to interact with a self-service portal than with a live agent. 

And customer self-service also remains a powerful way to reduce expenses and increase productivity. Businesses can lower costs per transaction by as much as $11, according a Forrester Research/Oracle study. And at a time when call center wait times have tripled due to personnel shortages, those savings are only likely to increase. 

A Nuance study found that 75% of consumers believe self-service is a convenient way to address customer service issues, with 67% actually preferring to interact with a self-service portal than with a live agent. 

Can’t afford to digitize during a recession? Think again 

Traditionally, digitizing complex customer transactions has been risky and expensive, particularly for businesses operating in complex, heavily regulated industries. So, you may have written off certain self-service use cases, assuming they would take too long and cost too much. 

Fortunately, a new codeless approach to self-service significantly accelerates timelines. The list of potential use cases is endless, but here are just a few examples of what you can achieve—faster and at significantly lower cost than you may think: 

• P&C client onboarding for insurance. Make it easy for companies to onboard clients using entirely paperless workflows. Streamline customer information collection, and facilitate friction-free handoffs. Remove the need for repetitive questionnaires and other non-value generating administrative tasks. And verify data to avoid complicated, expensive manual back-and-forths. 
• Digital customer portal for banking. Deploy, manage, and maintain a digital front-end that empowers customers to complete tasks on their own, all supported by comprehensive dashboards for both customers and the business. Learn more about your customers by tracking digital transactions, and use that high-quality, granular data to create personalized service offerings.
• Case management for healthcare agencies. Allow agencies to easily and securely access the information they need. Digitize end-to-end referral solutions and universal intake processes. Enable clients, caregivers, and administrators to remotely engage with relevant services and case managers. 

Can you afford not to provide modern self-service? 

Given the speed with which you can now innovative, not providing modern self-service may just be the riskier proposition—especially in the wake of COVID. According to a recent McKinsey study, COVID accelerated digitization by three to four years.

And since self-service increasingly means good service, the risk to laggards is real. McKinsey also found that the total shareholder returns of CX leader was 3X that of laggards. A new study argues that leaders have extended that lead to 3.4X. 

Notably, the McKinsey study shows greater divergence between leaders and laggards during downturns. That only makes sense. When the economy is iffy, consumers and businesses invariably look for ways to cut back. And poor customer experiences provide the perfect excuse.

Want to learn more about digital innovation as an effective competitive strategy during turbulent economic times? 

Read how codeless development can help you recession-proof your business.