Orchestrating empathetic customer experiences to build trust

Ongoing economic and societal strains are causing demand for services and information to climb and government organisations are feeling the pressure. Australians expect government agencies to provide timely, tailored and robust care — particularly during times of distress, like natural disasters and a global pandemic. Empathy is at the core of this experience, and it must underpin every customer engagement.

Speaking at the 2022 Genesys G-Summit in Sydney, Victor Dominello MP, NSW Minister for Customer Service and Digital, echoed these sentiments when he said that public sector institutions must revolutionise customer service delivery, leveraging empathy to effectively address the increasing crises facing the Australian public and rebuild trust in government.

But what does this look like in practice? Here are three areas where government agencies can orchestrate empathetic customer experiences.

The key metric of success is no longer efficiency

Technology plays a significant role in the evolution of the customer service industry and has resulted in increased transparency of information and more efficient customer interactions. Case in point, Mr Dominello said 75% of the New South Wales (NSW) population now has a digital version of their driver’s licence.

However, technology is not a silver bullet — people are still vital in providing a personalised touch. When engaging citizens with empathy, there are a few cornerstones of outstanding service:

• Matching the customer to the customer service agent most suitable and/or qualified to provide support.
• Ensuring support personnel have the appropriate credentials to help the customer.
• Building trust with the customer through exceptional personalised service.
• To drive a healthy balance of efficiency and satisfaction, public institutions must place trust at the heart of their operations. Creating empathetic customer experiences is critical to this cause.

How technology enables empathy

Technology has incredible potential to enable more empathetic interactions. For example, automation can eliminate admin work, affording government representatives more time with customers. Additionally, tools like predictive routing — which matches each interaction with the available agent that is best able to handle it and uses machine learning to align customer intent with the best equipped agent — ensures seamless customer experiences across multiple touch points.

AI-powered customer engagement technology is already being deployed greatly by Service NSW, a public service agency with 3000 customer service agents working 24/7. Speaking at G-Summit, Russel Murphy, Director of Program Delivery at Service NSW, highlighted how the Service NSW contact centre was tested when the Australian bushfires engulfed much of the region and during the breakout of the global pandemic. By embracing the use of artificial intelligence, the team could handle a huge increase in customer interaction volumes and help millions of residents navigate the turmoil, whilst remaining empathetic to each case.

Embracing a customer-centric approach

With billions in taxpayer funds dedicated to overhauling digital services in the coming years, Dominello stressed that those investments must be used by the government to deliver people-centred experiences where customers feel heard, valued and supported. This means reducing barriers to access and acknowledging that inclusion is critical. This will support more proactive service delivery, individual empowerment and ultimately foster trust in government.

For example, intuitive self-service options that provide customers with a channel choice will help reduce the frustration experienced when engagement is only available via in-person meetings and paper-based processes. Government agencies can harness technology to allow real-time feedback for users. For example, feedback from Service NSW customers showed that people with double-barrelled names could not download their digital licences. This feedback enabled the NSW Government to identify and patch the issue quickly.

Proactively responding to issues experienced by customers puts them at the centre of government operations and builds trust. Further, in recognising that people and environments are always changing, agencies can leverage technology to intelligently predict what customers need so that the right resources, information and services can be delivered through the right engagement channels at the right time. These capabilities mean public service organisations can continually learn and improve their actions for more successful outcomes.

Government agencies have made remarkable progress in expanding and scaling services — especially when considering that much of this was accomplished while working remotely. This progress was made possible by public servants who should be praised for their commitment to reimagine, automate and deliver timely and empathetic customer experience at scale. By continually pushing to adopt a customer and employee-centric approach, government agencies can create empathetic experiences, earn trust and build confidence in government.

Image credit: iStockphoto.com/Khanchit Khirisutchalual