I recently spoke with Jeff Wartgow, Oracle’s Senior Director of Product Management for Fusion CX Strategy. Here is part two of our discussion.   Jeff and I continue to talk about the ways organizations can leverage technology with their service capabilities toward creating great customer experiences. (Click here to read part 1 of our chat)

A trendy concept that you’ve discussed is Automation. I’m referring to things like Virtual Assistants, Internet of Things, Augmented Reality, and AI. How far away are we from these technologies being a part of our world? What should businesses invest in?

Anything that I thought was borderline science fiction two years ago seems to be ready for implementation today.  Virtual Assistants and AI can make an immediate impact on an organization. I highly recommend businesses experiment with them now, as I believe they will be come as vital as voicemail in the next few years. For customers who service physical devices, IoT should change your world, presuming it hasn’t already. If you don’t have smart devices, it’s time to start building them. One day we will all be angry when the washing machine can’t fix itself. Try not to just let technology take over existing processes. Instead, ask yourself, “What have we never been able to do before?”

As a millennial, I’ve had my fair share of communicating with brands. I’ve tweeted, Facebook-messaged, chatted, and even Instagram ‘Direct Messaged.’  What are the different engagement trends you see for the future?

Millennials figured this all out early. The best way to receive service is not through the phone. If fact, one of our largest customers said, “our millennial customers don’t want to talk to us, and our millennial service reps don’t want to talk to them.”  This is because chat, messaging apps, and even Instagram are better forms of communication. Think about it. You have a written record. You don’t need to repeat information. You can just exchange pictures, videos, links, etc.  Why limit yourself to just voice?  Us old Gen Xers are now starting to catch on.

What does the future hold? I don’t know. If you want to see the future, just look at your kids. Millennial parents…your two-year-old can use an iPad before they walk. Keep that in mind when you design your next self-service portal.

Three main traditional service goals are driving service costs down, reducing service requests, and decreasing resolution times. With new solutions being deployed every day, what’s the number one issue you keep seeing in the Service world?

Unfortunately, all of us in the Service world are still too often considered a cost center. Hence, the goals you mentioned.  Most service organizations I speak with know how to deliver great CX.  They know what their customers want from them. But, the challenge is finding the budget and resources to execute.  Many transformational companies are investigating ways to leverage service organizations in a different capacity. The goal is to change them from cost centers to…dare I say it…profit centers!  Oracle has been working to connect the CX dots to help make this dream a reality.

You live and breathe service every day. How did you get into this space and what does service as a strategy mean to you?

I’m a lifetime tech nerd.  I’ve worked in hardware, IT, professional services and now software.  I love seeing how technology can change people’s lives.  When I was offered the chance to work in service, it was so easy to get excited about the space because it touches us every day.  Right now, a guy is picking up my recycling…that’s service.  My garage just emailed me to let me know that they repaired the oil pan on our old Jeep and it’s ready for pick up…that’s service.  I might engage with 10 brands in a single day. Every one of them has an opportunity to differentiate themselves and win more of my business through a creative service strategy. 

In conclusion, why is it important to have connected business solutions from a Service perspective and why now?

Unless your service Request is something simple like “Change my Password,” chances are your request is tied to a previous event in the customer experience.  This includes what you purchased, how you purchased, your agreed upon entitlements and your relationship with the brand.  Therefore, to solve my service request the right way, an agent must be connected to all the other Business Solutions as a foundational starting point.  Why now?  First, because it is now possible and cost effective. Second, because customers will not tolerate anything less.

Click here to read Jeff's article "Using Connected Intelligence" from Profit Magazine.