Salesforce Delivers 2015 State of Service Report, Uncovers Key Trends Driving the Future of Customer Service

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 26, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Salesforce [NYSE: CRM], the Customer Success Platform and world's #1 CRM company, today issued its first-ever State of Service Report. Salesforce Research surveyed more than 1,900 global customer service leaders to discover the goals, obstacles and success measures of today's customer service teams. The research found that in today's mobile-centric world, companies are accelerating their support of emerging customer service channels such as mobile apps and social networks. In fact, most successful customer service teams already support these channels, according to those surveyed. In addition, the research showed that many of the leading service teams are using analytics in order to deliver proactive support. To download the 2015 State of Service report, please click here.

As consumer behaviors and expectations continue to be reshaped by experiences on smartphones and connected devices, companies are reaching a tipping point, recognizing that they need to transform how they engage with customers and deliver customer service. The report found that top customer service organizations are aggressively adopting technology to respond to customers' expectation of a fast and personalized experience across all devices and channels.

"Customers are now more mobile, social and connected than ever before," said Mike Milburn, SVP and GM of Service Cloud, Salesforce. "What sets high performing service teams apart is their ability to consistently deliver a smarter, faster and more mobile customer experience. Today, that means taking advantage of technologies that give your agents the right information at the right time so they can provide exceptional service in the channels the customers use every day."

Specific findings of the report include:

Omni-Channel Support Is Now a Necessity for Success  As the report confirms, the best service teams are creating seamless, personalized customer service experiences by connecting with customers where they are, across email, mobile apps and social networks.

• Prominent areas of growth include service embedded into mobile apps, knowledge bases, and social media engagement. Use of each of these service approaches are expected to at least double in the next 12-18 months.
• Use of mobile customer service apps is continuing to grow, with 56 percent of service leaders saying they will provide service and support via a mobile app for customers within the next two years. High performing service teams are approximately 5x more likely than underperforming teams to have outstanding or very good capabilities in mobile customer service.

Analytics are Ushering in the Era of Proactive Service Service organizations are increasing their use of analytics to anticipate customer needs, resulting in more efficient call routing, faster case history access and a more personalized customer interaction for companies.

• Roughly 55 percent of high performers report being able to predict customer service needs more than 80 percent of the time.  
• The use of smart technologies like predictive analytics are expected to more than double within the next 18 months.

Methodology  This study was conducted by Salesforce Research through a third-party survey firm in early 2015. More than 1,900 global customer service leaders were surveyed, each indicating whether their customer service organization was high-performing, moderate-performing or under-performing.

Additional Information

• Download a full copy of the free report, 2015 State of Service Report at salesforce.com/stateofservice
• Learn more about Service Cloud: http://www.salesforce.com/service-cloud/overview/

Connect with Salesforce

• Follow @Salesforce on Twitter
• Like the Service Cloud on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ServiceCloud

About Salesforce Salesforce, the Customer Success Platform and world's #1 CRM company, empowers companies to connect with their customers in a whole new way. For more information about Salesforce (NYSE: CRM), visit: http://www.salesforce.com.

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SOURCE Salesforce