Top Takeaways:-      Even before the world was disrupted by a pandemic, customer service was hard. Customers already thought customer service took too long in terms of hold times and time to resolution. Customers’ expectations have now increased, driving the need for better customer service up even higher.-      There is a higher volume of customer service calls since the pandemic began. Companies and agents need to improve their customer service strategies to effectively handle the volume.-      According to Pega’s recent report, 4 Steps to Exceptional Service Strategy During Disruption, there are four areas of major concern among businesses right now. They are as follows:1.   How do we show empathy for customers during this time? You must have good self-service strategies available for your customers. You must also be present with them on the channels they want to communicate on. Implement proactive service strategies and act with empathy.2.   How do we show support for agents during this time? Everything changed for employees and agents, too. Strategies include guided workflows, coaching, augmenting tools that support remote collaboration and applying analytics to improve areas of unproductivity.3.   How do we keep an eye on our costs? Conveniently, many strategies for improving the customer and employee experiences are also effective at reducing costs. Beware of cutting costs in areas that will negatively affect the customer experience—that will harm your business in the long run.4.   How do we protect our profits? You must look through an empathetic lens. Work with your customers (and employees) to find solutions that work for both the customer and the business. Protect your profits, but also do right by your customer.-      Make your employees’ jobs easier by providing them a “channel-less” experience—allowing them to interact with and assist customers on any channel from a single program or application. -      Put the right strategies in place from the beginning so you don’t have to re-do temporary fixes later. -      Pegasystems’ annual event, PegaWorld, will be held virtually this year on June 2. For more information and to register, go to the Pega website. Quote:“Your agents aren’t available 24/7, but your customers are.”About:Jeff Nicholson is the Vice President of CRM Product Marketing for Pegasystems, where he leads the company’s CRM market vision and strategy. He is a recognized customer engagement thought leader who has been featured in numerous publications. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices