Technological and societal developments have consequences for the amount of work, the content of the work, and the location where it is performed. The Customer Service Federation has Customer contact, the beating heart of every organization presented his vision on the future of customer contact.

 

According to the KSF, today's changes are different. AI can increasingly take over customer contact work and perform it independently. Customers can also use technology to be represented in their contact with organizations. At the same time, the KSF states that customer contact is gaining strategic value in a society that is becoming more digital and complex.

Technological and societal developments bring with them a large number of strategic issues. AI is changing work and placing different demands on employees and organizations. Dependence on technology is growing, and further digitalization raises new questions regarding accessibility and the human scale. For customers, it is important that services remain accessible and that human contact is available where necessary.

“The future of the field requires choices and shared responsibility. No single party can shape this transition alone,” says KSF Chairman Erik Vercouteren. “Organizations and employees are in charge, but the sector, trade unions, education, the government, and society also have an important role to play.”

The KSF explicitly states that it will give substance to its own responsibility. For instance, the trade association wants to take the lead in the dialogue. The KSF also intends to actively ensure that organizations and their employees receive the support they need regarding the changes facing them. This will be further defined in consultation with the members.

Fewer people needed

The KSF expects that significantly fewer people will be needed in the future for the direct execution of simple and repetitive customer contact. Although new tasks and positions are emerging, this does not offset the loss of work one-to-one, according to the trade association. At the same time, the KSF states that maintaining employment is not an end in itself for the KSF. As far as the KSF is concerned, the starting point is the value that customer contact adds for the customer, the employee, and the organization. For current and future employees, this means investing in attractive and meaningful work and careful guidance during the current transition, during which jobs may also disappear.

The KSF aims to support leaders in customer contact, including in making choices. The Customer Contact Future Practice Group must bring members together to work collaboratively on what the changes mean concretely for their organizations.

The vision Customer contact, the beating heart of every organization was presented on September 3 during the annual KSF Inspiration Day and can be downloaded via the KSF website.

(Ziptone, KSF)

Customer Experience, Featured, Opinions KSF