how to improve customer service through ITSM
A revolution in IT is saving time for store managers and empowering staff, thanks to automated HR tool with a user-friendly interface which can be accessed from a mobile phone.
Retail managers are the vital interface between in-store staff and head office. But getting the support they from HQ, often hundreds of miles away, means they spend more time submitting corporate requests than interacting with staff — and, worse still, customers.
Engaged staff, too, are an absolute must — every good business owner knows that. So anything which shaves time off back-office tasks at managerial level and empowers shop floor employees is worth its investment five times over.
Less time staring at a computer screen
One of the biggest time-consumers for a store manager is human resources. Staff make holiday requests and ask questions about payroll, benefits and employee relations. Then there’s on-boarding and off-boarding employees and handling delicate complaints. All this means these front-line managers spend more time in front of a computer, logging, reporting, tracking and form-filling — and less time with customers.
At head office level, these requests are managed manually using email and phone with little to no accountability. That’s because most HR management IT products don’t include a case management function, or the complexity demands ongoing IT support, which is expensive.
A revolution in IT
The new way of doing things involves replacing out of date, competing software and systems to get the job done. This new way of working uses automated, internet-based, real-time portals which are linked to a single system of record. The new systems are part of the ITSM (IT Service Management) revolution — and, for retailers, they’re already here.
What does all that mean?
A single, shared services management portal means every manager in every store can request services from every centralised department through the same platform, including HR. Likewise, they can check the status and view the history of all requests made by the branch office. As a result, internal operations take a back seat to customer service.
For these dedicated managers, who should be on the shop floor, automation could be the answer. By being able to automate core processes like absence management and complaints, tools like ServiceNow HR Service Automation are giving store managers their time back. Centralised HR managers/directors are saving time too.
This means store managers can focus on their customers to deliver a great experience, as well as supporting and energising their staff.
A ‘HR storefront’ with ServiceNow
At head office level, the integrated knowledge base inside ServiceNow’s HR Service Automation application is populated with corporate-specific HR information including policies, benefits, travel and expenses, job openings, and training. A self-service catalog then presents this information to employees with out-of-the-box, request-fulfill process automation. Requests submitted through the catalog are then automatically assigned to the right person to be fulfilled.
Empowering your retail staff
Here’s the clever bit. A self-service portal allows staff to log their own HR issues directly at any time they like. They can then track the status of their case. And it gets better — they can do this from their mobile phone. Which means shop floor staff don’t need to log HR issues during shop opening hours, nor direct to the store manager.
Using this process reduces the number of cases, lowers resolution time, and automates workflow processes to decrease costs. The result: customer satisfaction, staff morale and productivity rise, while costs fall, which leaves more time for top-rate customer service, and less time sat at a computer.
In this you?
It may be time to change the way you work with a single, automated, service management platform. If this is you, get in touch to see how we can help.
Download our ebook: ‘Gaining a Competitive Advantage in Hospitality and Retail’ for more information on how ServiceNow can improve customer service benefits to your organisation.
