ServiceNow Solutions, ServiceNow Partner, Crossfuze

ServiceNow 101 CSM

Customer Service Management (CSM) is a set of workflows and tools for optimally overseeing and tracking all interactions with a business’s customers.

What Is ServiceNow Customer Service Management?

Customer Service Management (CSM) is a set of workflows and tools for optimally overseeing and tracking all interactions with a business’s customers. The goal of CSM is to comprehensively manage the customer experience (CX), regardless of the engagement channel or type of interaction/transaction. CSM also is known as Customer Experience Management (abbreviated CEM or CXM). CSM focuses on:

  • Automating common tasks to make the customer experience feel effortless and seamless
  • Connecting departments, workflows, and systems to proactively resolve customer issues
  • Pinpointing and proactively resolving issues before customers make contact

Why Businesses Need CSM

Customer service operations have reached a tipping point, according to a 2018 Forrester Research report on the state of the customer service industry. Similarly, the consulting firm McKinsey declared in 2018 that customer service is at the beginning of a new era, which McKinsey has named customer success 2.0.

Analysts say the only viable way for companies to respond to fundamental changes in the customer service industry is to embrace CSM:

  • Customers now demand efficient, seamless service 24/7 across a wide range of channels. Because organizations cannot infinitely increase the size of their customer service teams, Forrester concluded in a 2018 analysis that companies will need to rely on CSM. CSM is a scalable, cost-effective solution, relying on automation and artificial intelligence—instead of more human capital—to meet modern customer service demands.
  • Four in five customers now attempt to resolve an issue themselves before reaching out to a live representative, according to a 2017 report in the Harvard Business Review. CSM provides businesses with ready-made frameworks and templates for building out robust self-service options. And when customers don’t find a resolution on their own, CSM efficiently routes these customers to a service representative who is optimally equipped to help them.
  • Because customers have so many buying options, customers will no longer put up with poor customer service. A 2016 study by New Voice Media found that 51% of customers would never buy from the company again after a negative customer service experience; in contrast, a positive customer service experience would lead 70% of customers to become more loyal to the company. Forrester estimated in 2015 that U.S. companies lost an estimated $62 billion in sales due to poor customer service.

Why Businesses Choose ServiceNow For CSM

Modern businesses recognize that investing in a cloud-based CSM platform is one of the most important, strategic ways to differentiate themselves in a competitive marketplace:

  • A 2017 study by the research firm Gartner found that CEOs rank customer strategy as the second most important overall priority on their strategic business priorities list, up from No. 4 the year prior.

Forrester Consulting reported in 2018 that organizations are turning to the CSM platform from cloud computing company ServiceNow to deliver a seamless, integrated customer experience. Forrester found that ServiceNow CSM is specifically designed to:

  • Drive down costs

  • Improve customer satisfaction

  • Serve as a highly scalable solution
  • Serve as a highly scalable solution
  • Connect teams across departments to quickly find and fix issues
  • Proactively prevent customer calls

Introduced in 2016, ServiceNow CSM already is attracting accolades. The research firm Gartner ranked ServiceNow CSM for the first time in its 2018 Customer Engagement Magic Quadrant. ServiceNow was the only vendor that earned a spot in the Visionaries category. Gartner’s 2018 Customer Engagement Magic Quadrant report noted the following strengths of ServiceNow CSM:

  • Strong case management
  • Strong incident management
  • Easy configuration and modification

Gartner reported that customers praise the following aspects of ServiceNow CSM:

  • Workflow and business rule automation
  • User interface
  • Out-of-the-box functionality for customer support

Quantified Benefits Of ServiceNow CSM

Businesses’ growing need to manage the lifecycle of assets and ensure compliance readiness will drive the growth of the ITAM market in the coming years. The analyst firms MarketsandMarkets, Research and Markets, and ReportLinker have all estimated that software asset management is expected to grow into a $2.3 billion industry by 2022, at a compound annual growth rate of 14.8%.

  • A 48% increase in online sales
  • A 36% increase in customer satisfaction
  • A 28% reduction in operating costs
  • A 25% increase in profitability

Forrester Consulting published a 2017 case study quantifying the benefits of a large, $850 million software company’s decision to implement ServiceNow CSM. The report found:

  • Within the first 10 months of implementation, the company’s Net Promoter Score (NPS) customer service metric increased by 10+ percentage points.
  • The company realized $6.6 million in cost savings due to faster case resolution times, more informed and efficient customer interactions, and ability to easily track SLAs (Service Level Agreements), service-level targets, and KPIs (Key Performance Indicators).
  • The company earned $3.6 million in new revenue as a result of CSM identifying new upselling and cross-selling opportunities.
  • The company realized $1.3 million in organizational efficiencies, including improved productivity and faster business decision-making.

Where CSM And ServiceNow Are Headed

Using CSM to improve the customer experience is becoming increasingly essential:

  • A 2017 Gartner customer experience study found that 81% of marketers say their companies will compete mostly on the basis of CX by 2019.
  • At a Gartner global customer experience summit in 2018, Gartner estimated that 25% of customer service and support operations will integrate virtual customer assistant or chatbot technology into customer engagement channels—up from just 2% in 2017.

The overall size of the CSM industry is expected to grow significantly in the coming years:

ServiceNow CSM is poised to dramatically reshape the industry in the coming years.

  • The Wall Street analyst RBC Capital reported in 2018 that ServiceNow CSM appears to be reaching an inflection point, with ServiceNow CSM likely to become one of the company’s biggest market opportunities.
  • Nasdaq reported in 2018 that out of ServiceNow’s top 20 deals in 2018 Q2, CSM was part of seven of the deals.

ServiceNow Products

Businesses that use ServiceNow are able to rapidly achieve improved self-service capabilities for all users (both employees and customers) and elevated efficiencies in service operations.

ITSM

Information Technology Service Management

ServiceNow IT Service Management (ITSM) helps you accelerate your digital transformation by enabling services for your end-users wherever they are, whenever they need it, and from any device they have.

Learn More

ITBM

Information Technology Business Management

Information Technology Business Management (ITBM) is a set of workflows and tools for optimally developing, delivering, and managing business services through an IT-focused lens.

Learn More

ITAM

Information Technology Asset Management

Information Technology Asset Management (ITAM) is a set of business practices and tools for optimally supporting lifecycle management of IT assets with the goal of ITAM helping organizations manage their hardware and software inventory more effectively.

Learn More

SAM

Software Asset Management

Software Asset Management (SAM) is a set of business practices and strategies for optimally managing acquisition, usage, and lifecycle maintenance of software that enables organizations to create an accurate system of record for all software assets.

Learn More

HRSD

Human Resource Service Delivery

HR Service Delivery (HRSD), also known as HR Service Delivery, is a best-practices approach for automating and standardizing HR processes within your organization that enables organizations to provide engaging, holistic HR services to employees.

Learn More

Additional Resources

10 Pillars of ServiceNow Success for CIOs, blog, Crossfuze

PILLAR SERIES

10 Pillars of ServiceNow Success for CIOs

Unlock the secrets of platform success from over 500 ServiceNow implementations by reading the 10 Pillars of ServiceNow Success for CIOs eBook. Join the hundreds of readers who have used these tips to quickly and strategically align their ServiceNow investment with business outcomes.

Read eBook

Must-read Resources While Evaluating ServiceNow, blog, Crossfuze

RESOURCE

Must-read Resources While Evaluating ServiceNow

Are you considering investing in the ServiceNow platform for your organization? Or have you recently invested in the ServiceNow platform and want to make sure you get the most from your investment? Put away your search engine of choice, because we’ve done all the research for you. Here’s a handy list of resources to help you learn more about ServiceNow.

Get Resources

ITSM vs ITIL - What's the Difference?, blog, Crossfuze

BLOG

ITSM vs. ITIL: What’s the Difference Between ITIL & ITSM?

In the IT world, it’s assumed you understand the difference between the terms ITSM and ITIL. However, not everyone uses these ITSM and ITIL correctly; some even use ITSM and ITIL interchangeably, which magnifies everyone’s confusion.

Read Blog

Gary Collins, Director of ITSM at Finastra, interview, customer testimonial, video, Crossfuze

CASE STUDY

ServiceNow Success Story: Gary Collins, Finastra

Gary Collins shares his experience working with Crossfuze on launching Smart Launch for ServiceNow ITSM in this informative video. Onboarding ServiceNow has never been so easy since Smart Launch for ITSM. With Finastra’s ITSM success, Gary and his team are now working with Crossfuze on the next stage of their ServiceNow roadmap.

Watch Case Study

3 Reasons Why Modernizing IT Service Management Will Improve Employee Engagement blog image, Crossfuze

BLOG

3 Reasons Why Modernizing IT Service Management Will Improve Employee Engagement and Experiences

Operational efficiency impacts the bottom line of every organization. When employees are faced with IT issues, the most common way to a resolution is to march into the IT office and find help.

Read Blog

ServiceNow Onboarding Success, ebook, Crossfuze

EBOOK

ServiceNow Onboarding Success Workbook

This highly interactive workbook will position you for early and often platform wins. Dive in and start building your ServiceNow foundation for success using the workbook’s advice, tips, and dynamic forms. Capture your goals, strategies, and tactics all in one spot. Collaborate and share with colleagues.

Read eBook

Stay in the know with
our Newsletter

Hungry for more? Sign up for our newsletter and get insight and information to make your ServiceNow vision a reality with speed, agility, and confidence.