By now we’ve all heard how Big Data is impacting various areas of organizations, particularly sales and marketing. Less is said of the impact to the support department or call center though some feel more data is generated from this area of the company than another other. In other words, customer support groups are becoming the source of Big Data in their own companies.

That said, at present, only 2 or 3 percent of organizations have a customer service delegate who manages big data analysis or business intelligence within the department. But this is expected to change. And with good reason. Some companies are already tapping into the data in their midst to delight customers. It’s no wonder a growing number of support departments are embracing analytic tools so they can unearth more value from all the data at their disposal.

Consider this example of how IBM is harnessing Big Data and analytics for better customer service. IBM has implemented its Text Analysis and Knowledge Mining (TAKMI) tool within its own call centers to look for patterns and trends. It uses this tool to analyze call center agent records, identify customer concerns, and gain early warning capabilities. According to Deepak Advani, vice president of predictive analytics for IBM, "Many companies are integrating this call center data with their transactional data warehouse to reduce customer churn, and drive up-sell and cross-sell [activity]. Call center logs can provide invaluable insight on what customers were calling about, and can also provide insights for future product requirements."

In an article in Fast Company magazine, Sean Madden summarizes the customer-service potential of Big Data when he states: “When a customer calls the support number…he is initiating a conversation. You have his undivided attention, even if he’s annoyed, and that makes it a crucial brand-defining moment. He’s hoping for a conversation, but bracing for an ordeal. He knows you’ve collected information on him for your own purposes and wondering why you don’t do something useful with it. Not useful to you--useful to him.”

Beyond this, customer service organizations can apply analytics to Big Data to predict what will happen. For instance, customer service groups can predict potential problems based on an understanding of the current customer’s situation and trends associated with customers in similar situations. They can also identify opportunities for upselling and cross-selling, such as by understanding that a hard drive from a certain manufacturer lasts a certain number of years on average and seeing that the customer’s hard drive is close to that age. Or by noting that the customer’s antivirus software is about to expire. In such cases, the agent can recommend the customer upgrade his hard drive or renew her antivirus subscription, keeping the user up and running while generating revenues for the organization.

Have you been pleasantly surprised by your interactions with any customer service agents as of late? Is your organization using Big Data and analytics to deliver more value in the customer-service realm?

Want to learn more about how to deliver superior support that opens the door to new revenue opportunities? The whitepaper can be accessed at http://www.digitalservicecloud.com/resources/white-paper

Submitted by Vishal Dhar, iYogi.