Key challenges include balancing quality with cost, while opportunities lie in harnessing AI to enhance agent performance, self-service, and operational efficiency, says Oliver Viereck, VP and Managing Director Contact Experience & Inhouse Service at SKY Deutschland.
The greatest challenge facing the German media industry is maintaining a high level of service experience for customers while working with shrinking customer service budgets.
“On the one hand, this presents a challenge, but on the other hand, it presents a big opportunity to transform customer service with the possibilities of new technologies combined with the knowledge of experts in our service centres,” says Oliver Viereck, VP and Managing Director Contact Experience & Inhouse Service at SKY Deutschland.
Oliver leads efforts to enhance customer service experiences by combining human expertise with cutting-edge technologies. He oversees three internal sites in Schwerin, Bielefeld, and Braunschweig and continually improves service delivery. Focusing on key customer service topics, Oliver is committed to driving innovation and excellence within Sky Germany’s customer service operations.
According to him, key challenges include balancing quality with cost, while opportunities lie in harnessing AI to enhance agent performance, self-service, and operational efficiency. He debunks the myth that technology alone improves CX, emphasising the importance of strong processes and expertise.
Excerpts from the interview:
What is the biggest CX challenge and opportunity in your industry?
The biggest challenge is to deliver a high-service experience to our customers while at the same time reducing customer service budgets. On the one hand, this presents a challenge, but on the other hand, it presents a big opportunity to transform customer service with the possibilities of new technologies combined with the knowledge of experts in our service centres.
How do you see generative AI impacting CX solutions?
GenAI can impact CX in several areas in a positive way: Especially in direct customer contact, it will help agents deliver a higher quality in a very efficient way. It will bring our coaching logic up to a new level.
While our systems until now have been backwards-looking, along the lines of “please do better next time”, AI can navigate the agent, exactly in the situation, when the customer has not yet cancelled or the sales opportunity has just arisen, the potential to make best use of it. Moreover, self service will be more and more effective and customer-oriented as well as indirect areas like training, planning, analysis or intraday management will benefit from genAI.
Do you think Shoppable TV is the future of digital shopping?
In my opinion, it is a very interesting channel for presenting products well and generating sales. However, it is only one among several that should be combined in the best way, depending on the respective customer situation, target group, and other aspects. With the new opportunities, service centres will also continue to gain in sales importance.
One common myth about CX that you would like to debunk, and why do you believe it is misleading or incorrect?
One myth is that simply introducing new technologies or next-gen AI will improve service quality. Not to forget that these are tools and enablers. In order to actually improve service experience, these tools must be used, but on the basis of well-defined business processes and the know-how considerations of experts.
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