Compounding the issue, as companies have focused on new self-service technologies, they’ve underinvested in frontline service talent. They still hire, onboard, develop, and manage their service reps in much the same way they always have. While the self-service experience has improved dramatically in recent years, the live service interaction has barely changed in decades, creating a gap between customers’ expectations and actual experience. Tales of poor service provoke outrage on social media and go viral despite companies’ best efforts to contain them. Not surprisingly, customer satisfaction has been in steady decline across industries for years.