Do You Know What Your Customers Experience Looks Like?
I recently navigated through the IVR(interactive voice response) auto attendant for one of our clients. I was routed to the proper department rep to handle my client’s issue (maybe it was because I said “AGENT” several times quite loudly on the phone as if the volume would route me there quicker. Side note, some IVR’s can actually “read” the tone of your voice.) The agent who was taking care of me was becoming a bit agitated at her own technology, in fact she was saying “don’t freeze on me now. Come on, not today.” I wonder if she knew that she was saying these words out loud. Despite her internet issues, or cloud app databases freezing up, she was able to answer my questions and take care of my request while on the call, without transferring me to someone else. Why? She was able to chat back and forth to different groups to get the answers she needed for my questions, she was able to remote into the client’s computer and register their phone so it would work as they needed it to, she was able to put us on hold for long pauses (probably because she was multi-tasking and assisting another customer through chat at the time). She ended the call with, “Have I answered all your questions or is there anything else I can help you with today?” Then, no sooner had I hung up the phone when I had an immediate customer satisfaction survey email waiting for my response to how well my issue had been handled.
Now, think about your customer’s experience when trying to reach your business or get information about the product or services you provide.
- Are they able to use an IVR (voice recognition) to help them navigate to the right department? This is important because we are a mobile society. When we are hands-free in our cars, it is hard (not very safe) to have to press buttons to get to the person you need to speak with.
- If your customers are researching on your website, does a chatbot pop up to assist them with questions they may have? I was once on a chatbot that when asking a question immediately responded with “no one is available right now, we are offline”. Although this was disappointing, at least I knew not to wait.
- Can your customers send an email inquiry to your company? If so, how quickly can they expect a response?
- Can your customers send texts or pictures through Text (MMS) to your business? How do you respond to make sure they get the assistance they need?
With the assistance of cloud applications like CCAAS(Contact Center as a Service) or IVR, you can enhance your clients experience with your company. One of the key points is to find out how your customers like to interact with you.
Let’s imagine that a catastrophic storm came through the area, and everyone has to file claims with their insurance company. Using CCaaS and IVR, this is what it might look like:
- That insurance company has instantly used IVR to help route the calls to another part of the country where other employees can assist with the claims.
- They use a CCAAS solution and have added instant responses or questionnaires to the chatbots to speed up the information gathering process before being transferred to a live person.
- Maybe it is handling all the inquiries in a single pane (omni channel) where they can juggle inquiries on first in first out basis.
- They might also be using the system to send out automated messages on when your adjuster will be arriving to your home or keeping track of the adjusters by geofencing technology.
- Through IVR, the supervisors can also see key words to identify when a customer is getting agitated and may need to offer assistance to the Rep handling the call, or even take it over the call altogether if necessary.
No one wants to be stuck in what we like to call “Customer no-service” and not have an ability to talk to a live person. However, when done well, using CCAAS and IVR as part of your business operations can raise your companies NPS (Net Promotor Score) because these customers will brag about their experience with your business and tell their friends, bringing you more customers! Who doesn’t want that?
