Frost & Sullivan

Improving Customer Experience is a Top Priority 

According to 74 percent of IT decision makers across major  sectors and regions, customer experience management is one  of the top three digital transformation investments today,  and will continue to be over the next two years. The other  top priorities are cyber security and IoT. As customer care  departments embark on their digital transformation journey,  there are 5 key critical philosophies to incorporate in their  strategy: 
•Embrace change 
• Augment with technologies 
•Happy agents = happy customers 
•Build solutions based on customer experience 
•Start small! 

Embracing Change  Many companies deal with the issue of finding the right  balance between proactively investing in technologies and  reactively buying solutions. The major concern is around  spending too much money on technologies that agents or  customers are not ready for and will not use. The ability to  embrace change is a critical success factor; however, keep  in mind that it is important to take stock of your company’s  channel strengths. Ensure that your strongest channels will  not be negatively impacted by new investments or process  changes. If you proactively look at your strengths and invest  in areas that need to improve, rather than react to the fear of  missing out on the latest technologies, you are likely to find  the right balance and optimize your contact center operations.  Augmenting with Technologies  The ability for artificial intelligence to continually learn  from new data and re-analyze outcomes is a crucial  feature. This is what sets it apart from existing analytics  solutions. The fact that AI can recognize patterns, compare  and contrast information, and predict future outcomes  is beneficial for companies that want to provide tailored  customer service. Consumers and businesses have high  expectations of the purchases they make—they want a  customized experience.

Speech analytics can check against compliance, improve  agent performance, and meet customer needs more quickly.  Mining for the positive reviews in discussions helps companies  share what “they’re doing right” throughout the organization. 

Chat bots provide an effortless and augmented customer  experience with much more advanced self-service. The  solution can also help companies manage hyper-growth and  increase sales opportunities. 

If properly executed, these technologies can reduce  customer effort and improve agent productivity. The key  is to create and monitor thresholds that are feasible for the  company and help meet its corporate goals. 

Happy Agents = Happy Customers 

Creating a happy environment for agents—a place where  agents feel empowered, enthusiastic, and engaged—has a  positive impact on customers. All three are important elements  in sustaining an effective workforce for the long haul. 

A digital transformation strategy must: 
• have a shared vision to ensure that everyone has the same  goals 
• motivate employees to embrace new solutions 
• be supported and managed to assure acceptance and usage 

How can a contact center optimize automation, customer  care, and employee happiness? Satisfying everyone is a  challenging task. 

Automation may be crucial for a company’s survival, but  how much does your company want to contain in self-service  using chat bots? We have all been stuck in IVR jail. Some fear  that chatbots will be used in the same way. An algorithm that  can read sentiments and forward to agents immediately when  customers begin to show dissatisfaction can be a valuable  feature. Providing a quick path to resolving a problem if AI  goes awry is vital. 

With all of this automation, the calls that do reach agents  are likely to be more complex and interesting for agents to  handle. At the same time, do agents want all the easy questions  to be answered through automation so that they are only left  with the difficult ones? Handling complex calls one after  another can be exhausting and lead to agent unhappiness. 

What about improving customer satisfaction? As  customers become more demanding, combined with the  myriad of ways they can reach your company, a host of everchanging  challenges emerge. Omnichannel solutions can help  solve many customer interaction problems. 

Build Solutions Based on Customer Experience 

Buyers come from all walks of life. They expect customized  customer care. Some people like automation – get in and get  out of the contact center as quickly as possible. Other people  are only comfortable speaking with a live person. In specific  industries, like healthcare or insurance, videoconferencing is  an effective means of communications.

 Implementation depends on a variety of factors as well.  Are your customers ready for change – will they be receptive  to chatbots? Are your employees capable of handling multiple  contacts at one time? Do you have the processes in place to  handle a much larger volume of customers? Are you able to  hire the talent needed to support new technologies? There are  many questions that must be answered when making purchase  decisions. 

Reducing average call times is often a goal, but in reality,  57 percent of companies say they are increasing. This could  be a win-win for all. Augment with technology, but allow  for calls that reach agents to be used to satisfy customers to  retain them; upsell and cross-sell with the customized data  now available; and learn more about product improvements,  customer behavior, and new trends.

Start Small! 

How do you achieve the ROI needed to convince stakeholders  that further investment in this technology is a must? Start with  a small group, or one department. Select champions who have  bought into the technology and will use it avidly.  Ensure that company leaders understand that failure is okay.  Through trial and error, each company will find the right mix of  technologies that supports their growth. Reduce the risk of failure  by immersing yourself in critical thinking with others to avoid  blind spots. Lastly, pilots should be part of the business plan.

 Final Note 

Keep in mind that having an environment where failing is okay  is crucial when implementing a digital transformation strategy.  Otherwise, your company risks losing customers and employees  to a company that offers a better experience.