Benefits of Refreshing the IVR Customers Speak Out

Transcription

1 Benefits of Refreshing the IVR Customers Speak Out A Frost & Sullivan White Paper

2 frost.com Executive Summary... 3 Introduction... 3 Reality Check - IVR Grows Up... 4 General Survey Findings... 6 Solution Provider Findings... 6 Case Study: Delta Air Lines and Nuance... 8 contents

3 Benefits of Refreshing the IVR Customers Speak Out Interviewees indicate that IVR is not the main concern, but one key piece of a bigger picture EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Self-service in customer care is moving to the web and social media as the Millennials take to mobile devices with a do-it-yourself mentality. However, by no means is the phone channel going away. When self-service fails them, customers turn to the contact center, which typically means journeying through that perennial front door, the Interactive Voice Response application. In addition, in certain areas of the world, IVR is still a hot commodity as a way of providing self-service in areas where Internet access is scarce, yet mobile phones plentiful. Still, complaints about this channel abound. This market insight explores the attitudes around IVR, the benefits of its use, and what solution providers are doing to make this happen. INTRODUCTION Frost & Sullivan research shows that although other channels are expanding in scope, when people fail to get the response they seek through non-voice channels, they turn to the phone and the contact center for help. But unlike the first two decades of IVR, when making transactions through a touch-tone interface was acceptable, consumers now expect more. As new channels improve, such as mobile applications or corporate websites, customers grow accustomed to greater levels of control, information, and self-service. Hence the title of this market insight is no mistake. We have all called a company only to be greeted with an IVR that says, Please listen carefully as our menu options have changed when they haven t in years. More frustrating is encountering an IVR in which the wording is may have changed. In fact, that prompt was one of many complaints registered by consumers that pole-vaulted IVR into the least liked channel in customer care. Consider these others: Asking callers to provide data to the IVR, such as an account number, only to have the agent ask for it again once the caller is transferred Too many menu choices Wrong or inadequate menu choices Long and confusing prompts Changing requirements or capabilities on the user interface (for instance allowing speech and DTMF, then switching to just one) Making callers feel that the IVR is strictly there as an impediment to speaking with an agent Making it difficult or nearly impossible to get to an agent Not carrying context and content from the IVR to the agent. Yet IVR trundles on. In fact, Frost & Sullivan estimates that greater than 90% of ACDs are front-ended by an IVR application, some of which have been up-and-running for decades. While it s true that the vast installed base of IVR systems and applications have gone through many changes and upgrades since the mid-eighties when they were first introduced, it is Frost & Sullivan s belief that classic IVR has been lost in the shuffle to add new channels of customer interaction. 3

4 frost.com Taking a Perceptual Temperature Reading It is Frost & Sullivan s belief that an organization s customer service infrastructure is only as good as its worst performing channel, since customers don t differentiate one channel from another when taking stock of the total Customer Experience. For this Market Insight we therefore interviewed solution providers and customers to see how they view modifying, upgrading, or replacing existing IVR applications, and whether IVR is even a priority compared to other channels. We wanted to gauge the perception of the necessity of having IVR, and how it fits into a multi and omni-channel strategy. To start the discussion we asked solution providers the following questions: Is upgrading IVR a priority or irrelevant compared to other channels? Do customers come into sales situations talking about IVR? How are vendors positioning IVR tuning or replacement? Do vendors have targeted education campaigns and sales campaigns to replace old IVR applications? Do vendors have campaigns to educate companies as to the expanded capabilities IVR has to offer? Are customers seeing a decline in IVR usage compared to other channels? Do customers think it is worth investing in the IVR channel? Are there best practices around IVR sales? Our discussions with customers also included the following: Is upgrading IVR a priority or even on the radar? When you work with your solutions provider, either reaching out because you want to upgrade or add something, or they approach you with a sales pitch, is IVR prominent in the discussion or not? Are you seeing a decline in usage of IVR for other channels? Do you think it is worth investing in the IVR channel? Have you upgraded or replaced your IVR and if so, what kind of functionality did you add? Is it speechenabled, tied in with outbound campaigns, or personalized for the caller? Is upgrading or replacing your IVR a lower budgetary item than adding other channels like social or mobile? Do you pass all the information gathered in the IVR to the agent? REALITY CHECK IVR GROWS UP The installed base of IVR applications has grown exponentially for a reason. There are tens of thousands of IVR applications that are perfectly well designed and do a good job. Take prescription refill, appointment confirmation, or credit card activation, for instance. All of these applications field thousands of calls a day, doing 4

5 Benefits of Refreshing the IVR Customers Speak Out simple things really well without the need of an agent, while diverting calls away from agents. Many are simple, intuitive and don t frustrate callers. But others, while the technology is stable, the user interface could use some work. Fortunately, significant advances have been made in IVR usability, functionality, and the ability to evoke a company s brand image. Those companies that field calls through an IVR that haven t taken advantage of the last decade of innovation are missing out on considerable new benefits. Consider that since the early adoption of touch-tone applications the IVR market has championed some notable advances, namely: Standards-based VoiceXML platforms Natural language interfaces Artificial intelligence-based response Best practices in UI design and refined application design tools Links to proactive customer contact Support for mobile devices, including Visual IVR on mobile devices Multi-modal self-service on mobile devices (visual, verification, data input) Such advances have totally changed the capabilities of early touch-tone IVRs. Frost & Sullivan s 2014 Enterprise Contact Center Survey shows that while the pure voice channel will see a modest 5% decrease in usage over the next two years, with and IVR declining slightly, in no way will other channels overtake these. Rather, as more channels are added, the total number of contacts goes up. Furthermore, as the usage of self-service applications grows, the options for handling even more complex transactions increases. As one solution provider pointed out, Everyone is talking about the predictive Customer Experience, and one of those points is IVR. If you know who they are and what they are doing, you can personalize the conversation. We are seeing in RFPs more complex experience in the IVR, such as caller verification and personalized messages, as part of the interaction. That message is sometime just giving them something appropriate, but more and more its journey specific, like telling them that we know they failed to self-serve online, or just offering them more service for something we know they just purchased. Exhibit 1: Current versus Future Customer Interaction Channels Current Future Chat IVR Live agentvoice Mobile App Social Media Video Web selfservice portal Source: Frost & Sullivan 5

6 frost.com GENERAL SURVEY FINDINGS In answer to the question has IVR been lost in the race to multi and omni channel excellence, the answer is somewhat. In talking with two dozen people directly related to the marketing and sales of IVR, there was an overriding sense that IVR has now just become part of the bigger sales picture and not a major focal point of the sales process. In some cases vendors mentioned that customers didn t know of the expanded capabilities that IVR has to offer. An executive at Nuance mentioned that customers have said that they aren t interested in IVR, but rather mobile, yet after hearing about what mobile customer care could offer, were surprised to hear that the IVR could provide much of the same. This has driven IVR sales, rather than the reverse. Other participants mentioned that many of those customers that are focused specifically on IVR just knew they had to fix it, primarily due to their vendor no longer supporting specific models or releases, or because they needed the IVR to work with other channels, such as mobile. But in general many customers simply had the if it works, don t fix it, attitude, or they just haven t paid attention to it. This point can t be driven home more than by a comment solicited by one executive who said that when he brought up IVR to an executive at a large national service provider, the executive said, We haven t changed our IVR in 17 years. It s working great. As he pointed out, sometimes they just don t see it, but ask executives what their web site looks like and they will go on at length. Ask them what their IVR looks like and they draw a blank. Other participants agreed, saying that the IVR is somewhat invisible, plus many executives are shielded from its use. They often don t have to become a customer of their own business. The majority of solution providers we talked with have no formal plan of attack to specifically pay attention to IVR in the sales process. It isn t that IVR is ignored completely, it just becomes part of the bigger discussion, or it is left out in lieu of investigating new channels. There were, of course, exceptions. Those companies that had pedigrees in IVR, such as Nuance, inevitably garnered more customers seeking to change because of those firms reputations in IVR. However, even with those providers, the IVR discussion sometimes loses luster in the context of a larger multi-channel discussion. SOLUTION PROVIDER FINDINGS We talked to solution providers of all types, including those that sell complete contact center suites to those that focus on just a few solutions, soliciting input on sales, sales strategies, customer approach and sentiment to IVR versus other interaction channels, and discovered the following: The majority of interviewees said that customers and prospects don t enter the sales discussion wanting to replace their IVR and either ask what should they do, or need to be educated on why they should upgrade or replace it. Only a few interviewees said that they ask executives to try out their own IVR as part of the sales process. Only one said they ask executives to try out all of the interaction channels of their company as part of the sales process. Many interviewees said that executives are not excited about talking about IVR, and consider it old school. Many interviewees said that customers are just unaware as to what the system could do and/or how much money it could save. Customers, however, changed their tune from indifference to great interest once the full range of capabilities of IVR, particularly as part of a combined multi-channel environment, were discussed. 6

7 Benefits of Refreshing the IVR Customers Speak Out Some solution providers are having success in finding the middle ground between classic self-service IVR and agents. They mentioned that some customers have IVR that they don t want to change, using it for simple, low level, transactions and call routing. Then they use a virtual agent for more complex, yet repetitive transactions or for lengthy data gathering within transactions, leaving agents to do high touch, revenue generating activities. An example of this is routing banking customers to a mortgage application, using the virtual agent to assist with filling out the application, and then using the agent to close the sale. Others are combining IVR with different channels to broaden the application. A multimodal device provides a good example of this. There are millions of mobile apps out there, produced early on as companies jumped on the growing mobility bandwagon, but in reality, relatively few provide true customer care. That changed in 2012 when a dozen or more solution providers created mobile customer care, making it easier for customers to access self-service applications on mobile devices, and easier to access an agent for further help. BENEFITS OF REFRESHING THE IVR CUSTOMERS SPEAK OUT In general interviewees said that IVR is not the main part of the story anymore, but a piece of the bigger picture. The good news is that IVR upgrades typically usher in a whole new set of capabilities from speech user-interfaces to integration with mobile applications or outbound dialing. What is also clear is that while companies have been struggling to implement multi-channel for a decade, they understand the need for, and are slowly moving onto embracing the concept of, omni-channel. Omni-channel, where the customer journey including all interactions and interaction history, flows smoothly between channels, requires that all channels are in sync providing a cohesive Customer Experience. As such, this opens the door to upgrading or replacing older IVR applications. Indeed, with few exceptions, the customers we spoke with often pushed the envelope in terms of IVR functionality, viewing it as a critical entry point into customer care, and a way to provide better service while reducing costs. For instance, one large healthcare provider s IVR identifies the caller based on ANI (when available), asks secondary authentication questions, and then matches the caller up with a profile that includes interaction channel activity and account activity, and then personalizes the interaction with the enrollee. For instance, a caller might be following-up on for additional information on a health screening, or perhaps recently gave birth. Based on the profile the IVR plays a simple predictive prompt, saying something like I see that you recently called about your child wellness check, is this what you are calling about today? Then the IVR tries to help, and if not, transfers the caller with a screen pop, but also plays a message with a suggestion of what the caller might want to ask the agent, such as a special offer on a baby visit, or a notice about scheduling their own tests. As a result of the IVR upgrade, this provider realized double digit reduction in repeat callers and call transfers, and improved customer satisfaction. One retailer replaced its twenty year old IVR with a system that paid for itself through call deflection based on changes to the IVR application. The company uses its IVR as a competitive differentiator by proactively answering customer questions. The company converts frequently asked questions about seasonal products into IVR prompts, along with an option to get to an agent for further assistance. Once it implemented this new system, not only did the company s call deflection rate soar, but they are able to showcase more products and specials. A rich example is shown in the results seen at Delta Airlines, using Nuance IVR. 7

8 frost.com CASE STUDY: DELTA AIR LINES AND NUANCE Headquartered in Atlanta, Delta employs nearly 80,000 employees worldwide and operates a mainline fleet of more than 700 aircraft. Delta and Delta Connection carriers offer service to 319 destinations in 57 countries on six continents, serving nearly 165 million customers each year. This year, Delta was named the 2014 Airline of the Year by Air Transport World magazine and was named to FORTUNE magazine s top 50 Most Admired Companies in addition to being named the most admired airline for the third time in four years. The Situation Aspiring to return to the top ranking in the J.D. Power & Associates North America Airline Satisfaction Study, and to continue their climb to a higher level of customer satisfaction, Delta wanted to boost its score following its merger with Northwest Airlines in J.D. Power measures customer satisfaction with North American airlines based on performance in seven areas including fares and fees, in-flight services, boarding/deplaning/baggage, flight crew, aircraft, check-in, and reservations. Delta s goal is to regain the No. 1 ranking and elevate the Customer Experience to new and even higher levels. Delta has made great strides towards that goal by evaluating every angle of its business, including customer interaction channels, such as the IVR, social media, mobile applications, and even Delta s corporate website. By refocusing on the core values that make up Delta s brand and fine tuning its processes, Delta has reaped great results in providing better service and a more appealing experience for customers. One of Delta Reservations most recent undertakings was to improve the customers experience when they called Delta by reinventing the IVR. With a decade-old system in place, technology had improved significantly and the time had come to upgrade. The existing application had long menus that required multiple customer responses to route them to the right area for assistance. Callers often had to repeat information they had previously input into the IVR to the specialist. By upgrading the IVR, Delta knew it could significantly improve the Customer Experience and reduce the time customers spent interacting with the IVR. Delta s philosophy is that customers have a better experience when they are well-informed, and by letting the customer manage their experience, the satisfaction level is even higher. For this reason the team looked at eliminating the long menus, providing proactive notifications, and putting control back into the hands of the customer. The Solution A long-time partner of Delta, Nuance was brought in to overhaul the IVR application and to partner on a vision that could raise the bar to deliver top-notch performance via self-service. Together, the team launched a revolutionized natural language IVR in November, Delta s Marketing team was heavily engaged in the selection of a new voice for the IVR to ensure alignment with the Delta brand. The new application included the integration of inbound and outbound notifications, proactively alerting customers of events, such as upgrades or cancelled or delayed flights. This aligns with Delta s focus on innovative customer-centric functionality, including the ability to track luggage on the airlines mobile app throughout the customer s journey, as well as outbound notifications if a bag is delayed. Similarly, the Fly Delta ipad app features the Glass Bottom Jet that provides views of what the passenger flying over, including photos, information on landmarks, and social content from friends. 8

9 Benefits of Refreshing the IVR Customers Speak Out The Results One of the goals of the IVR project was to align service delivery on the IVR with J.D. Power attributes. The J.D. Power process specifically measures the ease of getting through to Reservations. The results with the new IVR were significant, outperforming expectations, said Julie Rath, Managing Director, Reservation Technology and Operations at Delta Air Lines. It s been an amazing project. Our performance has really improved, and the benefits delivered were four times above what we anticipated. Most importantly was the improved experience and innovation we were able to deliver to our customers. Delta s new IVR was designed to reduce transfers and improve the overall caller experience, and it didn t disappoint. Callers requesting a specialist while in the IVR fell from 29% with the previous IVR to below 10% with the new system. The number of customers who had to repeat information was reduced by 10 percentage points due to the Nuance recognizer s increased accuracy. In addition, there has been a 15% reduction in misdirected calls. Personalization also played a key role in the design of the new system. If a customer has a stored telephone number in Delta s SkyMiles member database, the IVR can recognize the phone number and greet the caller by name. The system provides the caller with information about upcoming itineraries. Now, Delta is able to recognize 40 percent of customers by their telephone number, compared to competitive claims of 12 percent. Additionally, Delta s Reservations and Customer Care division prides itself on training its specialists to live out the qualities of its brand - Listen. Care. Connect., instilling skills and qualities that allow employees to truly connect with customers and drive loyalty with every call. To gauge the effectiveness of the new system, Delta frequently asks IVR-related performance questions on its customer surveys. The results earned them a positive Net Promoter score on IVR, and of the respondents, the SkyMiles top-tier Diamond-level customers consistently rate the IVR experience an eight out of ten. The previous IVR was able to capture a caller s intent 29%of the time; today, caller intent is captured on over 75%of calls. Specialists now proactively assist customers without asking for repeat information, as the IVR does a better job of conveying the overall intent of a customer s call. Summary What is next for Delta? The company continues to develop functionality to improve the overall Customer Experience, and it views multi-channel technology as a critical component to success. The airline continues to invest in customer-centric technology that is guided by an innovative approach, always listening to customer feedback. As such, Delta continues to innovate through self-service channels, looking at new ways to improve overall service and enhance the Customer Experience. A FINAL WORD From our interviews it was clear that most of the time IVR is not front and center in a discussion. However, solution providers as well as customers understand the benefit of keeping that channel current. Moreover, those that have refreshed IVR, particularly in light of moving to an omni-channel experience, are reaping benefits far in advance of what they thought was possible. Even those that simply realized the IVR wasn t working optimally, but could be speech-enabled or designed better to accommodate changing conditions, were seeing immediate benefits. 9

10 frost.com From these discussions, we gleaned the following best practices for promoting more change: Do an executive walk-through. A contact center sales discussion should focus on multichannel interaction and the move to omni-channel, but critical to the discussion is to have executives walk through their channels, or listen to recordings of customers interactions. Trying out chat, the Web, IVR, etc., can be a real eye opener. For instance, one company preaches in company sales conferences, Have your customer become a customer, and try all channels, not just IVR, acting like a new customer and do things such as open an account to see what the Customer Experience is like. Remember it s a journey. The move to omni-channel is a journey. Given that many companies, particularly large enterprises, are multi-platform and multi-vendor, omni-channel doesn t have to arrive all-at-once. Pull together an overarching plan with a focus on integration, and how to tie capabilities of one channel in with another. Pair with another channel. Hook the IVR refresh into a pairing with another channel, such as mobile. Nuance, with its Nina speech-driven agent application shows the power that can result when the two are combined. Identify key areas. Build a solid ROI for change based on identifying expensive pockets of calls where a refurbished IVR can offer unique value above what customers are getting now. Tackle the pieces. To attain an attitude adjustment, tackle the pieces. Many people don t want to take on an IVR refresh, but sales teams that can pinpoint a pain point or automate a portion that results in less calls to the contact center, such as password reset, opens the doors to further change. 10

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