A QUICK GUIDE TO AN OMNI-CHANNEL CONTACT CENTRE

Transcription

1 A QUICK GUIDE TO AN OMNI-CHANNEL CONTACT CENTRE

2 A QUICK GUIDE TO AN OMNI-CHANNEL CONTACT CENTRE INTRODUCTION With life busier than ever, today s digital age sees most customers spoilt for choice when it comes to deciding how they wish to contact companies, should they have a query. From a fully functional self-service portal, to agents who reach out to customers, customer service is expected to be flexible and accommodating to consumers on-the-go. The problem for many organisations however, is that while they can deliver on the choice, offering a full range of channels for customer service, the actual level of service provided is inconsistent due to channel segregation. Rendering interactions fragmented, service for the customer is frustratingly slow. The result is that business capability fails to match customer demand, a major cause of missed sales opportunities and high operating costs for companies and a source of frustration for consumers who will increasingly go elsewhere for a better service. Today s customers expect to be able to transition from one channel to the next, effortlessly, depending on what is most convenient to them at the time. In order for this to work, companies need to be equipped with a technology solution that pulls together all communication channels, so that service agents have a complete view of the customer. This is called an omni-channel approach, when requests are dealt with, regardless of time or channel. Reaching companies via multiple channels is not new. It is usually dealt with in a fragmented way, whereby a different department of customer services deals with each different channel. This leads to all sorts of work duplication, repetition on the customer s behalf and inaccurate records on CRM. This Quick Guide to an Omni-Channel Contact Centre paper will outline the key differentiators between multi and omni-channel customer service. It will also highlight the key business benefits of the latter, while explaining how it is the solution that today s consumers are crying out for: a personalised customer service, flexible and consistent across all channels. WHAT IS OMNI-CHANNEL? Omni-channel uses multiple communication channels to engage with customers. Providing a consistent and personalised customer experience across every one of those channels via technology integrated into one single system. The end result is exceptional yet simple customer service, while the omni-channel communication infrastructure effectively becomes a customer engagement hub for the organisation. MULTI-CHANNEL VS OMNI-CHANNEL Many companies today already support multi-channel customer engagement by offering their customers a wide choice of channels, including voice, , chat and social for customer service. The drawback of this is that multi-channel communication uses multiple systems, which typically operate in separate silos, with no integration or visibility between them. This can lead to poor, inefficient and inconsistent service levels and customer frustration. The more channels offered, the greater the disconnect; leaving the contact centre unable to support a single view of the customer and their interaction across multiple channels; which in turn, hinders the agent s ability to manage the complete customer journey and offer a consistent service.

3 Omni-channel effectively breaks down these internal silos to facilitate a more connected and seamless way of working. Omni-channel customer service allows a customer to start an enquiry on one channel and effortlessly transition to any other of their convenience; all while the same agent handles the entire query in a seamless manner. For example, a customer enquiry that starts on social media, can be escalated to web chat or a phone call, whilst keeping all relevant and contextualised data preserved across the channels. For the customer, this means that they don t have to repeat their account data or details of their enquiry when their query is transitioned to a new channel, or from self- to assisted-service. With an omni-channel approach, businesses can create one single view of their customer, by integrating their previously siloed channels and technologies into a single system. This provides complete visibility of the customer, so that when they begin their journey on one channel and transition to another, all the relevant information and customer data is seamlessly portrayed on one unified desktop. OMNI-CHANNEL REMOVES THE BOUNDARIES Social Media For example, a customer may initiate an enquiry via web chat, but if human assistance is required, it can be escalated to a telephone call, where the customer will speak to the same agent who was speaking to them on web chat. Meanwhile, the agent is equipped to handle all forms of communications from a single system and to transition the customer between channels whilst retaining all customer information and data without switching screens or systems. They have a complete view of all customer data, previous and outstanding enquiries and which channels they have used, enabling them to deliver a prompt, knowledgeable and personalised customer experience. The capability to facilitate a continuous experience across channels and devices that is completely bespoke, is a necessity for the future of customer service and engagement. Chat Bot HOW DOES OMNI-CHANNEL WORK? Omni-channel removes the boundaries between the different communication channels social, chatbot, , and instant messaging and creates a unified, integrated system with a single view of the customer. The key to this is the amalgamation of customer data that can be presented to the agent in a way that enables them to rapidly view the information they need to, whilst simultaneously dealing with customer requests. Instant Messaging THE UNIFIED AGENT DESKTOP DATA MASH-UP The agent desktop plays a crucial part in the delivery of customer service. However, with continuous innovation in technology and increasing complexity of customer service, the functionality required from an agent desktop has been transformed. Agents now need to make use of multiple software applications, systems and databases to handle customer queries. With each application having its own user interface, agents end up spending a lot of time navigating between them, trying to locate relevant information. This is crucial for organisations like Global Blue, a tourism shopping company operating across 43 countries, with 250 customer service points in major airports and shopping destinations. It has a customer service operation that handles over 270,000 calls and s from travelling shoppers around the world. To handle this volume of cross border customer transactions Global Blue worked with IFS-mplsystems to implement a contact centre solution that has simplified complex interactions for Global Blue s agents at its two customer contact centres in Singapore and Slovakia.

4 The intelligentdesktop solution provides immediate access to relevant customer data on the agent s desktop, enabling them to optimise interactions and help customers complete their shopping with minimal effort. Having a unified agent desktop, which consists of a data mash-up concept, which combines multiple channels, allows the contact centre to have an integrated solution that dynamically draws data from multiple pre-existing systems, so that all information can be found on one single screen. This enhanced capacity to deliver rapid, informed omni-channel service, leads to a dramatic improvement in agent efficiency and a significantly enhanced customer experience. Regardless of the channel that the customer decides to contact via, the agent on the front desk can deal with the request in its entirety, rather than having to hand it off to anyone else in the back office. With all processes now executed in one system, call handling time has been reduced by 30%, staff performance increased by 20%, and customer satisfaction improved by 20%. HOW AN OMNI-CHANNEL CONTACT CENTRE WORKS The contact centre receives interactions from multiple channels and uses an intelligent engine to determine the most appropriate form of communication for each and every interaction. Within nanoseconds, the system has identified the customer, checked to see if this is a new or ongoing request, and then established the reason for the interaction by accessing data from the carrier network, CRM, sales, collections and/or other servicing applications. The best approach for delivering an outstanding, personalised customer experience is determined and the query is then intelligently routed to the selected response method. During this process a repository of data is created that reflects every aspect of the customer journey through the service organisation. Internal systems use the data to identify opportunities to enhance relationships and increase revenue, improve the customer experience, decrease operating costs, reduce risk, and identify customer and market trends. 30% reduction in call handling time 20% increase in staff performance 20% improvement in customer satisfaction GROUPING Grouping is a feature of the unified agent desktop that can play a key role in saving the company time and money and supporting customer retention. When a customer contacts the customer service team to report a problem or register a complaint they are often anxious and impatient. If they are made to wait, they will often resort to trying to gain the attention of the company via other available communication channels. A grouping facility, like IFS-mplsystems, enables the contact centre software to cross reference the customer details and group all the customer s requests together. This way, the agent that deals with the request is able to see all the different ways that the customer has tried to contact the company, eg: their tweet, and call, and is able to remove all of these pending actions from the request queue. This saves the company time, as it prohibits other agents picking them up to deal with in duplication. Furthermore, if the requests are not grouped, the pending queries remain in the queue and waste space for other requests, as they have already been resolved. It also saves the customer repeating themselves for each contact request they ve submitted. Leading car supermarket CarShop operates five physical stores across the UK and has a customer contact centre in Doncaster. The paper-based processes and disparate systems the company had used to manage different stages of the purchasing process meant that customer data existed in siloes and made it difficult to share important information across the business at each stage of the customer journey.

5 By implementing IFS-mplsystems contact handling solution, all of the company s existing customer channels, including phone, and web chat, were implemented into a single, intelligent platform. With an advanced desktop solution, agents have access to all the relevant customer information, including contact details, previous purchase history and records of other visits or enquiries made. Every customer touch point is now joined up and information is shared effortlessly across the business for full visibility of each one. A customer can now walk into a store and continue where they left off with any previous interaction. The link is unbroken and the customer receives a personalised customer experience every time. THE BENEFITS OF OMNI-CHANNEL CUSTOMER SERVICE BUSINESS BENEFITS Reduced costs Some of the most popular channels used by consumers today are the self-service options, such as chatbots, social media and messenger. These also tend to be the cheaper channels to deploy, so fewer voice calls to the contact centre, mean that agents only have to deal with the more complex service issues, which results in cost savings. The benefits of reduced costs become more apparent with the unification of previously disparate departments and a customer service that operates with a more fluid solidarity. A personalised customer experience resulted in sales conversions improving from 36.4% to 40.8% in the first year, while the contact centre team have improved their outbound calling by 20%. CarShop Increased agent efficiency 40% of customer requests that come into the service desk are repeats. With features such as grouping, agents are able to tie together these replications and free up the request queue. This also frees up other agents time to focus on handling more complex customer enquiries and delivering added value to the contact centre. This further creates opportunities to reduce staffing levels at the service desk and reallocate agent manpower to more productive areas of the business. With a more efficient desktop, processes are implemented much more quickly and resolve time reduced drastically. Fewer mistakes With an omni-channel strategy, all data is presented on the agent desktop, allowing agents to directly update accounts or order information. This also eliminates unnecessary duplication of workload and the lack of visibility and communication between departments that can lead to errors. Increased customer loyalty One of the biggest benefits of omni-channel customer service is that consumers are likely to share their great experience with the wider community, which in turn generates positive word of mouth, increasing customer acquisition. CUSTOMER BENEFITS Seamless customer journey Regardless of which channel they use, or which location or device they access it from, the service received by the customer throughout their interaction, remains. Convenience Customers can jump from one channel to another to suit their own convenience and schedule. Omni-channel customer service creates an ease of communication and provides the convenience that fits perfectly with today s busy lifestyles. Smoother service Instead of being handed across to different agents to deal with their enquiry through different channels, omni channel ensures they only need to speak to one agent who has all the data they need to resolve the enquiry at their fingertips. CONCLUSION

6 Customer engagement has never been more important for organisations, while customer expectations have never been so high. This makes an omni-channel strategy a priority for organisations and their contact centres, delivering a consistent message across all channels, giving customers more options and better access to information; in turn increasing sales, customer satisfaction and loyalty. At the same time, organisations have access to valuable data from their customers by tracking how and when they interact across channels and are able to gain the critical insights that enable them to deliver a truly customer-centric experience. ABOUT IFS-MPLSYSTEMS IFS-mplsystems develop and deliver field service management, omni channel contact centre and customer engagement software for businesses around the world who manage service-focused operations. The industry expertise of our people and solutions, together with commitment to our customers, has made us a recognised leader and the most recommended supplier in our sector. From real-time dynamic scheduling, advanced service and contract management, to parts and returns and repair, IFS-mplsystems can manage your complete end to end service life-cycle. With Customer Engagement a priority for service organisations, IFS-mplsystems pioneering Omni-Channel Contact Centre and AI enabled Self-Service options can help transform not only the efficiency of your operations but also customer satisfactions, upsell and customer loyalty. Make every customer your best customer, with intelligent, personalised service delivery and management. Explore integrated field service management technologies: IFSworld.com/uk Get to know omni-channel contact centre solutions: mplsystems.co.uk