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Every crisis is a source of innovation! In the midst of digital transformation, some companies still struggle to digitize customer relations (with over 80% of contacts handled by phone) on the grounds that the phone remains the preferred contact channel for the French (60% according to a 2021 BVA study). However, as one crisis follows another, we know how much, in periods of instability and major upheaval, customer relations are put under pressure with call overflows for more or less important reasons. In this context, is it appropriate to switch to digital customer relations; how to achieve agility and be ready for any upheaval in balances ?
After the health crisis, it's more of an economic crisis that threatens balances today. Indeed, the soaring prices of raw materials directly impact the production of companies. Its repercussion on sale prices is widely felt. This is compounded by potential supply difficulties that strain the market. The relationship with customers then becomes a certain competitive advantage that must not be failed; maintain the relationship with the customer, listen to them, recognize them and respond quickly and well! The NPS and FCR must meet or exceed their targets! But paradoxically, if customer-centric companies are massively turning towards listening and customer attention, they are asked to reduce as much as possible the cost of treatment per contact. This is a sine qua non condition to absorb part of the margin decrease. The dilemma is striking; on one hand, you need to be closer to your customers. On the other hand, you need to reduce the cost of treatment per contact, knowing that the phone remains the preferred human channel, especially in times of crisis when there can be large spikes in volumes
Innovation is required, and we know that an innovative company is a competitive company! Concretely then? Should we switch to a predominantly digital customer relationship?
If your company is still predominantly focused on telephone customer relations (or if you still receive large volumes on this channel), then yes, consider digital! This does not mean that the voice channel should be eliminated. But rather, review all your customer journeys, particularly contact journeys, and list the questions that can be handled autonomously, by email, chat, phone, on social networks... Ideally, the customer will be directed to the phone only under certain conditions. Therefore, beforehand, detect the intention of your customers and offer them a seamless journey to an alternative channel, even if they came through voice first. To digitize a call, DialOnce offers a visual IVR solution in addition to the IVR. From there, the solution will route calls to a digital channel (self-care, chatbot, chat, email...) or any other channel corresponding to your availability and your journeys at the moment the customer contacts you. This is a certain advantage to reduce the cost of processing a call, unclog queues, and avoid hang-ups or iterations on other channels. It does not generate any disruption in customer journeys and satisfaction is easily measured with the return rate on the link, by customers who have finally adopted digital, convinced by their experience! This is the example of what was deployed in 48 hours by MACIF, during the COVID crisis. While the advisors were no longer able to receive calls; 100% of the calls were handled on an alternative channel via digital. The system is still in place, depending on response time and available resources. A great example of innovation driven by an unprecedented crisis... and ultimately adopted by customers... as well as advisors!
Indeed, being able to act easily and quickly on contact journeys in customer service is essential for crisis management! In these unstable times, it is necessary to be able to cope with unexpected spikes in calls and contacts at any time (supply problems, lockdown, price spikes...) while welcoming each customer with as much professionalism. Agility will depend on the company's ability to absorb these flows by analyzing them in real-time to clearly identify the contact intention. It is then a matter of very naturally switching the customer to self-care or any other open and relevant customer relationship channel to handle this intention.
Implementing an omnichannel orchestration solution for journeys (from voice to digital or from digital to voice or digital) is an effective way to remain reactive.
In this context, the example of the contact journey proposed by Darty is interesting to discover :
A single entry point (from digital journeys: web, email signatures, invoices...) and routing based on contact intention on available channels (self-care, chat, messaging, email, phone).
The journey is omnichannel, the company is agile and controls its costs, the customer experience is satisfied!
Do you also want to achieve this agility and act easily on the omnichannel journey of your customers? Do you want to innovate in your customer service, digitize calls, or propel the autonomy of your customers?
