Workforce Management Featured Article
Does Digital Really Improve the Customer Experience?
What do your customers want in their relationship with you? Some might jump immediately to quick and quality service, while others may get into more detail. The extent of the relationship often has a lot to do with the complexity of the products or services you offer. If the customer expects significant interaction, you may need a workforce management solution to ensure you can effectively stay on track.
Investing in a workforce management solution invites digital into your customer interactions in a way that can deliver value to you both. With workforce management, you have the opportunity to effectively forecast for anticipated volume and schedule your agents accordingly. If you have digital solutions integrated across your platforms, you also have the opportunity to capture business intelligence so as to make more informed decisions and offer customers what they really want.
A recent Digital Asia piece highlighted the impact digital can make in the contact center, such as providing considerable opportunities to enhance the journey your customers take. With tech-enabled channels, such as social, Web, text and more, businesses have the opportunity to better engage with the customer base and build lasting relationships. Consumers also have access to a wide range of devices and channels that allow for quicker connections.
Of course, with quicker connections that also means customers expect quicker responses. Contact centers must have the right digital technologies in place to support rapid response and efficient follow-through. One thing the report warns, however, is that technology has also introduced so many self-service channels that customers are now isolated and could be experiencing poor service.
In fact, BT and Avaya (News - Alert) conducted a study in 2015, known as the Autonomous Customer, which found that while the variety of digital channels opens up a world of connecting opportunities for customers, many are not satisfied with their overall user experience. Customers are tired of having to seek out a resolution to a problem through a wide range of solutions. In Singapore, 70 percent of respondents find dealing with customer service issues to be exhausting. The global average is 62 percent.
Case in point – whenever I try and use the website offered by my wireless provider, I have about four different websites to choose from. If I don’t remember exactly how my account is classified, I find myself going down a maze of complex pages and navigation that is beyond infuriating. Yet, I live on 12 acres, 40 minutes from the city and this particular provider is the only one that works well at my house – so I’m stuck with a frustrating customer experience.
This is where the provider, and other companies, could be making an impact – understanding the customer’s digital journey and personalizing it for optimal performance. I’ve been to my provider’s site many times. If it would recognize my return, I wouldn’t have to be frustrated each time and that’s a missed opportunity for them.
Edited by Stefania Viscusi