FEATURE Predictive and proactive: how automation


can help improve customer service By Chris Robinson – Yonder Digital Group


We are entering an era of ‘advice’ meaning that customer service is increasingly expected to offer more than a just solution to customer problems. Providing information, user tips, or even offering interesting add-ons is not merely an up-selling exercise, but helps grow customer trust and engagement with any brand, provided of course that it is based on solid information and performed in a timely manner. A US study shows that 87% of consumers are happy to be contacted proactively by companies regarding customer service issues1


while other reports suggest that taking the initiative in customer care could increase retention rates by 3 5%2


recommendations can help advisors make intelligent and timely suggestions or solve problems faster. Linking customer data that the company already collects such as information from billing, purchase behaviours, marketing or customer service, with external data sources can empower customer care to deliver an added-value service and make the brand really stand out from the crowd. It is also important to ensure that the data collected, as well


, . It is clear then


that reaching out to customers proactively at specific stages of the customer journey can be very useful and also beneficial to the company bottom-line; the issue is how to ensure proactive communications are intelligent and helpful. Technology has a key role to play in ensuring that businesses


get the proactivity balance right and avoid seeming pushy and obtrusive. With the right tools, the proactive Vs reactive customer interaction is a challenge that can be won. First of all, businesses need to base their approaches on a solid 365 degree understanding of the customer across all channels to create a truly omni-channel customer experience. Interactions via telephone, web and other digital media need to be tracked and easily accessible to live contact centre advisors to help inform their approaches. Our research has shown that 87% of consumers claim that they will buy again from a company that is able to provide live advisor interactions at the right time, but it is critical to provide advisors with the right technology to ensure that every interaction is meaningful and positive. Predictive technologies are beneficial tools that will help businesses understand what the customer may be driven to next; this for example means that on the basis of the purchase of a barbecue, your contact centre advisors are ready to offer charcoal, drinks coolers and deck chairs along with the instruction manual, before the customer has had time to think about it and maybe purchase them from a competitor. Ensuring that a clear, updated repository of customer data is maintained and easily available to contact centre advisors as they pick up calls or reach out to customers is therefore an important part of enabling proactive customer service. A recent Forrester report into customer service reveals 66% organisations think creating a single view of the customer across all channels is a priority3 Finally, to ensure data is made ‘usable’ it must be structured


.


and stored correctly at capture in order to ensure that it can be analysed. To do this a ‘tagging’ system is preferable. This will enable your system to link up relevant data at the right time, effectively drawing up from a pool of otherwise difficult to manage information. New technology such as AI, bots and machine learning


are also becoming important in helping businesses plan their production and distribution, but can play an important part in customer service too. Contextual predictions and


as the ways contact centre staff approach customers, are truly omni-channel and compliant. Forrester also highlights 68% of organisations planned to improve their omni-channel experience4


, by ensuring that customers are contacted via the


channel they prefer – be it a live agent calling them, an email, text message or tweet – plays a key part in ensuring your brands gets the desired attention from the customer, but also tellingly reveals whether your brand has been paying attention to the customer and understands which channel is the one they prefer to use. The results are manifold: on the one hand customers feel


more engaged and loyal and are less likely to turn to your competitors; this improves sales and profits, but at the same time this streamlined approach also enables operational efficiencies reducing misspent sales or marketing effort through targeting and timeliness. This approach means that customer service is able to piggy-back sales messages, but also provides customers with the opportunity to ask questions and resolve issues before they feel disappointed and start to shop around. Finally, another important benefit of proactive customer


service is that of preventing issues. A classic example of this are businesses that use their information on delivery tracking to inform clients whether a strike or a stock issue will make their delivery late and when to expect it. This type of pre-emptive contact not only helps defuse situations and set expectations, but helps transform a flurry of individual queries that need to be handled on a case-by- case basis into a seamless automated process. As the market evolves and consumer expectations increase to span timeliness, content and channel over which they communicate with brands, it is critical to ensure that the correct mix of automation and live contact centre support is provided to customers. Striking the right balance is achievable and can help your brand reap high rewards in terms of efficiency, customer loyalty and overall improvements to profitability.


1 https://www.niceincontact.com/call-center-industy-news/us-consumers-want-todays-companies-be- proactive-customer-service


2 SuperOffice.com, Why Proactive Support is the Next Generation in Customer Service, 7th March 2018


3 Forrester Research, The Untapped Benefits Of Proactive Customer Communication: An Omnichannel Engagement Focus Is Critical To Success


4 Forrester Research, The Untapped Benefits Of Proactive Customer Communication: An Omnichannel Engagement Focus Is Critical To Success


12 www.isopps.com Chris Robinson – Yonder Digital Group.


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