Turning businesses into places fit for today's empowered clients is a matter of complete control over the customer experience. Anything less is a doomed exercise in outdated communications and obsolete work practices, according to Comms Vision Platinum sponsor 8x8 which aims to deliver a consistent and sublime customer experience based on the right technology.
Impeccable service has a unique potency in the customer's mind, it demands loyalty, while turning your back on clients and prospects is a recipe for strategic collapse. Fall short of the mark and you will surely be held accountable as disgruntled callers seize on opportunities at their finger tips to contact competitor companies and broadcast their dissatisfaction on various media, even in real-time as they experience poor service.
It is beyond argument that providing an immaculate customer experience is a boon to all businesses, but research by 8x8 has revealed the extent and impact of widespread customer interaction breakdown. The survey results show that just 22 per cent of callers ringing a business get through first time, and 35 per cent of the calls that went unanswered were made by new customers looking for information on products, how to open an account or make a purchase.
It goes without saying that when customers call a business they hope to quickly receive the benefit of a knowledgeable mind, trained to assess their requirements and offer helpful conclusions. A failure to deliver this basic response can result in swift retribution according to the survey that found 12 per cent of callers have searched for competitors online during a badly handled call.
This statistic rises to more than a quarter in the 25-34 age group which displays a lower tolerance of bad service. Even worse, if callers turn 'anti' where no formal safeguards are in place, fierce reactions can be let loose as bad experiences are broadcast on social media and review sites. Over 90 per cent of survey respondents cited a poor experience on the phone and they are far more likely to shout about bad service than a great experience.
8x8's study also deduced that 11 per cent of callers have, during a badly handled call, named and shamed a company live on social media (rising to 26 per cent of those aged 25-34). To contain such outbreaks of customer dissatisfaction a business communications management regime is urgently needed, and helping companies to improve their customer experience is a big market opportunity for the channel, according to Kevin Scott-Cowell, UK Managing Director for 8x8.
"A business only has one chance to make a great first impression and getting off on the wrong foot can destroy the customer relationship from the outset," he said. "It's crucial to make every interaction count, and that starts by making sure new customer calls are answered first time and directed to an appropriately skilled agent. This stops them being passed to multiple agents and becoming frustrated by the whole experience. With the right technology in place it can be easy for businesses to make sure calls are routed to a manned phone and appropriately skilled agent so new customers are never exposed to rivals."
The role of Enterprise Communications as a Service (ECaaS) in delivering an enhanced customer experience to the collective benefit of all cannot be in doubt, enabling companies to foster client loyalty and move into an unassailable lead over rivals. But too many businesses are missing a large number of inbound enquiries from potential customers.
Scott-Cowell's message is clear: "Make sure someone picks up the phone when a customer calls," he urged. "It can be tricky in a busy office or contact centre, but having the right technology in place will ease the strain. This would help route calls to the first available person who can deal with the enquiry, whether they're based in another office, another country or even another continent."
He emphasised how cloud contact centres improve the client experience. They give customers a choice of channels and callers can get in touch via most devices. This new dynamic has been labelled 'customer empowerment' and makes the customer experience a key differentiator. 8x8 argues that cloud-based contact centres enable companies to more readily advance their customer care strategies and best practices by engaging with clients in a personalised way through multiple channels and applications. Customer contact routing based on historical case resolution data also improves the customer experience. This technology makes it easy for customers to receive a service by reducing the effort required to contact a knowledgeable agent while increasing agent productivity and performance.
According to research, SME contact centres deployed in the cloud outperform on-premise solutions across a number of KPIs, including a lower cost of customer care. Cloud solutions also show stronger 'first contact' resolution rates and drive customer satisfaction more cost-efficiently while generating greater chemistry between a business and its customers and more revenue. "We all want our customers to engage with us," added Scott-Cowell. "But too many fail to get through and are lost to competitors. Customer empowerment is defined by their experience, which can be impeccable if the right technology is deployed."•