Let’s think like consumers: behind any virtual or in-person channel, what we are looking for is a fast, efficient solution that is consistent with our requests. As consumers we can relate; after all, we have all filed complaints, claims or requests about a product and have been part of a customer service management process.
And if we stop thinking as consumers and instead think about the experience the consumer or user goes through every day, we will realize that it is an issue rooted in frustration and experience expectations.
Customers increasingly choose assisted options and automated channels, which constantly search various internal and external databases, or information sources and systems by department, plus whatever tools the support area has, and this information is not always reliably available. Chatbot contacts are becoming more common, which shortens wait times somewhat, but the answers are mostly limited, and we end up connecting the user, now even more frustrated, with service agents who once again must look up the information in different sources to resolve the request. In addition to this personalized service, it is common to constantly lose time manually searching for information, analyzing it and going through multiple information sources before getting close to a solution for the user. This is also where our service agents can lose their way and make mistakes that lower our service ratings and perceptions or, worse still, cause us to lose our users.
That initial contact with the automation offered by the company or with specialized service agents is a daily test for companies, since a bad experience makes it very likely that the consumer will lose interest if the request is handled inefficiently, or be lost altogether if the request is not resolved at the first attempt.
Having a view of all information, from all sources and in all formats, is an achievable goal with enterprise search.
The customer service workforce could use enterprise search as if they were using an internet search engine, just as easily and quickly. They would not have to log in or search tool by tool or portal by portal; instead, they could condense all the information into a single search, simply and without compromising the quality of the information, regardless of the source, whether the data is structured or unstructured, or its format, thereby meeting our users’ service expectations and the promise made by the brand.
Enterprise search does not just search: it finds, extracts, filters and categorizes all the data that may reside in any information system, and it also generates a single view. AI can show relevant results depending on the query to be even more accurate, and this is specifically what we mean by the 360 view of our customers.
The 360 view is a detailed view of users that brings together information from channels and information systems, not only current data but also the historical behavioral trail, to achieve a much more accurate understanding of each user and enhance the experience with consistent data. The 360 view is more than just a way to see clear, available customer information at a glance. It is a strategy that reaches the very core of the organization, where actions and decisions are based on real, consistent and concrete data, covering not only customers but also prospects, suppliers and employees.
One of the deepest and most exposed areas of the organization is the customer service workforce, and it is possibly one of the most structured in terms of measurement, rating and analysis. It is no accident that the most advanced indicators are tied to the customer service workforce, nor that it is one of the areas with the greatest performance visibility within the organization.
The customer service workforce has indicators such as FRT, the customer’s wait time for first response; AHT, the average handling time of the interaction with the user; and AR, the abandonment rate. And beyond operational metrics, we have CSAT, which measures customer satisfaction; CRR, which gives us retention information; and NPS, the service rating. All these indicators are 100% based on the information we can find about the user, the analysis and the action, and they can be positively impacted by having a 360 view of consumers, giving the customer service workforce a condensed, real-time view that will help meet user expectations, improve performance indicators and reduce team frustration.
By giving them a tool that can also increase their emotional salary, customer service teams do better work, improve their service attitude and face fewer upset, hard-to-handle consumers. In addition, it lowers attrition and turnover, a KPI that directly affects the organization’s objectives because of the investment in recruitment and training.
Finally, in conclusion, if the ratings users currently give to customer care are not what you expected, or slow responses to prospects from the digital sales department are costing you customers, or operational errors are costing not only lost prospects but also sanctions and fines, it is time to equip the customer service workforce to do an impeccable job and give users the experience they have always expected with INFIND enterprise search.
Author: Creangel Ltda.