In the early days of the Internet, being considered an “e-business” was easy. A Web site was created with the company's mission statement, general company information was added, brief product descriptions and a company telephone number was included to call and actually transact business. It was enough to say “check out our Web site at ...” to show a company's differentiation. Very quickly, however, companies began creating online product catalogues and electronic shopping carts for customers to place orders online.
The era of Web 2.0 has brought to life a culture of empowered online users.
Dave Paulding is Interactive Intelligence's regional sales manager for UK and Africa.
As companies began the e-commerce journey, the thinking was that the Internet would provide a cheaper way to offer and deliver products and services to customers. The goal for call centres and help desks was to practise call avoidance and deflection by driving simple problem resolution to self-service via Internet channels. This would allow customer service workers to spend time on cross-selling and up-selling opportunities to drive additional revenue, and free support workers to concentrate on more difficult and mission-critical technical problems.
The initial focus of e-service was on how the company could benefit. If customers were allowed to send queries via e-mail, the company could respond in less busy periods. If detailed FAQs on how to return products were posted on the Web site, it wouldn't be necessary to have a toll-free number for product returns.
The result was an explosion of stories about how companies were not answering e-mails in a timely way. For example, a Wall Street Journal article in 2005 stated: “Over a quarter of e-mails that consumers send to companies are ignored altogether.”
Customer is king
With the explosion of broadband services and ubiquitous access to the Internet, not only at home but anywhere via smart mobile devices, the types of services customers are looking for has changed. The era of Web 2.0 has brought to life a culture of empowered online users - the Netflix enthusiast, the fantasy football participant, the avid Facebook user, etc. And these empowered consumers have a new set of expectations about how they want their customer service and online buying needs met.
What should companies look at if they chose to implement e-services in their contact centres?
* Choose only those channels that customers demand - The channel a company chooses to incorporate into their contact centre will vary by industry. Find out what channels are needed to be deployed by understanding customers' needs and by asking them.
* Handle e-services with care - Gone are the days when companies could think that deploying e-services was a differentiator. The question is how well is the company handling the new channels, and is it done as consistently and efficiently as voice calls. So deploy the channels the customers demand, but make sure to monitor, record and adjust when moving forward.
* Hire from within - When looking for the right skilled agent to handle new channels, look to the agents already within the company. Typically, agents involved in e-services have started as voice agents and have already learned the business, which makes it much easier to bring that new channel up to speed versus hiring from the outside. Additionally, e-services is often a team populated with more senior agents, and is often seen as a perk that is earned.
* Dedicate agents to channels - Dedicated teams for specific channels work best. It is more difficult for agents to switch from a voice channel to a written channel (chat, e-mail) when handling one interaction after another. The written channels take a different mindset and often require the agent to handle multiple interactions simultaneously.
* Don't be shy about integrated, all-in-one solutions - Over the years, the company may have implemented a best-of-breed e-services solution for one or more interaction channels. There may be concern that functionality will be lost moving to an integrated solution. Companies are more likely to find that the essential functionality needed is there, and that the benefits derived from one integrated solution and a single vendor far outweigh a few feature bells and whistles.
* Treat channels like voice - As steps are taken to incorporate multichannel into the contact centre, remember the key is to treat non-voice channels just like voice channels when it comes to routing by skills, monitoring, recording and reporting. These valuable tools are just as essential to non-voice interactions in order for customers to be happy.
* Always seek advice first - Before deploying a new channel, seek advice from those who have experience.
Effective customer service no longer begins and ends with a toll-free number into the contact centre. Today's customers are empowered with all forms of communications that they use on a daily basis. Those companies that actively seek to incorporate the same communication channels into their contact centre will find that implementing an e-service solution may provide the greatest return for their contact centre solution dollar.