7 June 2011
Is self-service helping your business or driving customers away?
In any contact centre the biggest cost will always be the agents who are required to handle calls and queries. In an effort to reduce this costs many businesses use self-service technology to enable customers to deal with certain issues themselves, without the need to speak to a live agent, in theory reducing the load on agents and helping customers have a better experience.
“However sometimes organisations take self-service technology too far, having too many options for callers to choose from and not even offering the option of speaking to a real person. This ends up having the opposite effect to that which is desired, alienating and irritating customers, degrading the customer experience and potentially driving customers away from your business,” says Paul Fick, MD of Spescom DataFusion.
For simple queries such as checking account balances, self-service works well, as customers can get what they require quickly and without fuss.
However more complex transactions may require a human operator and giving people long lists of possible choices with no option to speak to a person may be frustrating and may discourage people from calling. It is vital to find the right balance between self-service and live agent options so that customer service quality is not compromised and costs can be optimised.
“Self service can satisfy business and customer needs, but only when correctly designed and deployed so that it is valuable to both parties. To do this it is vital to partner with solutions providers that have the skills to leverage available technology in a way which is both practical and cost effective. The underlying architecture of the contact centre platform needs to be scalable and able to meet future vision, and applications should address not only the business goals but the needs of the user as well,” says Saartjie Wait, Avaya Channel Account Manager.
To get the most out of the latest generation of self-service technology, it is imperative to firstly understand your customers and their demands, as well as the various self-service options available. How these technologies interact is important for getting the mix of self-service solutions right.
Secondly optimising self-service solutions that fit today’s dynamic environment can help to meet the changing needs of customers to meet their current needs. Finally, leveraging self-service as a competitive differentiator can not only help to improve customer service but can also give businesses access to important information and insights into their customers.
“At the end of the day self-service is about serving customers better. It is therefore important for organisations to ensure that they do not get caught up in saving money at the expense of service quality, and that they find the right balance to give their customers the most useful service possible,”
Fick concludes.
About Spescom DataFusion
Spescom DataFusion is a Jasco group company. Jasco’s core focus is to deliver integrated business communication solutions that enhance the way businesses communicate with their customers, leveraging voice, video and data technologies through its various ICT and Telecommunications business units. The deep technical expertise and considerable industry know-how housed in these business units combine to deliver world-class solutions including integrated contact centre platforms and applications, a range of voice application technologies, as well as telecommunications, connectivity and broadcast solutions. At Jasco we are positioned to leverage current and future technology trends and developments to meet the dynamically shifting requirements of our customers and ensure their continued competitiveness.
For more information visit us at Jasco at
www.jasco.co.za and Spescom at www.spescom.com
