How many inbound calls do you receive to your contact centre that are just to ask routine questions? You know the type of thing: When is my order due? Can I get an update on progress?
These calls can be costly to your business, taking up a lot of time and resource. But there is a way to reduce these costs, by dealing with your customer’s issue with a single touch. In fact, by proactively sending your customers the information they need via text, voice message or email, you can immediately reduce the number of inbound calls to your Contact Centre.
Give your customers the information they need before they ask for it.
When reviewing the typical journeys that your customers go through, it’s clear that there is important information that they need. By putting the systems and processes in place to deliver this information to your customers, it means that they no longer need to phone into your contact centre to retrieve it.
But, actually, this isn’t just about reducing the number of inbound calls you receive (though that is a real benefit of proactive comms in the Contact Centre). There is a real opportunity now to use proactive comms to make a significant impact on the way your customers perceive their experience because being helpful and proactive can become a point of differentiation.
At the same time, not being able to pre-empt inbound calls can have a negative impact on the overall customer experience, as they’re more likely to become frustrated with the process.
It’s not about being invasive, it’s about being helpful.
Proactively communicating with your customers isn’t about interrupting them with unnecessary information; it’s about being helpful. Sharing updates with them, like order due dates or remaining data allowances for the month, is useful for them to know. It’s information they want you to tell them. And, by reducing the number of unnecessary inbound calls, it means your Contact Centre agents can focus their efforts where they’re really needed.
Brands are failing to engage with customers proactively, so they’re losing out on opportunities to be helpful.
Imagine this situation. You receive a complaint into the contact centre. The agent logs the complaint into the system and then follows-up with the appropriate part of the business to get the issue sorted. At the same time, the agent needs to keep the customer in the loop, so they know that their problem is being handled.
But, if you’re not using a proactive comms solution, the agent would have to manually update the customer about what is happening, taking up their valuable time. Plus, if the agent can’t respond to the customer quickly enough, it’s very likely that the customer would call in again to chase for an update – creating even more inbound calls to the contact centre.
By investing in a proactive communications system, you can automate the process of updating your customers, using SMS to let them know how their complaint is being updated. This improves the experience for the customer. They know what is happening, in real-time, in a way that’s convenient for them. It also helps you to manage your inbound call levels better, freeing up agents to focus on the job in hand instead of reacting to inbound calls.
Remember, as well, to close the loop on this process by asking customers for their feedback, in real-time. That way you can look at ways of continuous improvement in what you’re doing.
Find out how else you can improve the customer experience in your Contact Centre in our On Demand webinar:
