Part 1: Delivering an Optimized Customer Experience with IVR

When customers reach out to contact centers for support, they want quick and efficient service. As more and more contact centers strive to implement automation into their customer service strategy, one excellent advance in contact center software has been the innovation of IVR, or interactive voice response. IVR is a telephony system that uses either speech-recognition or touch-tone technology to enable identification, segmentation, and eventual routing of callers to the appropriate agent, bypassing the need to speak to other employees directly. Some contact centers further implement visual IVR to streamline the process even more.

Companies and customers alike may benefit greatly from the advantages of IVR. First and foremost, companies are able to significantly drive down costs by using such a system. Agents will not need to be trained to find information that the system will automatically provide. This also means that agents will spend less time on the phone with customers as customers do not need to speak to multiple employees before reaching the agent who can ultimately solve the customer’s issue (or close the sale, if it’s a sales call). Less time on the phone translates into savings for the company as it costs more to keep agents connected to customers on the phone. Agents will also be more productive as they will have more time to focus on other tasks or serve customers on other channels. In addition to savings, companies can increase sales through IVR by making it easier for customers to initiate or finalize a purchase through the system. With an efficient system, customers can count on self-service as an option for making purchases, boosting a brand’s image for reliability and customer experience while driving sales.

Customers likewise benefit from IVR by having a less stressful or time-consuming customer service or purchasing experience without the need to speak to multiple agents. Such features as automated speech recognition and text-to-speech in multiple languages can greatly enhance the experience, and dropped calls are far less likely with IVR. In addition, IVR systems with automatic callbacks can save customers’ time when they are kept waiting too long in a queue, and scheduled callbacks that allow customers to decide when to be contacted by a qualified agent are yet another timesaver. Overall, such systems bear great potential for providing a seamless customer experience and giving customers more options for efficient self-service.

The market for IVR systems continues to grow, with Global Industry Analysts Inc. predicting that the global market will reach as much as $2.8 billion by 2017. Through the implementation of an efficient IVR system, companies may offer their customers more choices for connecting with their brands which can lead to greater sales, a better customer experience, and sustained customer loyalty while saving costs and increasing efficiency in the contact center. Stay tuned for our next blog post on best practices for an optimized IVR customer experience. To learn about Vocalcom’s full-service IVR solution for excellent customer experience and maximum efficiency, please visit www.vocalcom.com.

5 Steps For Improving First Contact Resolution

When customers reach out to contact center agents for support, they are looking for quick and efficient answers. While agents normally strive to deliver the best service possible with first contact resolution, or FCR, there are a number of methods and behaviors extending beyond an agent's interaction with a customer that can improve the overall experience for agents and customers alike.

Communicate with your customers. One major component of first contact resolution is an agent's tone and ability to empathize with the customer. Training agents in their soft skills is a must for ensuring quality interactions. Agents should also ask precise, thorough questions about the customer's issue in order to deliver precise solutions, while always remembering to ask if the problem was resolved at the end of the exchange. In addition, taking customer service surveys post-contact is critical to knowing what agents should focus on to improve their service.

Follow a process. Setting a structure in place is important to FCR. Providing a script for agents to follow is a good way to ensure consistency in customer interactions and to make sure that no important questions are missed. By analyzing the most frequent reasons for customer contact in surveys, contact centers may also prepare agents with answers to these questions in their scripts. It's also meaningful to share these surveys with agents so they can learn their own weak points and improve individually. Eventually, this saves everyone's time, builds agent confidence, and increases the likelihood of FCR while helping to establish a brand reputation for quality, consistent customer service.

Use speech analytics. This is a very efficient way to identify which reasons customers are calling for the most. Along with customer feedback, agents and managers alike will be better prepared to address customer concerns and resolve issues quickly through proper training and revisions to call scripts.

Take the omnichannel approach when it's taking too long. An effective contact center should employ an omnichannel strategy to give customers a choice of their preferred channel, and some may argue that sticking to one channel from start to finish is best for a customer service interaction. However, staying on one channel for too long might hurt the chances of FCR if a customer's issue is not being easily resolved. If too many emails are being exchanged or chat is not allowing a quick resolution to a complex problem, switch to another channel (such as voice) to allow better understanding of the issue.

Don't emphasize average handling time too much. Contact centers may encourage short average handling time, or AHT, to stay efficient and keep costs down. However, it's necessary to remember that in order to achieve first contact resolution, the quality of the customer experience matters. An agent may therefore need to spend more time with a customer on a complex issue and increase AHT at times. Overall, it's better to focus on quality over quantity in these situations, as one long customer service interaction done right is better than repeat contacts from a frustrated customer.

First contact resolution is a top priority for customer service departments as it can ensure customer retention and brand loyalty. Through a combination of using the right technology, training customer service staff properly, and always keeping customers' needs at heart, FCR can be achieved with great efficiency. To learn more about contact center software solutions optimized for FCR, please visit www.vocalcom.com.

Live Chat Delivers Excellent Customer Service

Digital customer service is mainstream nowadays, with customers able to contact businesses through more touchpoints than ever before. However, the way in which these channels are used and eventually ranked for preference by consumers seems to change as rapidly as the technology driving them. Social media is more popular than ever with customers, but live chat-whether it be textual, audio, or video-based--remains just as active a channel when customers are looking to make a purchase or need support. Social media and chat functions can also function together, as Twitter as demonstrated with its conversational format and Facebook has implemented with its recent unveiling of its Businesses on Messenger app. Not only is chat here to stay, but there's plenty of evidence that it's key to delivering excellent customer service. An ATG Global Consumer Trend study found that 90% of customers consider live chat helpful, while a U.S. Wireless Customer Care Full-Service Performance Study found that chat has become a leading contact source for customers, with 42% of customers using a live online chat feature. Econsultancy further reported that live chat has the highest satisfaction levels for any customer service channel at 73%--far outweighing other channels.

Why is live chat so popular with customers? No matter what it is customers are seeking-whether it be technical support or product information--they long for the human touch. Live chat gives customers the reassurance that an actual person will be there to assist them until they get what they need. Customers save time by not needing to look for answers on their own, and they are further able to continue browsing online while chatting with an agent. From the agent's point of view, live chat typically moves much faster than phone or email, with much shorter queues than the voice channel. This means quicker and easier sales as well as more efficient customer support, making customers delighted with the experience and agents more confident in their support.

Contact centers also benefit from greatly reduced costs. Live chat software is easy and quick to implement, with greatly decreased handling costs. Agents are able to communicate with multiple customers at once, which is not often the case on other channels and proves costly. Live chat enables greater agent efficiency, reduces the number of more costly inbound calls (as customers turn to chat), and helps reduce the need for more agents as customer needs are met more quickly-all leading to great savings for a company.

For customers who are in the middle of a purchase or considering making one, live chat is often the clear preference over other channels as immediate service is needed and delivered. Agents who are well prepared to handle customer questions are poised to boost sales and prevent customers from abandoning purchases. Live chat can prove especially critical when customers are in the middle of a transaction and need support to finalize a purchase, as having accessing to chat-and a skilled agent-can mean the difference between purchasing or not and even preventing or resolving payment errors. Indeed, Forrester Research reported that 77% of customers shopping online preferred to make contact with a real person before making a purchase, with over half of these customers claiming to abandon the purchase if no interaction was available.

The benefits of live chat are numerous for both businesses and customers. Greater confidence, saved time, and saved costs are all important to both customer service and the customer experience. To learn more about excellent live chat software solutions, please visit www.vocalcom.com.

Delivering the Optimal Customer Experience

Some people may think that customer service and customer experience are essentially the same. In truth, customer service focuses on delivering support to a customer, whereas customer experience considers the perspective of the customer—what it actually feels like to be on the receiving end of support. Customer experience is increasingly becoming a priority for businesses, with Forrester Research reporting that 90% of customer experience decision makers feel that a good experience is critical to their company’s success while 63% believe its importance has risen. The Customers 2020 Report further states that by the year 2020, customer experience will overtake price and product as the key brand differentiator, while the Business Impact of Customer Experience highlights that the revenue impact from a 10 percentage point improvement in a company’s customer experience score can result in more than $1 billion USD.

The data suggests that when a customer’s experience exceeds expectations, a company can expect greater brand loyalty and referrals. What’s more, as sales, marketing, and customer service departments together represent the full spectrum of customer experience for a company, businesses must strive hard to provide a seamless experience across all fronts.

Providing the optimal customer experience depends on numerous factors with endless possibilities. However, a few general tips should not be overlooked:

Be timely and professional. Customers don’t just want answers; they want timely, thorough responses. Whether a customer makes contact by phone or via any other channel, agents should always make the effort to provide a timely response, direct the customer to the appropriate person if necessary, and inform customers if there is some delay in resolving a problem.

Go the extra mile. This can mean many things, but the idea is to truly exceed customer expectations whenever possible. Taking such steps as making follow-up calls after closing a sale or customer service case, providing detailed tracking information and updates for deliveries, offering discounts or other rewards for customer loyalty, and just taking the time to thank customers for their business are all excellent ways to show them you care.

Humanize your brand. Agents should take the time to address customers by name and introduce themselves at the start of every customer service interaction. Furthermore, every interaction should be considered a conversation--show empathy for a customer’s issue, appreciation for their time and business, and be apologetic for anything which may hinder the customer, such as delays in the queue or a late delivery. This is especially important if agents are interacting on social media or via SMS, as the lack of human voice or visual contact one would otherwise have on the phone or through video chat makes it especially critical to establish a human presence. Taking additional steps to provide video tutorials on the company website and even language that customers can easily follow and relate to are all steps toward making your brand approachable.

Make information easy to find and a pleasure to view online. Simply put, customers need to find the information they need as quickly and easily as possible. A company’s website, mobile app, and social media sites therefore need to be as well-designed as possible with such features as pages for frequently asked questions, tutorials, and easy-to-find contact information. Aesthetics count as much as efficiency—brand colors should be used consistently across all sites with excellent quality graphics, and web and mobile optimization are an absolute must.

Be consistent. Perhaps the biggest challenge of all—be consistent across all channels and departments. Everything from an agent’s tone and customer service script to making information accessible across all channels falls under this tip. In addition, departments need to communicate efficiently so as to avoid repeating information to customers, while there should be a seamless transition from one department to the next when customers are transferred during an exchange with an agent.

The overall image a customer takes away from a company is based on his or her experience, and greater efficiency in the contact center can provide this and foster brand loyalty. Using a contact center software solution with advanced features such as IVR, visual IVR, and chat features optimized to save time for agents and customers alike can further help to deliver an optimal customer experience. Customer service is more than giving and getting answers—customers want the human touch through an optimized, customized experience. Learn more about excellent contact center software solutions for delivering the best customer experience at http://www.vocalcom.com. 

The Dominance of Voice as a Preferred Customer Service Channel

Many contact centers nowadays utilize an omnichannel strategy for customer service with the hope of reaching the greatest possible audience. When done right, this can be an excellent approach to meeting the demands of customers and marketing a brand. However, the rising popularity of chat and social media have not diminished the value of the traditional customer service channel: voice.

The most recent Contact Center Satisfaction Index (CCSI) for 2014 indicated that 57% of consumers still prefer to use the voice channel, as was also reported the previous year in the same study. Furthermore, a study by CX Act Inc., a customer experience improvement firm, found that over half the customers studied preferred to reach out by phone as they found it best for resolving issues, using other channels to a much lesser degree. Interestingly, the study also found that the rise in calling agents was mostly attributed to a failure in email responses to the customer-agents taking too long to resolve issues or failing to do so thoroughly.

Why is voice still popular with the myriad of customer service channels available today? The main takeaway often seems to be that customers sometimes prefer the human, personal touch of speaking to an agent by phone, and other channels just might not be able--or are not yet optimized enough--to deliver it. There are other factors to consider as well. Some people may not be comfortable with social media or have access to it, so turning to phone calls can be the best or easiest way. For example, an older generation of consumers may prefer voice, as customer service has traditionally been conducted via telephone. Other consumers may not think they receive good enough service on other channels, especially if a contact center has not optimized its services across all channels. As the earlier study noted, a surge in customer service calls may be an indication of poor service on other channels and should be looked at carefully. Finally, voice is reassuring for customers, as human contact may make them feel the problem will be better understood and resolved. Complex issues may need to be discussed and can't always be resolved through self-service or even on another channel with an agent, so customers turn to voice.

As verbal communication remains the most natural way to communicate, contact centers should embrace the voice channel and optimize it for customer service. Agents should be prepared to engage in conversation with customers, taking the time to personalize calls and, even when following call scripts, remember to humanize the interaction as much as possible. It's important not to forget that some customers may be turning to agents after unsuccessful attempts on other channels, so it's especially important to listen well and empathize. This also means that agents need to be highly trained to solve any issues that arise, with resources and other agents and managers readily available when seeking more information or needing to route a call to a more appropriate person. An excellent contact center solution could also provide features optimized for voice: IVR, visual IVR, and excellent CRM software all make a difference in giving customers the best experience on this channel, while features such as viewing callers in a queue and scheduling callbacks are equally important.

With the dominance of the voice channel, contact center agents have an opportunity to humanize a company's brand and foster customer loyalty by delivering stellar customer service. Learn more about excellent contact center software solutions at www.vocalcom.com.

Optimizing Customer Service on Facebook

Contact centers that utilize social media channels to deliver customer service may think that all channels are alike. In reality, every social media site has its own characteristics which companies must consider to attain exceptional customer service.

Facebook maintains great popularity as a social customer service channel. Unlike Twitter, which tends to be conversational and move fast with limited characters, or other sites such as Instagram, which tend to focus on photo sharing, Facebook combines both visual and textual elements that make it easy to engage with customers in different ways with no limits to how much text can be written.

Here are some of the ways your business may optimize Facebook use for excellent social customer service.

Always acknowledge the customer's message. As on any channel, it's critical to respond promptly to customers' messages both on the public wall and through private messages or chat. If contacted via chat, agents may already feel inclined to respond quickly, but other forms of messaging on Facebook should not be ignored. If an agent needs more time to find an answer to a customer's question, at least acknowledge that the message was received and that the solution is being sought. Even if the message is a simple compliment to the company, take the time to acknowledge that, too. Show your customers that you are paying attention and you care about what they think.

Show your customers that the problem was solved. If a customer concern posted publicly on the Facebook wall is eventually moved to private conversation when being resolved, other customers may wonder if the problem was ever addressed. Simply put, it can be confusing and cause doubt among customers if issues appear to be left hanging. Once the issue is resolved, be sure to post a thank you to the customer on the wall where the concern was originally posted, further stating that the company was happy to solve the problem. Customers will understand that your company takes the time to address each case individually and close the case in a professional manner. Lastly, it might be tempting to delete negative comments, but keep in mind that leaving them in public view and showing customers your willingness to address concerns is a professional, sincere way of demonstrating your brand's faith in its own value and respect for customers' opinions.

Use the platform as a knowledge base. This idea also falls under marketing, but do remember that Facebook allows a wealth of opportunities for establishing your brand and providing information to customers. The page should feature all relevant information about the company—a mission statement, product information, photographs and videos of products and services, and additional contact information with links to the company website are all a must. But also take the time to educate your customers proactively by providing answers to frequently asked questions on a separate page or tab, posting all press releases or articles about the company featured in the media (such as new products or services), posting blog articles written by the company, and addressing upfront any issues the company may be having with products or services that might later provoke customer concerns. Customers will appreciate finding quick answers, and this can only enhance a brand's reputation with fewer negative comments and more positive ones. Facebook is also an excellent platform for mentioning sales and any customer rewards—as well as for delivering them directly to your customers.

Don't forget the hashtags, and use them to schedule alerts. Like Twitter, Facebook allows you to use hashtags to tag any content you create on your page, making it easy for such content to show up in Facebook searches. It's important to use them each time you mention your brand's name in a post, and you may also tag FAQ pages and responses to customer questions with appropriate tags such as "customer service" or the name of the product/service being discussed. In addition, Facebook allows you to set up alerts to know when other Facebook users are tagging you. For example, setting up alerts for the tags such as "customer service" or a product name, or even customers' feelings ("happy," "frustrated") will enable your agents to better monitor which issues need to be addressed and which customers should be approached for additional support.

Like other social media sites, Facebook offers a wealth of tools for providing optimal social customer service, yet it also bears unique features which should be used strategically to deliver the best results. To learn more about contact center solutions optimized for social customer service, please visit www.vocalcom.com.

Keeping Up With Customers Through Social Customer Service

Technology has changed the way we communicate, as nowadays we connect on channels that did not even exist ten years ago across numerous, equally novel, electronic devices. In this era of constant connectivity, people have grown used to demanding and expecting faster communication—quick questions and even quicker answers. With the rise of social media sites, customer service has been completely redefined: not only has there been a shift away from traditional calls, but customers want answers--and they want them fast.

Consider the following statistics. Forbes recently cited a study that found that when consumers contact businesses through social media, 67% expect a response the same day while 42% expect a response in just one hour or less. Furthermore, the Wall Street Journal reported that Americans spend an average of 37 minutes daily on social media-- more time than on any other Internet activity--while J.D. Power and Associates found that 67% of consumers have used a company's social media sites for customer service.

Contact centers need to respond to growing consumer demand for social customer service, and they may achieve this with the use of a software solution that effortlessly and efficiently integrates social media into a single platform. Vocalcom offers contact center software solutions with cutting-edge features especially designed for today's social customer service interactions. Contact centers may benefit from the following:

Excellent social media management and engagement, with cost efficiency.

• *lowered customer service costs, as engagement through the social media features results in a 30% decrease in call volume
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• *easy connection to company Facebook and Twitter pages with the option to speak publicly or privately, with seamless movement from one channel to another in a secured environment
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• *retrieval and processing of posts from various sources such as Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube. Agents are also able to engage -directly with fan page followers through Linkedin, Facebook, and Google Plus fan pages
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• *social early warning system allowing agents to see immediate feedback from surveys sent to users through web and mobile, allowing them to respond quickly to negative comments before criticism is posted publicly across social channels
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• *quick and easy identification of visitors coming from customers' social circles that lets you welcome them with personal video chat
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Excellent tools for agent performance and analytics.

• *built-in real-time supervisor display providing instant data on performance including major SLA and KPI data
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• *suite of agent tools to improve efficiency, such as pre-approved responses to commonly asked questions
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• *advanced contact center reporting providing over 25 out-of-the-box reports with the most popular metrics for adhering to service level agreements and offering brand insights
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With an advanced contact center solution optimized for social customer service, companies are set to respond to their customers in a quick, efficient manner without sacrificing the quality of service. According to Bain & Company, when companies engage and respond to customer service requests over social media channels, those customers consequently spend 20% to 40% more with the company. And many people are well aware of the most telling statistic of all about social customer service: nearly half of customers will tell friends about a good experience on social media, but even more will talk about a bad one. By delivering excellent social customer service, you'll give your customers a great experience to talk about. Learn more at www.vocalcom.com.