Why Companies Can’t Afford Customer Service Excuses Anymore

RingCentral is a Business Reporter client.

It’s almost a year to the day since the pandemic changed our whole approach to work. But it also changed our collective approach to customer service, another disappointment for customers in a traumatic year. Almost every website, whether of an energy supplier, telecoms provider, retailer or insurer, has carried an alert blaming the pandemic for long call-waiting times or reduced operating times.

Initially, consumers were forgiving of these slower response times; after all, the “we’re all in this together” mentality applied as we collectively juggled the trials and tribulations of the pandemic. But a year on, working from home is now business as usual, and patience isn’t waning, it’s run out.

The customer service paradox

At the core of most current customer service is a paradox. Teams have worked hard to embrace new digital channels–such as messaging apps, live chat and social media channels–to communicate with customers. However, these channels are predominantly tied to fixed contact center locations, using on–premises software that makes them unusable for working remotely. Although the pandemic has highlighted how unfit for purpose these legacy systems are, even without the catalyst of Covid, these aging systems have been long hindering those looking to evolve a modern customer service team.

Gain flexibility with the cloud

Forward-thinking organizations are already using cloud technology, with software accessed through a browser, to operate their contact centers remotely. The cloud revolutionizes the way businesses share files, communicate within teams, manage supply chains and more. Combining it with flexible and remote working policies will make customer service departments agile enough to deal with any situation and adapt more quickly to technological changes.

While one’s own workers are important, it is essential to foster a consumer-centric model rather than an inwardly facing business-centric approach. Although sectors have differing demands for their contact centers, for 90% of customers the objective is simple: they simply want their issue resolved. Moreover, the modern consumer expects to communicate with a company with the same ease and convenience as they do in their private lives.

In the same way that m-commerce has become a necessity, adopted by the vast majority of e-merchants, businesses must adapt to fresh customer expectations and set up conversational experiences on the channels they use most frequently. Through these channels, companies can set up a complete purchasing journey, from researching information to payment and problem resolution.

AXA: A case study for digital transformation

AXA, one of the world’s largest insurance providers, decided to increase its digital touchpoints to deliver frictionless service in the Swiss market. The RingCentral Engage Digital platform gave AXA’s customers the choice of contacting it via three messaging apps (Facebook Messenger, Apple Business Chat, WhatsApp) and over multiple channels (Twitter, email, live chat or phone calls).

When AXA implemented RingCentral Engage Digital, it gained a single cloud-based platform to manage all of its digital interactions across every channel. At a time when speed and resources were at a premium, the AI-based smart routing system pushed incoming messages to the right agent based on urgency and skill set.

Last but by no means least, AXA dealt with the infuriating situation of customers having to explain their situation each time they used a different channel to speak to the company. Engage Digital allowed AXA to merge customer identities into a single profile so that a customer starting a conversation on one platform was immediately identified if they made contact on another, along with their previous interaction.

AXA improved resource handling, had no duplicate conversations, a tenfold increase in case resolution and a 50% reduction in time taken to resolve issues.

What’s more, the new call deflection approach of AXA improves the customer journey. For specific situations such as a damages claim, customers are offered an alternative digital channel to complete their inquiry. This strategy reduces the customer’s waiting time and helps AXA better manage incoming requests.

The future of customer service

The pandemic has been an enormous real-life case study advocating technology’s impact on working practices. A Nemertes study of more than 500 end-user organizations found that 72% of contact center agents now work from home–up 59 per cent since before the pandemic began. This situation can only be supported and sustained by modern cloud-based systems.

Irrespective of where we work, modern contact centers need the products that keep them up to date with customer service expectations. The technology exists to allow businesses to be ready for whatever unexpected events the future may hold and increase customer satisfaction, improve agent productivity and ultimately generate higher revenue.

The past year has been a challenge, but we’re confident that with forward thinking and a customer-centric approach, businesses will be able to go back to delivering the exceptional service expected of them. Whatever follows, this will be the year of no more excuses.

To discover how a digital engagement platform can enhance your customer experience strategy, visit RingCentral.


— Julien Rio, CCXP, Senior Director of Marketing, RingCentral
_{This article originally appeared on Business Reporter. All images provided by RingCentral.}