In light of the current global economic crisis, customers are feeling more vulnerable than ever, tightening their budgets across all categories of spending and meticulously re-evaluating every purchase and expense. And businesses will increasingly come under more pressure to prove they're providing value by meeting customers' needs effectively and efficiently. Customer service teams are receiving more calls than ever and have to navigate difficult, emotionally charged conversations with vulnerable and distressed customers worried about their finances.
Proactive customer service will be critical to get ahead of problems before they reach a crisis point.
Although, according to the Financial Conduct Authority, more than 40 percent of consumers currently fall within their vulnerable customer category and likely struggle to come forward with their problems until they reach a tipping point. Some of that pressure can be relieved by automating workflows in your contact center and using artificial intelligence to free up hidden pockets of productivity at minimum cost.
Done right, introducing AI and workflow automation should mean a faster, more efficient service with staff under less pressure while delivering higher satisfaction scores and improving customer retention.
That being said, we need to be careful how we use technology in call centers, especially as customers seek more compassion and understanding and answers to more difficult questions.
With the cost of a staff member answering a phone call higher than ever; your team needs to be deployed where it can be of most value: handling the conversations that need expertise and emotional intelligence.
Staff also need to be protected. Seventy-two percent of those in customer-facing roles are facing burnout. We need to look after our staff and make sure they deal with less mundane tasks and more complex cases that give job satisfaction and make a real difference for the customer.
AI-driven workflow management tools can help make sure skilled agents' time can be directed into meaningful and complex conversations. This could mean reading customer emails and triggering an automated suggestion for an efficient resolution or routing callers directly to the agents best equipped to quickly answer their queries.
Keep the Human Connections for When It Matters
When it's working properly, automation and AI let staff better connect with customers at the right time.
Natural language processing can flag vulnerable or distressed customers and pass them to staff members, even if they are not obviously complaining or outwardly upset. It tracks words, phrases, pitch, tone, and pace of speech to spot signs of distress and alerts agents early on, allowing staff to adjust their communication styles so customers get the support they need.
We've found that speech analytics software can pre-filter nearly 70 percent of all critical and problematic conversations that need further attention. AI-driven software can also analyze conversations and then gather relevant customer information for team members while they're talking to the individuals.
To give you an idea of how this might work practically, Lantern, a debt collection agency, uses this software to settle on repayment plans with customers. "All this data gives us a picture of the customer. It answers questions such as: have they defaulted before? How often? Do we have details of their income and expenditure? From there, we can offer a better service," said Lantern CEO Denise Crossley. "There would be no point in getting someone to agree to something they couldn't afford, because they'd simply end up in default. If we provide a better customer experience, we see lower default rates and higher recovery rates. This in turn enables us to price more competitively in the future."
Leveraging technology will help customer service teams make more informed decisions when supporting vulnerable customers. However, the phone is still the best way to support vulnerable customers, especially those over the age of 75 with potentially no online access.
Initially, people might find it easier to use messaging or web chat to share their difficulties without feeling judged. Similarly, email enables customers to structure and write down their thoughts.
Once the initial contact is made though, always have a staff member take over from the system and pick up the phone. Ultimately, it's important that customers feel that support teams are accessible and solutions are provided as quickly as possible while capturing the nuances of any situation.
By taking the initiative now and innovating with care, businesses can guarantee a higher customer lifetime value while also looking after staff and keeping costs under control.
Ben Booth is CEO/director of MaxContact.