Go BackNew Interaction Channels: Pull Not Push
Keith Pearce, EMEA Marketing Director, Genesys Telecommunications
In today's competitive environment achieving differentiation can be challenging, and listening to the voice of the customer is crucial. A recent worldwide survey of over 4,200 consumers commissioned by Genesys reveals that consumers wish to have the option to communicate with companies via newer technologies such as email, web-chat and SMS, and value being able to resolve inquiries via multiple channels. But simply providing new channels is not sufficient. The key takeaway of the survey is that customer expectations are increasing. Customers expect rapid, quality service across all interaction channels, and they do not want access to live phone support restricted.
Although, consumer expectations are remarkably similar around the globe, their experiences with SMS and web-chat vary according to geography. In Europe, 18.1 per cent of consumers interacted with a contact centre via SMS, while in the U.S. this number was only 2.4 per cent. In Asia Pac the number of consumers communicating via this medium was 14.7 per cent.
Offering the advantages of speed, precision, and low cost, text-messaging is a preferred channel of many consumers. In several industries this interaction form is used to provide superior service and enhance loyalty. For example, leading edge banks and credit card providers now send outbound alerts to their customers notifying of deposits and withdrawals. This practice is currently more common in Europe, due to the prevalence of text-messaging among the general consumer population. However, U.S. based companies should plan to implement this practice as the current generation of teenagers enters their prime consuming years.
Similar regional variations are found with web-chat. 21 per cent of U.S. consumers and 11 per cent of European consumers interacted with a company via Web-chat in the past year. A key advantage of this interaction method is that it offers immediate resolution to consumer inquiries while surfing the web By offering consumers the option of web-chat sessions with agents, companies are able to increase the conversion rate of web-browsers into buyers. In the United States this practice is used in a wide range of industries mortgage and insurance, to communications to retail.
While SMS and web-chat provide companies with an opportunity for differentiation, email has now become so common that it rivals the phone in consumer preference for interaction methods with a company. 45 per cent of consumers cited this as their preferred contact method, as compared to 48 per cent that prefer to communicate by phone. When asked by what methods they had communicated with a company in the past year, 59 per cent reported they had communicated by phone.
The majority of consumers (59 per cent) have communicated with a company via email within the past year Email offers numerous advantages including convenience (given the hours consumers spend at their computers) and the precision of written communications. The majority of consumers (59 per cent) have communicated with a company via email within the past year, indicating that providing this channel has become a mandatory communications channel.
Although email use is rising, a gap exists between customer expectations for email service and delivery. Slightly more than 30 per cent of consumers who had sent email queries said their inquiry was either not resolved satisfactorily at all, or was resolved but not via email. This indicates that a substantial number of companies are not effectively handling email inquiries, putting them at risk of customer frustration and defection
Expectations for email response times continue to rise. Twenty one per cent of consumers expect a response to their email in one hour, and 47 per cent expect a response in less than 4 hours. While it is tempting for companies to view email as a pure-cost cutting mechanism, this view is short sighted. When a consumer is forced to wait for an email response, he or she typically place a phone call to the contact center, resulting in increased costs and reduced loyalty. With email usage increasing every year, managing this channel effectively is essential. While it is tempting for companies to view email as a pure-cost cutting mechanism, this view is short sighted. Instead, to meet customer expectations, emails must be responded to promptly and prioritised according to customer value, urgency and topic
Despite the growing popularity of interacting via newer technologies, phone-based service with a live agent remains the most popular method of customer interaction. A key finding of the study is that limiting access to this channel runs the risk of increasing frustration, reducing loyalty, and even driving customers away. According to the survey, 76 per cent of consumers feel that companies are pushing them to use self-service systems instead of talking to live people. 66 per cent react negatively when they feel they are being pushed to use self-service systems, and 75 per cent of these feel less loyal or take their business elsewhere.
Offering consumers multiple communications channels a necessity. And if done right, it is also an opportunity for competitive differentiation. Consumers want to be able to contact a company via the phone, and via newer channels. Companies that effectively blend channel into a single interaction stream and prioritise accordingly will win with customers.
