In the context of online self-service, companies will often tell us “our customers like to do research online, but when they actually decide to fix their problem/transfer funds/purchase a product, they prefer to call.”  The big question in our minds, however, is this:

How do you KNOW that customers PRERER to call you?

The fact that customers still call (indeed, even that they call after having visited the website) should not be seen as proof that the live phone is the preferred channel.  In all likelihood, the reason why many of your customers still call is because your website has failed them in some way.

The key, then, to understanding how customers prefer to interact with your company—online or in another channel—is to ask the customer directly rather than making assumptions based on customer behavior.  This sounds like an in-depth survey process (and certainly it could be), but there are shortcut ways that companies are unearthing channel switching root cause drivers in a low-cost way.

Specifically, Fidelity Investments discovered a low-tech, customer-friendly method to capture customers’ reasons for abandoning Web self-service for live channels.  They use inbound calls as opportunities to conduct two-question surveys to gather in-the-moment customer feedback about the company’s online self-service and customers’ reasons for switching to the phone.

In addition, Fidelity is very careful about phrasing the questions so that the survey does not come across as an attempt to push self-service but rather a learning exercise.  We believe this is a big part of the strategy’s success—customers are not made to feel as though the company doesn’t want them to call.  Instead, the company simply wants to know more about what customers want from them.

CCC members, learn more about Fidelity’s two-question framework in a new summary here.

Related CCC Resources:

1. Improving Web Self-Service with Customer Voice (Event Replay)
2. Full Case Study: Fidelity’s Channel-Switching VOC
3. Diagnosing Online Failures (Study Chapter)

It is January 10, 2012, and hopefully by now you’ve been able to dig out of your inboxes.

To help you prepare for the year ahead, CCC’s research and advisory team is putting its heads together to give you some additional perspective on areas of opportunity we see across a variety of companies—fresh ideas on how to enhance the customer experience and improve operational performance.

The intent here is not to increase your workload, of course, but to give you additional perspective on continuing to improve your service and support operations in the year ahead.

So let me start here with the recommendation of a relatively simple tweak: Ensure that all staff know how to navigate your company’s website.

It is a basic idea, but conversations with numerous service and support organizations reveal that most companies—both B2C and B2B—have not properly taught staff to use their own websites.

Read More »

In a clever April Fool’s post earlier this year, a colleague joked about the rise of DIY (do it yourself) call centers.

As it turns out, the prophecy has somewhat come true.

In this case, though, it’s not people setting up their own DIY call centers, but instead service and support organizations increasingly catering to DIYers.

In an interesting recent Wall Street Journal article, vacuum cleaner, lawn mower, and snow blower companies all report that they have seen an uptick in call volume from customers who increasingly are self-troubleshooting but getting stuck mid-way and calling for help.

Read More »

A few weeks ago, I blogged about a few general trends for 2012 that I saw in our annual agenda poll of the CCC

membership.  After a bit more data analysis and conversations with a host of members, we’ve uncovered a core area of focus for service organizations in 2012: understanding—and then keeping up with—customer expectations  (especially in today’s multi-channel environment).

The Current State
It turns out that today’s customers seem to be more demanding about service – savvier than ever and wanting a personalized, tailored interaction.  We hear everything from “the customer wants us to do everything for them – including calling a third party on their behalf – to resolve their problem” to “customers ask for escalation even before they interact with a frontline rep.”

That feels like a very difficult place to be – customers are selectively using outlier service experiences with other companies to define their expectations of service with your company. Read More »

“What is the future of the customer experience?”

Seems like the $64,000 question, right?

Well, I had the pleasure of attending a summit on this topic a couple of weeks ago.  Sitting in with customer service executives from around the globe and across many industries – like financial services, retail, and telecommunications – it was a great couple of days away from the office to give me time to think about the answer to that question.

We talked about everything from big data to integrating service into the customer’s more mobile lifestyle to expanding into new channels to using VOC to, of course, social media.  We discussed customer expectations today, and how to drive change throughout the organization.

And at the end of the day, after having a chance to reflect on all the rich conversations – I had a few takeaway thoughts I wanted to share with you: Read More »

“Your wish is its command.”

That’s Apple’s new tagline for its natural language application, Siri, which is available on its new iOS.  If you haven’t heard of Siri yet a quick Google search will reveal that early reviews are a mixed bag: some find it useful, others find it frustrating (mostly because of recent outages), and still others just find it comical!

My question is this: will this fun app resurrect customers’ willingness to use natural voice IVRs to resolve issues?

Read More »

We’ve been blogging a lot about the IVR lately …a “by the numbers” look at the IVR customer experience, tips on using customer feedback to script the IVR, and more.  One thing we haven’t discussed, however, is an IVR-related topic that is sure to spark some debate:

Is the IVR channel worth investing in for the future? 

In other words, should companies invest in additional IVR functionality and enhanced technology moving forward?  Or should we leave it alone, assuming that it is not a “channel of the future”…that our customers will NEVER want to use the IVR en masse (as much as we’d like them to)?

It’s an interesting question.  The CCC research team discussed it recently and it sparked a really good conversation.  To share some of the debate, I’ve asked Matt Lind to spar with me here.  Read More »

How often have you ended up selecting a wrong option in an IVR system? Indeed, don’t all IVR options even sound the same from time to time? It’s probably fair to say that we have all landed up in loops, switching between various IVR options and never really finding the right one that describes our problem.

While most companies look to enhance their IVR systems through technology or sophisticated design, they fail to take care of a simple aspect—customer-friendly language.

Companies often design their IVR systems with an internal focus—resulting in company-specific jargon in the IVR script. This makes the system complex for customers who cannot relate to the terminology.  Hence, customers end up in misrouted calls leading to frustration and increased effort.

How do you ensure your IVR system says what you customers understand? Well, you talk to your customers and find out how they define the issues they call you up for. Read More »

CCC has partnered with Iconoculture to bring you the latest in global consumer trends.  Below is our bi-weekly update featuring the latest Iconoculture insights available now on the CCC site.

NYU’s Langone Medical Center has started to use palm scanners to identify patients at check-in. This biometric technology uses near-infrared waves to take a photo of each patient’s unique palm vein configuration. As with fingerprints, no two patients have the same palm pattern. Results are then used to pull the patient’s medical records – leading to a more efficient check-in process and better data security.

You might be thinking: That’s interesting, but how does it apply to me? Bear with me here.

For hospitals, the system promotes patient safety. Studies have shown that hospital errors – including misidentification – account for almost 100,000 deaths in the U.S. each year.

Yet patients also benefit, which is why only 1% have chosen to opt out of the system since its launch earlier this year. Advantages include:

• Quick check-in: Each palm scan takes just one minute.  Patients don’t have to waste time digging for insurance cards or filling out lengthy forms.

• Confidence in technology: Patients trust the system to make up for human error and they enjoy the convenience of a speedy check-in process.

Sure, this is a no-brainer for a hospital – where time and safety are paramount – but what about the broader implications of biometric tools such as palm, fingerprint, and iris scanners, as well as facial and voice recognition software?

Read More »

During my recent search for a new bank, I discovered that several banks now offer a mobile feature that allows customers to make deposits by taking a picture of an endorsed check and sending it to the bank using a smartphone banking app.

And that’s not all.

Banking customers can also use smartphones to pay bills, receive updates and take actions via text message, make transfers, and easily reach service reps.

And although the global mobile banking industry has doubled in recent years and is projected to reach 1.1 billion customers by 2015, sources point out that customers are still very reluctant to adopt mobile banking apps.

A Javelin Strategy & Research report outlines two specific reasons for this:

1. customers don’t see the full value in these apps and
2. they have concerns around information security.  (In fact, between 2009 and 2010, the number of customers who rated mobile banking apps as “unsafe” increased by 54%.)

Does this mean that mobile banking apps are doomed?  Not necessarily.  Banks just need to change the way they position apps to customers to ensure that they give customers what they want.  After all, it wasn’t so long ago that we doubted the staying power of online banking – but the 60% of consumers who now bank on the Web prove that self-service shifts are inevitable.

Read More »