Does this sound familiar?: You reach out to a company that you know has tons of information about you, but when you connect to an agent, you have to tell them all the same information you’ve told them a dozen times before. Or worse, one agent asks for your account number, and on the same call, you’re transferred to a different agent who asks for the same number again. This kind of experience is universally hated and creates frustration and friction for your customers. How does your business overcome it?
That was the opening topic of discussion between Kustomer’s Co-Founder and CEO Brad Birnbaum and Shep Hyken on the latest episode of Amazing Business Radio. The answer? Support agents need to have all the relevant information about customers at their fingertips. Knowing all the relevant details about your products and services is now just the bare minimum. By helping provide agents with all the information they need, Kustomer has seen 20% faster resolution for customers.
“Want to have 100% less frustrated customers? Don’t ask them to give you the same information again and again.” Said Brad. Understandably, repeating themselves is customers’ top complaint, according to our whitepaper benchmarking the state of service for retailers
Eliminating friction is an enormous area of concern for modern customer experience organizations—and for good reason, as it’s a major impediment to doing business. It also happens to be the topic of Shep’s next book. “When you create friction, the problem becomes a complaint,” says Hyken. Instead of solving your customers’ issues, you’re putting up new barriers that are impacting their experience.
When you’re able to have an immense amount of data about your customers in one place, it acts as a multiplier for the kind of amazing interactions you’re able to have.The faster agents can provide a “wow” solution, the less friction there will be.
“Wow the customer by telling them at the beginning of the conversation, ‘I know why you are calling, and here’s what we are going to do about the problem,” said Brad.
Other information, like sentiment, can be key to delivering that next tier of experience. For example, Slice is able to see every unhappy customer who hasn’t ordered in the last 90 days, then use that information to reach out and engage with a coupon or other offer.
Chatbots are also becoming increasingly important to the CX expert’s arsenal. They have their limitations, “Chatbots only as good as the person who programs it or creates it,” added Brad, but when used correctly, they can provide a real edge to your experience.
Shep and Brad agreed that chatbots are good for routine use, but for context-sensitive answers like “what’s the warranty on my most recent purchase?”, they’re not so effective. That’s why Kustomer uses Conversational Forms. These act like a bot, instantly responding to your customers’ queries with questions, while getting info on the customer’s account themselves and their problem. They then connect directly to an agent, with all the relevant info they need to deliver great service.
Knowing everything you can about the customer, then acting on it at the right time, is key to creating the kind of customer experience that wins customers for life.
