Floods of customer complaints

Can you ride out the CX storm

Us Brits sure love talking about the weather, but the recent weather has headlined the news non-stop. Burst water pipes, flooding, snow and sink holes appearing because of the weather has left thousands of people in distress, unable to commute, some without water and sewage facilities, cut off from the rest of the world.

Jerry White, Head of Water Production at Thames Water said that last Saturday has been the busiest day of the winter so far for the company, when their customer centre received 2,500 calls, with 3,000 calls over the weekend as a whole – 30 times more than the daily average. A spokesperson for the company added that it had received more tweets in two days than it normally would in two weeks.

However, it’s not just utility companies receiving an influx of contact. Emergency services, charities, defence, and retail organisations are all under pressure as the chaotic weather continues to disrupt lives. And listening and reading the news, some companies are better than others when having to inform and respond to customer queries with some companies heavily criticised for their lack in keeping people informed.

With most of us today expecting the majority of customer service interaction to happen in an online environment, one would think it makes sense for companies to invest in web self-service, virtual agent, or live chat facilities to answer customer queries, leaving contact centre agents to deal with more complex issues. However, in this world where we use our smartphones and tablets to update us on the news, to query the time it will take to commute to work, to keep in touch and to ‘survive’ in this digital age, many companies still struggle to live up to customer expectations when it comes to support.

Expanding support into multiple online channels not only allows companies to offer real-time, consistent, and up to date information in a cost-effective manner but reduces the stress levels in contact centres.

Why not download these short, handy, and free guides that offer insight for businesses wanting to invest in effective digital support channels?

 

Synthetix self-service and knowledge software offer to U.S. utilities

A radical departure from traditional customer support and pricing models.

No longer new players in the U.S, Synthetix is set on expanding their already phenomenal global growth to address some of the very specific issues faced by utilities in the U.S.

Already the No.1 supplier of self-service and knowledge software to Western Europe’s utility sector, Synthetix systems are helping to support and serve more than 28.4 million customers, resulting in increased customer satisfaction and massive reductions in complaints. Synthetix offers Electric, Gas and Water retail/distribution-specific packages for the U.S. utility sector in three different tier levels. These different levels include options like a ready-populated knowledge-base of the most asked questions by utility customers, simple pricing and straight forward implementation of days, not months.

Adam Ashcroft, Director at Synthetix said “We are confident that we can offer scale, resources, knowledge, and a pricing methodology beyond what’s possible for any individual utility or new entrants into this sector to replicate.”

With Accenture reporting that utilities can save between $1-3 million through self-service technologies, Synthetix hope to assist in transforming online customer service delivery for both IOUs & PUCs that are under the extensive pressure to continuously reduce costs and improve operational performance to remain profitable and to achieve sustainable growth.

Synthetix provide a Value Opportunity Assessment free of charge to US utilities to assess impact and quantify return on investment as the initial starting point.

European Business Awards

The benchmark of success for the European business community

Synthetix has been named as ‘One to Watch’ in Europe in a list of business excellence published by the European Business Awards sponsored by RSM.

Synthetix was chosen as it demonstrates exceptional achievement in one of the 12 European Business Awards’ categories and reflects the programme’s core values of innovation, success, and ethics.

The ‘Ones to Watch’ for 34 countries across Europe can be found at www.businessawardseurope.com.

Peter McKean, CEO of Synthetix said “Synthetix is a business which strives to innovate in an incredibly fast-moving field. We spend our time thinking about how technology – and in-particular AI and machine learning – can drive business transformation for our clients across customer engagement channels like browsers, mobile and social media. Our aim to be a European business which competes with the best output from Silicon Valley.

That’s why we’re so excited about this accomplishment. We would like to thank the European Business Awards for the opportunity to showcase why we are market leaders in online customer service and conversational commerce.”

Adrian Tripp, CEO of the European Business Awards, Europe’s largest cross-sector business competition, said: “We wanted to recognise more widely the many incredible business success stories from across Europe.”

He continued: “The talent, dedication and innovation at the heart of these companies creates jobs and opportunity, and is what drives their country’s prosperity. The ‘Ones to Watch’ lists will set a benchmark of success for the European business community.”

Jean Stephens, CEO of RSM, the sixth largest global network of independent audit, tax and consulting firms, and long-term sponsors of the Awards, said: “To be listed as a ‘Ones to Watch’ is a real accolade. At RSM, we work with companies across Europe and beyond, advising them on all areas of their business and we are passionate about encouraging success and prosperity. We wish these dynamic companies every success in the future.”

Synthetix will now have the chance to compete in one of the 12 categories of the European Business Awards to become a National Winner in their country. If successful, they will then take part in the grand final in May 2018, where the final 12 European winners will be announced. They will also have the chance to enter a public vote, which attracts attention and support from across the globe.

The Awards Categories for 2017-2018:

The RSM Entrepreneur of the Year Award

• The ELITE Award for Growth Strategy of the Year
• The Award for Innovation
• The Award for International Expansion
• The Social Responsibility and Environmental Awareness Award
• The New Business of The Year Award
• The Workplace and People Development Award
• The Customer and Market Engagement Award
• The Digital Technology Award
• The Business of the Year Award with Turnover € 0 – 25M
• The Business of the Year Award with Turnover €26M – 150M
• The Business of the Year Award with Turnover €150 +

More information about the competition can be found at www.businessawardseurope.com

About the European Business Awards:

The European Business Awards’ primary purpose is to support the development of a stronger and more successful business community throughout Europe.

The European Business Awards programme serves the European business community in three ways:

• It celebrates and endorses individuals’ and organisations’ success
• It provides and promotes examples of excellence for the business community to aspire to
• It engages with the European business community to create debate on key issues

The European Business Awards is now in its 11th year. Last year it engaged with over 33,000 businesses from 34 countries. Sponsors and partners include RSM, ELITE and PR Newswire

www.businessawardseurope.com

Twitter: @rsmEBA

Facebook: www.facebook.com/businessawardseurope

LinkedIn: the company page “The European Business Awards”

About RSM:

RSM is the sixth largest network of independent audit, tax and consulting firms, encompassing over 120 countries, 800 offices and more than 41,400 people internationally. The network’s total fee income is US$4.9 billion.

As an integrated team, we share skills, insight and resources, as well as a client-centric approach that’s based on a deep understanding of our clients’ businesses. This is how we empower them to move forward with confidence and realise their full potential

RSM is the lead sponsor and corporate champion of the European Business Awards promoting commercial excellence and recognition of entrepreneurial brilliance.

RSM is a member of the Forum of Firms, with the shared objective to promote consistent and high quality standards of financial and auditing practices worldwide.

RSM is the brand used by a network of independent accounting and advisory firms each of which practices in its own right. RSM International Limited does not itself provide any accounting and advisory services. Member firms are driven by a common vision of providing high quality professional services, both in their domestic markets and in serving the international professional service needs of their client base. www.rsm.global

Reflecting on the efforts and strategies of 2017

What will be the key customer experience trends this year

Firstly, allow us to wish you a prosperous 2018. Who knew when Caesar got us all on the same page by instituting the 1st of January as the first day of the year, civilizations across the world would look forward to the date when we can ‘reset’ our hopes and expectations until the next year.

Who doesn’t want to start the New Year off on a good foot – To tighten our belts, kick bad habits and get into shape?

Businesses must look beyond just changing bad behaviours and practices of the past. In the over-saturated market of similar products and services, customer service is becoming increasingly important in the customers’ eyes. Good customer service should capture the fundamentals of a great experience: seamlessness, usefulness, and sentiment. And that is much easier said than done. Just like a fad diet or detox might deliver short term results, serious long-lasting results require a lifestyle change.

As with any New Year, it’s good to reflect on the efforts and strategies implemented to generate business.

Self-service is by no means a new concept, but according to Forrester it was the top trend in 2017 and its not going to go away soon. Self-service is no longer a “nice to have”. It’s a necessity to providing a positive customer experience. Dimension Data reports growth in every digital channel and a 12% decrease in phone volume with customers of all ages moving away from using the phone to using self-service — web and mobile self-service, communities, virtual agents, automated chat dialogs, or chatbots — as a first point of contact with a company.

Shockingly, the Northridge Group’s State of Customer Service Experience 2017 report reveals that businesses are still struggling to deliver the fundamentals of great customer experience, with 57% of consumers saying that they frequently have trouble finding answers on a company’s website.

It’s fair to say that many businesses will start a New Year with great ambitions for their customer experience strategy, however ambitions will quickly fall short without dedicated investment and strategy. Like getting fit and healthy, were one must invest in both the diet and training, any technology investment requires strategy first.

With so many industry buzzwords like AI, bots, physital and omni-channel set to create more headlines in 2018, here are a few short guides to help you break through the noise.

The bot that saved Christmas

Santa’s little helpers

‘Christmas creep’, a familiar term in the USA since the 1980s, or the ‘Golden Quarter’ as it’s known in the UK and Ireland was turned up to eleven this year. The merchandising phenomenon in which retailers introduce Christmas-themed goods and/or decorations before the traditional start of the holiday shopping season, turned the fourth floor of Selfridges in Oxford Street into a winter wonderland, 147 days before Christmas. Quartz calculations, based on current trends show that insensitive commercialism will overcome seasonal sense, and around 2120 the Christmas shopping season will be normal in July. Joy to the world!

Amazon eating everyone’s lunch?

But not all retailers are smiling, with the numbers looking bleak for high street vendors this holiday season. According to the British Retail Consortium, online sales have been booming in Britain for years, with ecommerce accounting for nearly a quarter of all purchases in December. Many might think this predicts the end of the high street. Which begs the question: Are online retailers really going to eat everyone’s Christmas dinner, or can businesses respond by having a clear omni-channel strategy? Amazon clearly feels that high street brick-and-mortar is not nearing extinction with its arrival in this segment less than a year ago. As this giant refines their bricks-and-clicks strategy, competitors will have to adapt as the relentless pressure to remain profitable increases.

Granted not every business has the marketing budget of Amazon, but technology (although don’t believe everything you read), when integrated with knowledge, could be THE powerful engine that drives sales, marketing and customer experience.

Santa’s little helpers – bots, a tool for omni-channel

Bots, AI, Virtual Agents – whatever you want to call them – the world is finally catching up to automation, although it must be said that not all bots are created equal. Already revolutionising industries such as customer service and human resources, the hybrid approach of bots and humans are upping productivity and improving user experiences.

With most of us expecting instant answers and although 57% of consumers are interested in chatbots for their instantaneity ~ HubSpot, 2017 – it’s difficult to understand why only a few businesses have jumped at the opportunity to increase sales, qualify leads, or market other services using bots.

As with each new channel in the omni-channel stratosphere, hype creates unnecessary FUD. Bot technology is not meant to eliminate jobs or the human element, but rather enhance, refine and deliver a more targeted approach such as pre-qualified sales leads for a sales person to follow up. Lisa, the bot employed by a global player within property development successfully differentiates between customers and developers looking to buy a property through a serious of questions, collecting specific details and adding them to a CRM system.

Experience, not a sales pitch.

The opportunities / jobs for bots are endless. Find Me A Gift reports that us Brits spend £700 M on unwanted gifts. Wouldn’t it make sense to have a bot assisting customers to find the perfect gift, saving both a business and customer the effort of having to return, refund or exchange an unwanted gift? A bot could answer questions such as, “What’s a good gift for my mother of 65?” and then suggest gifts within certain price ranges.

It’s no surprise that companies that excel at customer experience grow revenues 4-8% above the market. Consumers want effortless experiences. Bots could be the answer, helping to eliminate some of the friction points of online ordering or enquiring through meaningful natural conversation.

Bot technology is not going away, however, understandably, with so many software providers proclaiming to be bot experts with jingle bells and all the whistles, it’s hard to know where to start. So, Synthetix (one of the pioneers of bot technology over 16 years ago) teamed up with Wiley’s trusted ‘For Dummies’ brand to provide you with a free stocking filler. Virtual Agents for Dummies. cuts through the noise about bots in a concise and palatable manner.

Who knows, like the boy who saved Christmas, a bot might just help restore your Christmas customer experience to its rightful place.

Providing high levels of customer service

Especially during the festive period

December is here. It’s the time of the year when there’s no such thing as ‘too much glitter’ and the sound of ‘I wish it could be Christmas everyday’ ringing in the background, no matter where you go. The dawn of Winter offers an advent calendar of daily weather surprises, much like the unpredictable spikes in visitor levels to your website or contact centre from customers needing help and support.

More than ever, customers compare, research, and switch when high levels of service are not met, when interacting with a business. With the peak festive period already in full swing, businesses looking to boost their revenue targets, must deliver ‘tinsel tantalising’ customer experiences to ensure their customers don’t go elsewhere.

According to netimperative, us Brits, spent more than £6.45bn on black Friday in 2016 with many shoppers swayed by discounted prices and deals perceived to be savvy. However, retailers smiling after Black Friday and Cyber Monday might not be in the following weeks. According to findmeagift, 2016 saw us spending £700 million on unwanted gifts. Though many of us might forge a polite smile and ‘thank you’, most unwanted gifts will promptly be exchanged or returned after Christmas. This makes the week following Christmas a stressful time for businesses with consumers likely to contact customer service, not to mention the impact exchanges and refunds have on revenue.

With many businesses employing temporary staff over the festive season, there is a high risk that customer experience levels drop because of inexperienced employees not having the skills, knowledge or training to deal with customer issues. Having an agent knowledge-base can reduce training times and be key to getting temporary staff supporting customers consistently and confidently, in minimal time.

At Synthetix we are proud to assist customers like Fortnum & Mason, seasoned professionals in delivering celebration worthy customer experiences across multiple channels, to maintain a high level of customer service especially during the festive period.

So seeing as its the season for giving and being jolly, Synthetix are offering you your very own special gift, the page turner that is Multi-Channel Online Customer Service for Dummies.

This quick but informative 30-minute read will help guide your business to:

• Understand the challenges delivering effective online service creates
• Distinguish between multi-channel and omni-channel customer service
• Get an overview of the tools available to meet those challenges
• Discover the must-haves you need for effective implementation

Are bots the new gold rush?

Don’t we all just love and want the latest technology craze, to be part of the buzz created by the latest gadget or tech? And isn’t it interesting how our personal preferences affect the decisions we make within business too, not wanting to be left behind, we sometimes invest in cool tech or software just because it’s the hype of the season?

Bot fever

The sheer number companies that have invested in bots as a new channel for customer service has the industry in a frenzy, comparing it to the likes of the goldrush. This is intriguing, as brands are not usually so quick and willing to experiment with customer engagement through a new channel.

Facebook reports that more than 33,000 chatbots have been created on its platform. Respondents in a study by Business Intelligence – when asked which emerging technologies they were using and which they intended to implement – had 80% say that they already use or plan to implement chatbots by 2020. In addition, 42% of participants stated that automation technologies will most improve customer experience within sales, marketing and customer service.

The reason for this may be because basic AI has become such an integral part of our lives. In fact, most people would find it difficult to imagine living without smart devices, informing us of how long it might take to get to work, the weather or what music we might like to hear.

So, with bot technology the ‘golden’ opportunity enabling us to do away with web and app communication interfaces, what does this really change and why should you care? Will bots make other customer contact channels redundant and how essential is it to invest in this new framework?

Fool’s gold?

Once gold is found, hundreds of thousands flock together to share in its delights. However, Fool’s Gold which invariably appears under the same conditions as gold, has often caused heartbreak with it being mistaken for the precious metal. With every other start-up claiming to be a bot expert, it’s not difficult to get caught up in the hype surrounding AI. But here’s the thing. Although natural language processing refers to one of the methodologies under AI, not all NLP technologies are classed equally. In fact, there are big differences between an intelligent FAQ search engine, chatbots and virtual agents.

Businesses wanting to include this technology in their customer experience strategy might first want to consider not ‘HOW’ to invest, but rather ‘WHY’.This whitepaper explores if a bot might be the right fit for your business or not.

Securing your place among the service elite

How to overcome the CX challenges of the next decade

Contact centres and those within the customer care industry have been discussing the advantages of integrated communication channels for decades.

Vendors within the industry use buzzwords like ‘multi-channel’ and ‘omni-channel’ in their efforts to convince brands that the right technology can revert customer experiences from meh to WOW! But the theory doesn’t always translate into reality. The journey of creating truly omni-channel customer service is not easy, but inevitable if businesses want to stay competitive.

The future lies in the ability to use technology to elevate, not eliminate, people. Before contact centres introduce new communication channels they must have a clear channel integration strategy in place to deliver enhanced and consistent customer experiences. And it’s not just customer experience that counts. Fragmented experiences will generate unnecessary repeat customer contact which create low levels of morale and motivation among agents.

Omni-channel, are we there yet?

Contact Babel reports that there are 6,200 contact centres in the UK, with 734,000 agent positions.

Dimension Data forecasts that by the end of 2017 most contact centres will support an average of nine channels. But, at the same time, today, just 36% of businesses can track a customer journey that spans across multiples channels.

Although the concept of a 360-degree customer view was introduced over a decade ago, just 20% of contact centres say their agents can see all previous contacts in a single system. But with new light shining on chatbots and AI, we are entering a new revolution, an era set on changing how we market, sell, and communicate with customers.

Rise of the robots – will robots take over our jobs?

What does Bill Gates, the South Korean government and the Labour Party leader, Jeremy Gorbyn have in common? The answer, they feel that companies that replace workers with automation, should be taxed!

From Frankenstein to Blade Runner 2049, Hollywood is hugely responsible for shaping the collective understanding of how artificial intelligence will merge with society. All the hype surrounding AI, robots, and automation this year is enough to make anyone that believe it, have nightmares of the horror movie kind. In fact, headlines are heavy with ‘experts’ predicting that robot workers will replace humans in numerous industries in the near future, with machines and artificial intelligence expected to take a third of British jobs by 2030. The frightening scenario where human thought is overwhelmed and left in the dust.

However, AI is not coming, it’s already here. Different forms of AI surround us, aiding with so many aspects in our life. From telling us how long it will take to get to work to heating our homes. And it’s hard to escape it as we carry our smartphones – super computers in our pockets – everywhere we go. Frankly, it’s hard to imagine life without it.

Industrial revolution, revelation, or reservation?

Bill Gates believes that governments should tax companies that make use of an automated workforce, to at least temporarily slow the spread of automation and to fund other types of employment.

One can’t help but feel it ironic, coming from the world’s richest man, a self-described techno-optimist who co-founded Microsoft, one of the principal players in AI technology, don’t you think?

Change requires more change. For example: The transition from horse drawn carriages to cars wasn’t smooth and it certainly didn’t happen overnight, in fact there is a lot of ambiguity on who invented the first car and when. Although cars might seem the norm today, the march of progress were neither straight nor technologically preordained. The invention of cars impacted every aspect of human society. It led to the downfall of horse drawn carriage taxis, but because there were less horses, the streets were cleaner from horse manure. It didn’t just take away jobs but created so many, as new roads had to be built, new road rules agreed, and jobs created to ensure the rules were obeyed. Fuel production, gas stations, parking, the environmental impact, the list goes on. And with driverless cars the new darling of Silicon Valley, cars today remain an unappreciated but crucial component of our modern landscape.

We live amongst a generation that has a digital footprint even before birth, who are used to living in a blurring swirl of information overload and who can change their love life with a simple swipe to the right. As humans, we’re possibly the species most adaptable to change. Why then are we threatened at the thought of the drastic advancement of AI type technologies?

Think about the job titles that didn’t exist 10 years ago. This type of labour-saving efficiency tech should open new opportunities for better service, new jobs, and more connected experiences. Why would we want to dis-incentivise innovation?

We know a lot about the world of enhancing customer experience through automation, freeing up contact centre agents to deal with more complex issues. We also understand the apprehension towards chatbots/Virtual Agents in the customer service arena. However, Virtual Agents can do so much more than just deliver answers. Virtual Agents are not only upping the personalisation stakes. The hybrid approach of blending AI with human support enables contact centre agents to focus on complex customer queries and transactions requiring an emotive connection. A Virtual Agent, when deployed correctly, with a set of specific goals, can generate leads, increase sales, and grow a business in a big way, switching on an entire additional support channel, and this is only the beginning!

Be part of the future and conquer the fear. The following resources might offer some valuable insight to understand the positive things this type of technology can do.

Delivering ‘rockstar’ customer experiences

How to satisfy and delight your customers

Time, what an interesting and both terrifying concept. Rockstar physicists like Einstein and Sean Carroll had some interesting theories about the fabric of time, however time is something we appear to have less of. Time has become a pricey commodity.

Clock watching

No-one likes waiting. Untimely responses to customer queries are one of the hallmarks of poor customer service and precious time wasted.

It’s no surprise that respondents in a recent study by CMO Council /SAP Hybris showed that speedy and accurate responses was considered the most important attribute of customer experiences.

Rewind

We can’t hand you the keys to the DeLorean that offer second chances on improving bad customer experiences. We can however, offer some advice to get ‘back to a bright future’ filled with delightful customer experiences.

Tick Tock

With time of the essence, web self-service can be a powerful channel to enhance speedy, yet accurate answers to queries. It’s shocking how many businesses are yet to invest in this channel and the vast amount of contact centres that still rely on legacy systems (from sticky notes to manuals).

Having knowledge at the heart of your business; integrating knowledge across your website and within the contact centre will empower both contact centre agents and customers to get accurate responses quickly.

An agent knowledge-base will ensure that contact centre agents have access to up-to-date information at their fingertips, whether they are assisting customers via live chat, over the phone or email. Utilising a Natural Language Processing Engine, each key press triggers a search for the most relevant answer/s to a question.

And on your website the knowledge-base will ensure frequently asked questions can be answered quickly and consistently. The analytics of the FAQ self-service tool delivers valuable insights into trends, as the knowledge of knowing what customers are searching for will allow businesses to predict what they might ask next.

Wrestling with complex interactions and static budgets? Web self-service can save time, enhance customer satisfaction, and save money. What’s not to like?