Reader Forum: Get smart about smartphone customer care

Editor’s Note: Welcome to our weekly Reader Forum section. In an attempt to broaden our interaction with our readers we have created this forum for those with something meaningful to say to the wireless industry. We want to keep this as open as possible, but maintain some editorial control so as to keep it free of commercials or attacks. Please send along submissions for this section to our editors at: dmeyer@rcrwireless.comor tford@rcrwireless.com.
By now the customer care challenges associated with smart phones are well-documented. To be sure, carriers expect higher revenue from smartphones as from traditional mobile handsets. But with these gains come twice the number of calls to contact centers and twice the average handle time as customers and agents work together through the more complex issues of smartphones.
It’s time to get smart about customer care for smartphones. Wireless service providers can keep support costs under control without sacrificing smartphone customer service quality. By combining enhanced training and tools to create a contact center experience specifically designed to support complex device issues, providers can back up exceptional technology with exceptional service, driving costs down and customer satisfaction up.
Starting with contact center specialists chosen for their advanced problem-solving skills and technical savvy, wireless service providers can implement three best practices to mitigate the cost of supporting smartphones:
–Build lifecycle programs to reduce the number of smartphone-related inquiries coming in to a contact center. Route customers to the appropriate customer service agent based on the type of device they own to reduce call time, manage troubleshooting expectations and mitigate customer frustrations. Additionally, provide proactive outbound notifications via SMS messaging, e-mail, or voicemail advising customers of software updates and providing links to online information. These types of solutions address questions before they become problems.
–Establish a core support team, or center of excellence, dedicated specifically to smartphones and complex devices. This group specializes in supporting tier-two voice and data issues and performs warranty exchange work, if appropriate, to reduce the costs associated with providing this support for smartphones. This group should have enhanced training and tools. They also must have deep technical expertise with broad access to the wireless service providers’ systems. Preferably, establish separate queues by device operating system to reduce the number of times a customer is transferred.
–Enable fast issue resolution. Use technology to drive proactive customer care (via phone apps, SMS and text messages) to deliver proactive reminders; increase self-diagnosis and issue resolution (e.g., availability of diagnostic guides on the website as well as webchat); equip agents to resolve issues quickly, accurately and on the first call using robust knowledgebase systems; and analyze inquiries and website browsing trends to formulate new customer care strategies.
To generate twice the revenue of feature phones, wireless service providers need to be twice as prepared for the customer service challenge; that usually means working with an experienced customer management partner who can provide the latest in highly-trained, cost-effective support. By minimizing the time to resolution, enabling self-diagnosis, and promoting proactive customer care, providers can maximize two other valuable resources: customer satisfaction and loyalty.