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 we maintain some editorial control to keep it free of commercials or attacks. Please send along submissions for this section to our editors at: dmeyer@rcrwireless.com.
With smartphones and other connected devices powering so much of our daily activity, it becomes a big headache when something isn’t working right. A broken link in the productivity chain can instantly throw a day off-track at work or at home. All we want is for our problem to be resolved quickly and effectively so we can continue on about our business- both professional and personal.
Service providers understand this need, and believe it or not their desires are the same. A prompt and successful resolution not only means a satisfied customer that is less likely to churn, but it also leaves more time for representatives to attend to other users who may have more complex problems. To capitalize on this, service providers are constantly thinking about ways to increase speed and efficiency of customer service. One solution is using the technology already at customers’ fingertips to provide self-care options through internet and mobile device support tools. In fact, in a recent Amdocs study, 64% of service providers surveyed said they could reduce incoming calls by offering the right self-care options like this.
Oddly enough, although the majority (72%) of service providers think that the customer would rather go through a call center to fix a problem only 30% of consumers favor calling the contact center for help. On the other hand, 44% would actually prefer to use self-service, but are unable to easily find a reliable answer. Here lies the problem. While self-service methods would benefit the service provider and the user, these options must be dependable. Unfortunately, we found that only 16% of consumers say they consistently find correct answers online. There’s clearly room for improvement.
So how do we fix this?
It is evident that service providers need to improve the customer experience to adjust how they are perceived and, as a result, increase adoption of self-service. They also need to explore the channels through which they deliver troubleshooting, such as a single online destination, social media and proactive notifications.
The research found that 91% of the consumers would use a single online site to find solutions to mobile device problems, saving them from time-consuming search engine pursuits. This overwhelming response shows that service providers need to consolidate information from internal and external sources into one simple-to-navigate resource.
With everyone and their mother (literally) having a presence on social media sites, using these could be a highly effective way to listen to and reach customers. If fact, 54% of the customers have complained to their service provider directly via social media channels for support related issues. However, three out of four of these customers also said that they did not receive a satisfactory response via the channel. It is important for providers to bridge this gap by improving the quality of response on social media channels, using customer insight to proactively deflect support inquiries.
Lastly, sending proactive notifications and solutions from providers when service issues arise is key to keeping customers from having to pick up the phone and dial the call center. And customers agree: A whopping 96% say they expect service providers to proactively inform them about major known issues related to their devices. They also indicated their preferred method of notification. E-mails top the consumer choice for proactive notifications at 60%, followed by text message alerts at 53% and social media outreach at 28%.
It is clear that self-service provides the much-needed solution to the current call center dilemma. Saving time that the customer spends trying to rectify an issue allows them to return to their fast-paced schedule as quickly as possible without missing a beat. It also saves service providers the high cost of taking incoming service calls and frees up representatives to handle the more intricate cases. All in all, everyone wins.
