A Tale as Old as Time: Striving for the Best Customer Service

By Rachel F Freeman, Operations Director

Every year across sectors, buzz words crop up, trends start and people look to see what is or isn’t the next “best” thing on the market – whether it be an innovative piece of machinery, the next best app, an idea to revolutionise the way we operate in a work space or indeed what we eat in order to be more efficient and focused (does a group huddle or corporate run before indulging on beetroot and chia seed smoothies sound familiar?).

Ideas keep coming, which is wonderful, and in the world of technology it is imperative to keep things fresh and dynamic in order to be responsive to the ways of the marketplace.

What drives the marketplace? The customer. Ironically (the way I see it), the one thing that doesn’t change but is at the heart of what most of us in all industries need to consider is customer service.

Customer service is a hallowed objective and yet I can’t think of any new-fangled ways to describe it another way or market the concept any differently. Customer service is at the heart of what we in the workplace all do and the only thing that changes through time is how we deliver it based on the tools and the circumstances of our era.

There was a time in living memory when consumer (retail) banking, for example, was conducted entirely via “bricks and mortar” branches and/or the phone. This meant that banking times were dictated by branch opening hours and phones being available and the likelihood of needing to wait or stand on a queue for an average of 15 to 20 minutes was considered acceptable. The customer service was focused on the friendly demeanour of the teller or bank manager and what type of advice or loan the bank could provide to make the customer feel properly guided. A lot of faith needed to be placed in the people in the bank to manage the retail accounts of the customers.

Nowadays it doesn’t take much to see how things have changed drastically on so many levels. Banks are selling or renting many of their former beautiful Neo-Classical buildings so they are converted to restaurants/cafes/clothing stores; they are closing various high street branches and instead there is a bigger focus on their digital strategy and “modernised approach” to customer service. The customers who used to be wowed by the grandeur of their bank branch now need to be kept in awe by the digital experience they can get in return.

The modern digital benefits mean that banking can now be done 24/7 – you can access your accounts directly and manage your transfer seamlessly online at any time you want and now – with mobile devices – you can perform the transactions from wherever you need to without worrying about the constraints of a fixed location.

Customer service has gained levels of autonomy the customer never knew before – the customer has been empowered to take control of his/her accounts and with access to online information a customer can quickly assess and compare deals for loans or products and services with a few quick internet searches.

Has this new world of customer service left anything behind? This is for the customer to decide and for vendors to be in close contact with their clients to understand their needs and requirements.

Creative Virtual is providing banks with self-help tools to enable their customers to be empowered and we need to listen to our clients to understand what their customers want so we can adjust the tool we provide to help them give the best user experience. We are quick to respond to client needs and have allowed our clients to access online reporting directly so they can be empowered themselves to see how the tools they apply on their digital spaces are performing. We spend time adding elements of personalisation into our tools so that our clients can ensure that their customers are remembered when they return online and they can access their specific account information without needing to repeat themselves.

Similarly, our seamless live chat capabilities will give a customer an opportunity to speak to a live agent when required and the agent will have all of the customer’s information along with the previous conversation leading to the live chat so there is no need for the customer to have to repeat his or her issue.Greater London Enterprise Awards

Creative Virtual are proud to have been awarded the latest accolade of Best Customer Service Solutions Provider 2017 in the Greater London Enterprise Awards. This is not too much of a surprise as Creative Virtual aims to listen to our clients, who in turn are working with their customers, so we can be on the frontline for amending our tools to provide the customer experience that works the most efficiently for the current circumstances of our digital world.

The tools will change throughout the years but the objective of keeping the customer happy is a constant through time. For as long as we have our eyes and ears open to the needs of the customer we are ready to respond and relish the challenge. It is what keeps us fresh and motivated.

Our thanks to the Greater London Enterprise Awards for naming Creative Virtual the Best Customer Service Solutions Provider! You can read our official announcement here. And you can see our customer service solutions in action for yourself by requesting a live demo.

Good, Better, Best. How Does Your Self-Service Rank?

By Mandy Reed, Marketing Manager (Global)

“Good, better, best. Never let it rest. ‘Til your good is better and your better is best.”

I have very distinct memories of my mother repeating this saying to us kids when we were growing up and, in a classic ‘I’m turning into my mother’ moment, found myself saying it to my niece a few weeks ago as well. I think we can all relate to striving to be our best and the great feeling of having someone else acknowledge our hard work to get there. Creative Virtual takes great pride in the self-service technology we provide, and so it’s an honour to be named Best Self-Service Solutions Provider – UK by the 2017 TMT Technology Awards.

There has been a huge surge of interest lately in chatbots and virtual agents with new start-ups offering the technology popping up every week, but not all chatbots are created equal. When it comes to using the technology for customer self-service, it’s really important to select the right solution for your company and your customers. In particular, organisations need to look for technology that has a proven track record in the customer experience space.

When it comes to providing conversational self-service, Creative Virtual’s V-Person™ virtual agents and chatbots stand out as the best for a lot of reasons, including:

  • Knowledge management platform – Knowledge management is key for delivering accurate and consistent information to customers. With V-Portal™ (Creative Virtual’s knowledge management, workflow management and business intelligence platform), organisations can use a single knowledgebase to power their chatbot across contact channels and ensure that customers are receiving reliable, consistent information no matter how they chose to engage. Instead of trying to guess which contact channel will give them the correct information, customers can contact you with confidence in the way that’s most convenient for them. Backing our chatbots with V-Portal also gives organisations the option to customise responses by channel (for example, give a shorter answer on a mobile app) and easily update content across all customer support channels in one place.
  • Integration with personalised account information – Logged in or authenticated users should be able to receive responses specific to them. This integration allows the virtual agent to provide individualised information about a customer’s orders, billing, devices, subscriptions, accounts, sales advice, etc. to create a personalised self-service experience.
  • Integration with other channels and support options – Customers should never feel like they are starting over when they transition between channels or support options. Our technology offers options to put the proper integrations in place in order to give customers the flexibility to move to other channels while maintaining the context of their conversations. For example, a customer using the chatbot on the website can be offered the option to be seamlessly escalated to a live chat agent and have their conversation history passed from virtual to live agent for a continuous experience.
  • Combination of machine learning and human curation of content – A customer service chatbot is not the place for pure artificial intelligence (AI). Based on our extensive experience, Creative Virtual has developed a hybrid approach to self-learning that enables our V-Person implementations to adapt in a very predictable way. The combination of human and machine learning allows the system to continually improve while also enabling organisations to maintain control over the reliability of the virtual agent responses.
  • End-to-end support journey – Even though effective self-service is key to keeping customers happy, we don’t ignore the role that contact centre and live chat agents play in the support journey. Our technology allows organisations to also support their human agents with the same knowledgebase that’s powering the self-service chatbot. This not only reinforces consistency across contact channels – both self-service and human-assisted – but it also gives the opportunity to implement a feedback loop in line with industry best practice. V-Portal offers workflow functionality that allows support agents to submit feedback and suggestions to chatbot responses in real-time. This feedback can then be reviewed, changes made to the knowledgebase and updates deployed quickly across all contact channels. This feedback loop enables live agents to keep content accurate and up-to-date for themselves and the chatbot just by doing their normal jobs.

Our thanks to the TMT Technology Awards for recognising Creative Virtual’s self-service solutions as the best! You can read our official announcement here.

Businesswoman of the YearOn a personal note, I’d also like to thank TMT News for recently awarding me Best CX Solutions Business Marketer – UK in their 2017 Businesswoman of the Year Awards. I’m proud of the work I do at Creative Virtual and am thrilled to be acknowledged as the best. It’s an honour to be personally recognised for my hard work in a rapidly growing industry filled with so much marketing talent.

Ready to take the next step in making your self-service the best? Reach out to us for a live demo to see how your customer support strategy can benefit from Creative Virtual’s award-winning virtual agents.

Reshaping Customer Engagement Priorities in the Financial Sector

By Philip Chuck, Territory General Manager, Greater China

“Changing World, Reshaping Priorities” was the theme of the 2017 Banking Conference hosted by Hong Kong Institute of Bankers (HKIB) at the end of September. The conference looked at how the financial services industry can reshape their priorities, try new business models and better leverage technologies to improve operational efficiency and profitability against the backdrop of shifting customer preferences and economic policies. Creative Virtual had the privilege of joining HKT at the annual conference to meet with hundreds of bankers interested in digital transformation.

One key concern voiced at the conference was the need for a better customer engagement strategy. Financial brands struggle with huge call volumes and high operation costs in their call centres. As customer preferences are shifting, companies are faced with the need to handle multiple digital customer contact channels in addition to more traditional channels like phone. This can create even higher costs associated with staffing contact centres and training agents.

At the HKT booth we showed how chatbot solutions can help financial organisations dealing with these issues. Many visitors were familiar with “Ask Amy”, the virtual assistant chatbot we’ve implemented for HSBC in Hong Kong. With this technology, you can provide better customer service in e-channels by offering instant, accurate 24/7 support. Customers also receive consistent answers across the different digital channels and, through back-end integrations, are provided with personalised information based on their specific account or profile.

Chatbots also help improve efficiency within call centres and contact centres. By allowing customers to self-serve online, human resources can be prioritised for more important or complex engagements. The technology can be used within the contact centre as well to support agents by providing an easy way for them to access the information they need to help customers. This reduces average handling times and improves customer satisfaction. Chatbots are also proven to reduce the time and costs associated with training live agents.

There was also a buzz at the conference about artificial intelligence (AI) with a general agreement that AI is everywhere – even a rice cooker with fuzzy logic is now AI! Natural language processing (NLP) is part of the AI field and what allows our chatbots to understand the intent of customer questions and probe further if needed to provide the right and consistent answer.

It was a pleasure to be a part of HKT’s booth and spend the day with some of their experienced team. My thanks to HKT for the invitation to join them promoting FinTech, and to HKIB for hosting a successful event.

Want to learn more? Request a demo and discover how you can create a better customer engagement strategy with chatbot technology.

HKIB Banking Conference

 

Resisting Change Can Spell CX Disaster

By Mandy Reed, Marketing Manager (Global)

Over the summer, one of my Netflix obsessions was ‘Call the Midwife’, a TV drama that follows a group of midwives working in London’s East End during the 1950s and 60s. There often seemed to be a conflict between the traditional customs or ways of thinking and modern ideas that drove the storyline of the episodes. For example, patients resisting new medical practices such as giving birth in a maternity home instead of at home or the older generation of midwives dismissing the younger nurses’ ideas on topics like allowing husbands to be present for the birth. Often the arguments came in the form of “If it was good enough for my mum, it’s good enough for me!” or “We’ve always done it that way!”

Humans – and companies – are creatures of habit and often resistant to change. While the ‘but it’s always been done that way’ reasoning makes for a relatable and compelling TV show, it can spell disaster for organisations when they resist recognising changes in customer behaviours and preferences. Blockbuster has become a posterchild for missed opportunity, passing on the chance to purchase Netflix and then trying to get into the streaming trend too late, which ultimately led to the company’s demise.

When it comes to customer experience, organisations can’t afford to ignore the impact technology is having on the way we communicate with each other and with brands. Today’s highly connected digital customers are looking for 24/7 access to information and support across multiple channels and devices. They want a seamless experience that is personalised, consistent and easy. Companies like Amazon are often applauded for their superior customer experience, and customers are now expecting that same level of service from all the organisations they engage with, regardless of industry.

As consumers increasingly turn to self-service and digital channels, organisations need to analyse the changing preferences of their customer base and look to incorporate new channels and technologies into their customer support strategy. The change to self-service needs to happen in conjunction with an evolution of the contact centre. Current capabilities of AI-powered chatbots and virtual agents put these solutions in the perfect position to be complementary with the contact centre and live agents.

While some sceptics talk about chatbots and virtual agents in the customer service space as a passing fad, the reality is that they are a tried and tested tool for providing digital self-service and are helping to define the future of customer engagement. Since the days of the early chatbots, these tools have improved greatly in their conversational abilities thanks to advances in natural language processing (NLP) and artificial intelligence (AI). The evolution of customer expectations has also driven massive amounts of innovation in the technology to allow for flexible back-end integration, easier maintenance and a reliable hybrid approach to self-learning.

Take the first step toward meeting the expectations of digital customers with chatbots by requesting a demo to see this technology in action. Change can be hard, but smart organisations (and midwives!) know it is the way forward.

Chatbots are Transforming the Way Mobile Apps are Built and Used

By Mandy Reed, Marketing Manager (Global)

“By 2021, more than 50% of enterprises will spend more per annum on bots and chatbot creation than traditional mobile app development.”

As one of Gartner’s top strategic predictions for 2018 and beyond, this projection really drives home the fact that chatbots are more than just a passing fad. Gartner explains that chatbots are becoming the face of artificial intelligence (AI) and transforming the way apps are built. Forward-thinking organisations are staying a step ahead of their competitors by examining their digital strategies and finding ways to incorporate chatbot technology into their customer engagement plans.

Some companies have already made their chatbot available in their customer app. One example is Time Warner Cable who offer customers the option to get instant help from their virtual agent, and even escalate to a live agent when needed, in the MY TWC app – check out the video below to see it in action.

Other organisations are taking advantage of the growing popularity of messaging platforms by deploying their chatbot on apps such as Facebook Messenger and WeChat. These platforms have become key communication channels, and chatbots offer a cost-effective way to provide 24/7 support to customers already using these apps to connect with family and friends. For example, Transport for NSW in Australia uses RITA (Real-time Intelligent Transport Assistant), their Transport Bot, to provide bus, train, ferry and light rail service information on Facebook Messenger.

A survey published earlier this year found that 71% of millennials (ages 18-34) surveyed were interested in trying chatbots from consumer brands. According to that same survey, 67% said they were likely to buy items and services from brands via chatbots. Based on those results, it’s no wonder that enterprises are starting to seriously invest in chatbots to engage with customers. Some may even look to completely replace their traditional mobile app with a chatbot.

branded chatbot survey

It’s not enough for companies to invest in any chatbot, though – they need to invest in the solution that’s right for their needs. There are new vendors popping up every day claiming to provide chatbots and virtual agents for customer support, but smart organisations know it’s essential to work with an experienced provider offering a proven solution. Smart organisations also know that chatbots need to be implemented as an integrated part of their overall customer engagement strategy, not as a stand-alone tool or app. Here are a few resources to get you started:

Don’t Worry, the Customer Only Wants You to Be Perfect

By Scott Tompkins, Enterprise Account Executive, USA

So…. I have this diploma and now have no idea what to do! Anyone else been there after graduation? Being from Delaware, I thought I would try my hand at one of the many financial service companies that call the First State home. My interview seemed to go well and as it was concluding the hiring manager asked me to sit with one of her agents for 30 minutes so that I would have a better understanding of what I would be doing in this role. I sat down and listened to “Steve” take his first call. The caller was a very polite woman who I assume had lived a long, enjoyable life. She was calling to cancel her credit card. I can’t recall all of the dialogue but when she hung up the phone not only was the card not cancelled but she now was the proud owner of the “World Traveler Card.” How did that happen? At that moment, I realized this was not the job for me! What an incredibly difficult position for an agent. How do you show empathy for your customers while at the same time complying with the push to meet goals the company has outlined?

Fast forward a dozen or so years and now I am a seasoned member of the working class that at times requires support from brands I purchase from. My expectations when speaking with an agent are that they will handle every situation the way I would handle it if I was on the other end. Imagine asking an agent to meet each caller’s personal expectations. I really dislike the word “fair”, and don’t allow my children to use it, but my goodness, that is an unfair expectation.

So, what is the answer? For me, it’s automation. When I take inventory of all the reasons I pick up the phone or live chat with a brand, most of those things could be answered in some type of automated fashion or by a chatbot. Whether I need information about my account or steps to troubleshoot a process, I shouldn’t need another person to take the time to help me. Chatbots have evolved in 2017 to be intelligent, easy to access and conversational. They should be used in everyday transactions and leave the “high-touch” scenarios for the agents. Companies should strive to create an environment where customers are able to get immediate support for everyday issues, while at the same time having agents available for consultative help. Companies will not only create a superior customer experience but also help bring sanity back to their agents. Allow the agent to spend their day consulting with customers on new products and offering advice where necessary. Let the chatbot handle the password reset, account balance, and “I need to reset my router” questions.

Contact us to learn more about our chatbot experts and solutions.

Excellent Customer Service: What’s the secret to achieving success now and in the future?

By Susan Ott, Customer Success Manager, USA

Often, customer service can be a challenging world. Solving problems, providing information, making sure things run smoothly…it’s not always easy.

When I take a moment and think about companies that emanate unmatched customer service, I see an atmosphere in which employees and management alike are engaged on the front lines with their customers. Pride in the company you work for should always be at the forefront of every interaction. That emotion of pride instills a sense of teamwork and customers can feel it!

Companies who employ individuals who go above and beyond will always win me over. Most often it’s those little “extra” moments that customers remember and foster a sense of loyalty to your brand. Delivering a personalized and effortless customer experience is really what it’s all about.

As we find ourselves in this age of internet-driven, 24- hour news cycles, we see a world full of ever changing landscapes. Customer touch points are rapidly expanding, and we see companies asking: How can we keep up and stay relevant?

Fortunately, new technologies are out there opening pathways for us to build a dialogue with our customers. We are already seeing that chatbots will have a major impact on the world of customer service over the next several years. Digital interactions will help employees complete tasks both great and small. Features that make our conversations seem natural and super convenient are constantly being improved upon.

The bottom line with regards to the future of customer service? Focus on creating a seamless experience BEFORE, DURING and AFTER a customer interaction. That is what customers want and if a chatbot can help with the process, we shouldn’t be opposed!

Contact us to hear more about how we can help with AI experts and solutions.

Time Back To Do The Important Things

By Christina Wilson, Head of Customer Success, USA

As a busy, working mom of three daughters, I am always challenged to find more time. Time for dinner, kid’s activities, bill paying, going to the gym, excelling at work, you get the picture. I am equally challenged to make certain I am focusing on the important things. It is an exhausting, emotional and rewarding journey!

I am very passionate about finding ways to steal back time in my day to keep the main thing the main thing. I think that is why I find my job so rewarding. I spend my days helping clients build Customer Service strategies that give people their time back, allowing them to go to their son’s soccer game or watch their 3rd grade daughter’s Fall play instead of spending their evening on hold for hours with a Customer Service representative.

Artificial Intelligence or AI has reached new levels in the last 5-10 years and has become easy to access, intelligent and conversational. What used to require a long, drawn out phone or chat conversation with a live agent, now can be accomplished in a 2-5-minute personalized conversation with a chatbot. Smart chatbots can allow customers to pay a bill, book a flight or file an insurance claim in just fractions of the time it took before while achieving the goal of giving each customer time back in their day to focus on the important things. I can’t wait to see how AI really grows in the next five years! How smart and efficient can AI become?

If you are interested in giving your customers a better experience and giving them time back in their day, reach out to learn more about our AI experts and solutions.

#CXDay: Listening to Voice of Employee to Drive Better Customer Experiences

By Mandy Reed, Marketing Manager (Global)

Happy CX Day! Today marks the annual global celebration of the companies and professionals that create great experiences for their customers. The impact customer experience has on building and retaining your customer base can’t be ignored, especially in today’s world of digitally-savvy, technology-empowered consumers.

Developing and implementing Voice of Customer (VoC) initiatives has helped many organisations improve their customer experience over the years by capturing valuable feedback and actionable insights. More recently though, smart companies are coming to realise that Voice of Employee (VoE) can also have a powerful impact on their customer experience strategy. In fact, Gartner predicts:

“By 2022, 35% of organisations with more than 5,000 employees will augment their annual employee engagement surveys with pulse, indirect and inferred feedback to build a more complete view of the employee experience.”

Organisations are struggling to respond to the rapid pace of both external and internal changes and the ways these changes are affecting their employees. This includes tackling constantly evolving customer experience needs. While it seems like a no-brainer to get input from customers to drive CX decisions, organisations can’t afford to overlook the importance of employee feedback as well. Employees play a key role in the overall experience consumers have with your company and brand. They can provide valuable insights into their interactions with customers as well as internal tools and processes.

While implementing a robust VoE initiative isn’t something that will happen overnight, a great place to start when it comes to customer experience is getting feedback from contact centre agents. Organisations are putting a great deal of focus and energy into digital transformation programmes in order to improve CX, and contact centres should be instrumental in driving that progress. Your agents are the ones providing support to customers – whether that be by phone, email, live chat or social channels – and the ones who deal with internal tools and processes day in and day out. They know what customers are repeatedly identifying as pain points and what their own pain points are when trying to deliver a quality support experience.

One way to empower contact centre agents to share their voice is to set up a feedback loop that allows them to provide real-time suggestions and comments on content. Agents can then easily flag information that is inaccurate or out-of-date and identify content that is incomplete or simply not helpful when they are engaging with customers. They can also submit comments that can help identify or explain issues with other parts of your customer experience. For example, if agents are repeatedly answering the same question over and over they can help pinpoint the issue based on their interactions with customers. Perhaps customers can’t find the information they need on the website or a feature in the mobile app isn’t working as intended – agents can share this valuable insight quickly so the appropriate steps can be actioned to correct and improve the customer experience. Agent feedback can also be used to enhance the employee experience for your agents, which in turn creates happier, more engaged agents providing better support for your customers.

You can learn more about implementing an industry-defining feedback loop in this recent Innovation Showcase webinar. Listening to the voices of your employees can go a long way in taking your CX from good to great.

“Thank you for calling..this is Mike, how can I help?”

By Mike Murphy, CEO, USA

Taking customer service calls is a lot harder than you imagine it would be. No one is particularly happy to be speaking with you, and they get a little less happy with every passing second. I’ve said it many times…being a call center agent was the most difficult, challenging, and rewarding job I’ve ever had. The goal is to warmly greet a stranger, figure out which of the hundred or so possible issues they need help with, convey empathy in an honest way, talk them through a resolution, wrap the call with appropriate branding and thank them for being a customer…and do it all in 12 minutes, before picking up the next call with the same level of energy…rinse and repeat 30 or so times in a shift, unwillingly do the same in your dreams at night, and start again the next day without missing a beat. By the way, you’re also logging case notes in real time, clicking through a call-flow tool, and looking up information in several different windows. Heavy drinking the night before is ill-advised.

On the plus side…it’s a metrics-driven job.  AHT, CSAT, FCR, NPS, Conversion Rate, AOV…everything is captured, reviewed, tracked and ranked. Your aim is to incorporate the fundamentals of good customer service: Make it effortless, Be nice, Be quick…while completing as many conversations in a day as possible. Talented customer service reps aren’t cheap, so maximizing their productivity is key and has been my professional focus for the last 15 years. Agent chat was the first technology I witnessed dramatically increase agent productivity. Now a great “contact” center agent could have 80-100 quality conversations per day instead of 30. Learning how to translate the fundamental principles of customer service to work within a digital conversation was also a lot of fun to figure out. Chat provided some interesting learnings…including the fact that creepy people are even creepier in chat. Working alongside other talented individuals, we figured out a playbook for best-in-class chat agent training. And now we have chatbots. We’re now applying the same principles from the chat-agent training playbook to chat-bot training. And we’re also helping out agents with bots of their own and driving the next leap in productivity. Great chat agents with bot-assistance can now do 150+ chats per day. And the bots themselves are happy to do 100,000+ conversations per day…and haven’t showed up to work sporting a hangover just yet. Can’t wait to see where we go next.

Reach out to learn more about our AI experts and solutions.