One of the more appealing concepts embraced by executives in recent years is delivering first contact resolution through the use of experts on demand. Could there be anything more obvious than using existing resources to resolve customer issues quickly? The employees are already paid for – seems like a great way to leverage existing investments, doesn’t it? Not to mention that applications exist to enable these “experts” with access to relevant information and manage the communications flow. Let’s put a bow on this one and wait for the oohs and ahs.

Not so fast, this could be that present from your Great Aunt Myrtle – the one you open with trepidation. Is it just what you’ve always wanted?  Or, have you been re-gifted with some old solution polished up to look new?  Is it that free trip to Florida that ends up costing a fortune because of the hidden fees and the extras? Is it that gift encased in plastic that you just know would be perfect if only you could get to it? Does it come with instructions and some assembly required?

Now, I don’t want to leave the impression that you should avoid this type of solution. With the right planning and the right folks involved, it can create a competitive advantage. But, some assembly is required. As with other UC projects this one requires buy-in and participation from multiple organizations within the company. People, process and technology continue to be the three areas to be addressed. And, in my opinion, technology is the easy part. A few questions to consider as you move forward:

• Who are the experts and where do they reside in the organization? Is expertise self-declared? Or, is there a formalized process for declaring and communicating expertise?
• How and when will experts be accessible? Do experts really have available time to respond? What happens if experts don’t reply?
• How or will experts interact with the call center? What are the handoffs? Will customers have direct access to experts?
• Do you want to track what your experts are doing? What metrics or KPIs are relevant for experts? How are experts evaluated and tied to customer satisfaction?
• Where does ownership for the results of “experts on demand” fall?

Once you have the answers to these questions, you can identify who needs to be involved in the project (HR, Division Heads, IT, Call Center, etc.). Once the implications of the answers are evaluated, you can move forward with rolling out a customer service and support solution delivering first call resolution through the maximization of your human assets irrespective of where they sit. If done correctly, customers will receive better answers faster and customer satisfaction (and, hopefully customer loyalty) will increase. Employee satisfaction should also increase and, as a result, employee retention. Done incorrectly, it could be that gift from Great Aunt Myrtle – employees feel over-worked and underappreciated, customer calls go into the black hole, there’s lot of finger pointing as to who is responsible, and so on.

Tags: Unified Communications by Laura DiSciullo
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Is it possible to deliver exceptional customer service anymore? Was it ever possible? With each advance in the options for – purchasing services – finding information – rectifying problems – resolving complaints, the end-state moves further away. Consumers are not just demanding more, they are expecting more. Once, access to a toll free number was considered good service. Today, round the clock entree via phone, web, email, etc. (foundation of the customer service hierarchy of needs) is expected. But, that does nothing to distinguish a company. Which leads us to the second level in the pyramid – each application must be easy to use. Sounds obvious, but so few companies do it. It truly is a change of focus from how a company wants to manage the interaction to how consumers want to communicate. One has only to experience any of the myriad of voice/speech response applications out there today and compare to a real conversation to understand the difference. Which brings us to the next level – customers want informed resources. This is where the impact of unified communications is felt. True unified communications is not just telephony mixed with some messaging with a dash of collaboration and a sprinkle of video. It is the combination of all conversations (regardless of type) with context. How well is the consumer known?  What have they done recently? Do they have to repeat the same information over and over? Easy enough.  All you have to do is get all the departments within your organization to share information in a timely and consistent manner. Ok, who am I kidding? Now, we get to the top of the hierarchy – awareness, or, anticipating what customers want and meeting their expectations holistically rather than satisfying discrete events. Experience creates loyalty; not individual events. Realize that many of those conversations are happening outside your control.

 While this appears to be a “no win” situation; it is also a “must play” situation. Technology advances are both a blessing and a curse. It is easier to support these consumer expectations. Yet, consumers expect more because they have access to applications powered by this technology. Was it ever possible to reach the top? Probably not. The challenge is making the conscious decision to own all the communications or to let your customers speak without you. Now more than ever, it is critical to balance the costs and the benefits of retaining and growing an increasingly precious customer base.

Tags: Unified Communications by Laura DiSciullo
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I had to contact a company’s customer service and technical support departments the other day - I won’t say the company’s name, but it rhymes with Pemantic. They don’t have a unified communications strategy. This was an extremely grueling experience, especially since I know that there’s better technology available, and that the technology used was implemented very poorly.

[Read more →]

Tags: Unified Communications Information, Unified Communications Information by Blair Pleasant
1 Comment »

I had to contact a company’s customer service and technical support departments the other day – I won’t say the company’s name, but it rhymes with Pemantic. This was an extremely grueling experience, especially since I know that there’s better technology available, and that the technology used was implemented very poorly. [Read more →]

Tags: Unified Communications Information by Blair Pleasant
1 Comment »