Transforming service delivery from 1-on-1 to 1-2-Many
The Internet changed not only the way we market and shop, but also how we interact with customers. Until the widespread use of Social Media, the Internet was really a one way system with consumers searching for products and services with final transaction taking place either online or offline.
Today, Social Media and Instant Messaging (IM) tools such as “Live Chat” and “Messenger Services” give us more opportunities to connect with our customers before and after any financial transactions. Whilst this may appear as a challenge in terms of cost and staffing, it is a great opportunity for enhancing customer experience and gaining customer loyalty whilst reducing costs of transactions.
Here are some of the reasons no matter how large or small your company is, you should embrace multichannel 1-2-Many approach instead of 1-on-1 service delivery.
Customer Choice
Enabling customers to choose their means of communication sends a positive signal. It signals to clients that the supplier of product or service is willing to be flexible and work using means that is most convenient for the customer instead of the supplier.
Context
Customers may choose the channel to contact suppliers depending on their location, time, available means, and also the comfort level of the clients themselves. The old concept of “It is on the website” may work for some people but many people are not good at, or not comfortable to follow technical instructions or filling official forms solo. By allowing people to use alternative means, suppliers can respond to differently according to the context.
For example, if you are filling a complex form on a website you may prefer to initiate a live chat session on the website in order to ask questions as you go through the form. Calling someone (assuming the option is even available) and then waiting in a queue might not be ideal nor practical, specially if it is midnight when you are filling the form.
Geographical Flexibility
Many companies relocated their Call Centres from high-cost locations to low-cost centres in the last 20 years. Many customers are put off by this as accents, local knowledge, cultural differences, etc, all have become irritant and friction points across the customer experience path.
Alternative channels such as Live Chat, WhatsApp, Social Media, etc. allow suppliers to reduce these friction points as these issues are less obvious in the anonymous world of the Internet and Social Media.
Follow-the-Sun Service
Just like multi-location call centres, using Social Media, Chat, and Messaging apps such as WhatsApp enables suppliers to offer 24/7 service without the high costs that was associated with this type of services in the past. Follow-the-sun service is much easier to deliver using Internet based services and overcome inherent costs associated with such ambitious services.
Productivity – 1-on-1 vs 1-2-Many
This is much ignored factor in the use of multichannel communications, and from supplier’s perspective the most tangible and measurable financial benefit.
When providing technical or sales support, an Agent using a telephone can only answer and deal with 1 calling customer at a time. When using Chat, WhatsApp, or Social Media, the same Agent can handle multiple cases simultaneously.
Here is an illustration. Supporting technical issues on the phone requires the Agent to wait whilst the caller tries downloading a file, changing settings, restarting their device, etc. All the time that the caller is carrying out these tasks, the Agent is in effect idle even though they are showing as being on an active call. These are unproductive times for the Agent which reduces their productivity and increases response times for other customers waiting in the queue.
Using Chat, Social Media, or Messenger services allows the Agent to handle other enquiries during these inevitable idle times. That is why companies should be pushing their service delivery towards Multichannel (1-2-Many) rather than the traditional 1-on-1. This is a smart use of Agent times and resource deployment whilst enhancing customer experience by reducing waiting time.
Summary
Using multichannel to underpin your sales and support delivery mechanism can increase productivity, improve customer satisfaction, and reduce costs of delivery. At Cognisant Associates we have a wealth experience in delivering and implementing multichannel solutions at large enterprises as well as SMEs, so contact us to see how we can improve your customer service.
About the Author:
Ali Zartash-Lloyd is Managing Partner at Cognisant Associates a business consulting partnership. He is a management graduate from the University of Leicester. He held Senior Management positions at a number of Multinationals for over a decade including Director of Global SME Products at Avaya Inc. and European Sales & Marketing Director at Samsung Telecom.
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