The lockdown caused by COVID19 is testing companies’ responsiveness. Communication has evolved, marking a before and after in the way of user contact. Thousands of people, especially millennials, were already used to contacting companies through chatbots, e-mail, social networks, etc. But with the current situation there has been an impressive increase in traffic on these contact channels.
People who did not use the new technologies have welcomed them, either to seek information, a service or a product, or to contact their relatives. Do not forget that we are in difficult moments. The state of alarm has confined us to our homes, and practically most businesses have been forced to lower the blind or adapt through online sales and home delivery.
Contact center services offer an effective result in the current situation
In this situation, contact centers around the world are adapting quickly amid high call volumes, service cancellations, high market volatility and growing uncertainty. Day by day, the world is changing, and business with it. Most contact centers are transitioning from office to telecommuting, putting additional pressure on their ability to respond to customers effectively.
State of alarm: Which are the trends in volume and contact channels?
Companies of all kinds and from all over the world are experiencing continuous increases in the volume of contacts received from their customers and we can say that there is clearly a strong correlation with the spread of COVID-19. We see that there is a strong link between the rapid spread of COVID-19 around the world and the spikes in support requests that occur in response, as customers react to news of the outbreak.
Omnichannel
Customers are increasingly turning to chat, social media, and texting amid the crisis. As the crisis takes hold, customers are increasingly turning to the fastest and most accessible channels they already use to interact with friends and family.
Businesses in the sectors most affected by COVID-19 are experiencing the largest increases in the volume of interactions through these channels. For example, in March, there are companies that have seen an increase in interactions with their customers through messaging channels by more than 600%, and customer requests through web chat by around 200%. For example, many airlines are seeing how chat and social networks are being particularly used by customers during the crisis as it allows them to get quick answers to questions and problems.
MESSAGING: WHATSAPP IS ON THE BOOM
In this complicated environment, particularly channels such as WhatsApp Business, which we constantly use to communicate with friends and family, are particularly important due to their ease of use and immediacy:
- Help the company’s own staff. High workflows can create stress and a feeling of understaffing. WhatsApp Business is a very useful tool to interact with clients, being simple, easy to implement and manage. It is a chat that, in addition to maintaining the conversation history, allows you to share images and videos, which can sometimes be very useful to reduce resolution times and relieve agents of extra work. It is a highly recommended way of contact in times of lockdown, without leaving other channels such as telephone, chat, email. Think that during confinement the use of WhatsApp has increased by 40%.
- Proactive notifications. You can communicate with your clients through proactive notifications, reminders, and view opinions, deliveries, and other resources, thus avoiding calls to the contact center and freeing your agents from these tasks.
- Divert customers to effective channels. When facing a high volume of telephone inquiries, messaging channels can be useful to automate those recurring inquiries where agents add little value and the customer simply needs a quick and easy response.
- Prepare your team. Train agents based on their availability and skills, help them with templates to answer frequently asked questions and generate reports, and monitor interactions in real time.
Apart from WhatsApp Business, you can have other channels such as Telegram or Facebook Messenger, among others. Study in your market which is the most appropriate channel and encourage yourself to be present there as well.
BOTS MANAGEMENT
Bots generate automated conversations with users and can collect customer information to contribute to a better management of interactions and therefore improve service quality and customer care. A bot will provide the most suitable response in each situation, and if necessary, redirect them to the appropriate department so that an agent can finish solving the customer’s request.
FREQUENT ASKED QUESTIONS
Another very effective alternative to reduce the large volume of interactions from customers who are looking for a contact channel to solve their doubts is to establish a self-help website or a ‘Frequently Asked Questions’ section. As customers help themselves, we are freeing the contact center from new interactions.
EVALUATE YOUR SERVICE
Evaluating each interaction with customers in real time will allow you to detect in which phase you should improve some aspect of the service offered or notice what are the problems of your customers to remedy them as soon as possible.
Recent events have created new challenges for businesses and their customer service centers. To alleviate the pressure and help these teams continue to work effectively during this process, at ICR Evolution, we are more focused than ever on creating flexible and effective omnichannel solutions that truly help companies adapt to emerging trends and ensure that every interaction with customers is a success.
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