IVRs Get Set for the Omnichannel Challenge
Cracking the Hard Shell
As the IVR becomes the foundation for omnichannel interactions, a tough nut to crack is creating a consistent user interface. A good place to start is to take a critical look at existing IVR business processes. When upgrading these systems, businesses typically focus on technical features, such as connecting the IVR to the latest social media outlet, but other functions are ripe for improvement. “Once a company puts an IVR script in, they are slow to change them,” says Donna Fluss, founder and president of DMG Consulting.
Scripts that have been operating for years, or maybe even decades, support outdated business processes. Updating a script and offering customers more choices and smoother interactions (like no longer requiring consumers to repeat individual information) may increase the number of self-serving customers. A 1 percent boost in self-service can lead to a five-figure or a six-figure savings, depending on the number of agents. In addition, the IVR can point the customer to another channel for a chance of an add-on sale, which increases revenue.
Such improvements should be ongoing. Many firms update their scripts after a handful of years have gone by; Fluss recommends that they do so at least once every six months.
The Logistics Challenges
As noted, fulfillment and logistics play key roles in the customer experience. Even the best-designed Web sites are only as good as the product fulfillment centers backing them up. Businesses must develop logistical operations that consistently meet or exceed the industry standard—which, in most cases, is delivery in two to three business days.
But logistical problems arise. Managers cannot snap their fingers and magically move a product from the warehouse to a store checkout line miles away. Since product availability will occasionally vary by channel, it becomes essential for the business to set very clear consumer expectations and avoid creating unnecessary disappointments. Communications with customers at all levels must clearly convey realistic fulfillment objectives with regard to pricing, product availability, shipping data, and service options.
Excellent customer service should extend beyond the point of sale, lasting throughout the product’s life cycle. Returns must become seamless and easy to complete. This goal is only possible when the various back-end systems, business processes, and department personnel are tied together.
Tearing Down Walls
To deliver true omnichannel experiences, a company needs to break down its internal organizational barriers. For example, a simple transaction in which a customer purchases a product online and returns it in-store can create issues within a financial system that has not been structured to accommodate fluidity among channels. Only by avoiding the constraints of internal processes will an organization be primed for omnichannel success.
The reality is that many enterprises segment tasks by department. “The major issue is breaking down internal silos,” Aspect’s Dobkin says. For the process to work, current applications have to be enhanced and current business processes revamped on an ongoing basis, much like updating IVR scripts.
So when moving to omnichannel interactions, firms need to go big and go bold. “One area where companies get themselves into trouble is being too tactical when developing their omnichannel programs,” Rapsinski says. Rather than simply tweak existing business processes, corporations need to completely rewrite them.
Creating a System of Checks and Balances
In addition, organizations need to put new checks and balances in place. Traditional customer experience metrics have been focused on measuring performance in one channel. Companies need to collect marketing and service performance data from multiple, disparate sources and devices and turn that data into accurate, actionable insights. The upshot is that new tools are needed to measure the omnichannel experience.
Internal communication needs to improve. In today’s connected world, marketing, sales, and customer support are team sports. The idea is not to pick winners and losers among existing channels but rather to work together to create a nuanced understanding of the contributions from all channels. Employees need to understand more than their traditional individual roles. “The agent has to know how to interact with the customer via social or video in addition to voice,” Dobkin says. Managers and end users should receive hands-on practical training tailored to help meet their immediate tactical goals and objectives. Becoming comfortable with the omnichannel approach and extracting incremental value from it will greatly help encourage adoption and lead to better long-term results.
While being bold is the long-term goal, starting meekly creates momentum. Picking the low hanging fruit and making incremental changes to existing systems allows corporations to gauge initial challenges and build up needed expertise. The initial rollout can be defined by a specific channel, business unit, product line, or time period. Once some initial results have been realized, those early successes can be used to build a data strategy and road map for expansion across additional channels, business units, and geographic areas.
After the early results are understood, organizations can develop a testing strategy for further expansion. With data algorithms today, businesses can validate the efficacy and accuracy of the model by testing media planning predictions. By setting up simple controlled experiments, it is possible to simultaneously control exposure to risk, validate the accuracy of the omnichannel model, and realize additional revenue. As the company becomes more comfortable with this process and identifies areas where the model is consistently accurate in its predictions, it can be more aggressive and go after the huge gains that omnichannel promises.
“A journey of 1,000 miles starts with a single step,” said the Chinese philosopher Lao-tzu. The move from traditional to omnichannel customer service may seem like a long journey for many businesses. But as businesses connect one channel to a second—say the IVR to Twitter—they are reshaping their organization, in their quest to reach the Promised Land.
Paul Korzeniowski is a freelance writer who specializes in technology issues. He has been covering speech recognition issues for more than a decade and is based in Sudbury, MA. You can send him a note at paulkorzen@aol.com or follow him on Twitter at #PaulKorzeniowski.