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eCare, A Part of The Web-enabled Call Resolution Evolution

Supporting both your customers and your employees is one of the most time-consuming and expensive aspects of doing business today. One Forrester Research survey found that one specific support investment is quickly becoming the most frequent form of communication and interaction – web-enabled customer support, of which eCare is a fundamental part.

In 1997 approximately 2% of customer call resolution (customer service) was done using email with 97% by phone and a mere 1% over the web. By 2003 the numbers evolved to 30% by email (eCare), only 5% by phone, 56% over the web and the remaining 9% cross channel or use of multiple channels. This proves that web-enabled support has become the chosen foundation for most growing companies’ customer support strategy.

The new model of web-enabled customer support is a progression of conventional support applications, linked together and enabled by the Internet. There are two primary models of eCare; self-serve and assisted-serve which are described in more detail below.

Whether you offer services or sell products online, to stay competitive, it is essential that your web-enabled applications, including customer call resolutions systems be set up to meet the needs of both the customer and the employees serving those customers.

The most often asked question in Customer Care today is “How do we control the cost of technology and still have the most up-to-date information available to employees for best possible service?” To fight the battle, every business needs to identify the expectations of their customers related to how they want to be contacted and serviced. These expectations should then be measured against what information the employees require and at what level of freshness, to provide the “best customer support”. How much you invest in technology to become the best in customer support should depend on your service goals and your customers’ expectations. The investment should be aligned with process and organizational readiness to move to web-enabled call resolution.

There are two major service models, Self Service and Assisted Service. It is not unusual for companies wanting to optimize their web-enabled customer service to ask “Which service model is best for us and our customers?”

A Self Service model for eCare typically includes an Internet-enabled knowledge base, dynamic FAQs and a virtual service agent that let’s customers follow a “do-it-yourself” set of instructions to solve problems without contacting the call center or help desk directly. It is also possible for primary products to be ordered through this model.

An Assisted Service model connects your entire interactive support touch-points, from employee support to customer service and sales for a more comprehensive solution. By allowing employees access to information and customer history you enable them to provide superior service as well as cross-sell and up-sell companion products.

If you want to put general information at the fingertips of customers and prospects, a Self Serve model is more aligned to your needs to introduce a simple solution. If you have a complex product offering and therefore, somewhat complex call resolution, you may want to use an integrated model of Self Serve and Assisted Serve. This will allow you to assist in varying levels of customer contact, purchase and problem solving. If your goal is to have customers and prospects interact with sales agents to increase revenue opportunities, the Assisted Serve will more likely satisfy your objective.

By selecting and implementing the right eCare model, you will experience lower cost for support through your online channel. It is a critical decision and should be made in alignment with all other parts of customer contact and customer service. One shining star of service may show up another service area, appearing as lacking in responsiveness and service. A balance in technology, process and the human-factor can bring alignment that will result in superior customer service and give the feeling of empowered employees, two key ingredients to loyalty from both customers and employees.

Knowing what information your customers and prospects might need, when they will need it and in what order or priority is one of the most important parts of eCare service. In the same venue, communicating by the wrong method (emails vs. phone) will not solve problems, increase sales or improve customer service. The correct service model and balance to meet expectations will.

Successful marketers understand the role of customer service as a major part of the backbone to any business. Because each form of customer service is dependent on one another, where one fails or falls short, the others suffer. Therefore, if you aren’t treating your web site, email responses and campaigns, web chat and phone calls like a sales tool and responding to new customers and leads in a timely manner, you’re going to lose the competitive battle. It’s a proven fact that you can’t be responsive if you don’t gather information on the users of each form of eCare technology.

Seamless integration of customer service solutions and processes with your CRM applications will lead to superior service levels, improved first-call resolution and major cost savings. If you aren’t prepared to solve problems, sell products and answer questions, you are standing in your own way of being responsive to customers, prospects and employees.

Conclusions

The first step in developing your web-enabled call resolution solution is to determine the service model best suited for your goals, customer base and employees. The next step is to identify customer and employee expectations, which will make achieving service level goals more realistic.

For smaller companies, developing an expandable, scalable and ongoing service model and upgrading your technology over a period of time is more realistic than trashing what you have and starting over. Setting up a plan and ongoing project, you can get some immediate revenue benefits while keeping cost in line with the budget. Once customer loyalty begins showing marked increases, budget dollars will become more available for future updates and upgrades to both process and technology.

Adaptability in the service model is a key to keeping service levels soaring and employee responsiveness to customers at it’s highest. Just as important is blending cross-selling opportunities with response mechanism so customers can tell you how they feel your service has met their expectations.

For more information or to talk with a technology expert about your own unique needs, contact SEH/TS at 612.758.6728.

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