Is Complexity Killing the Customer Experience?

Simplifying customer interactions while delivering the desired outcome is the holy grail of customer service and one which most large organizations are struggling to achieve.

So then why is customer service and support so difficult? Why are we forever complicating the customer experience? Probably because all the great technology investments that we’ve been implementing for years weren’t designed with business process and human workflow in mind.

Integrating new systems into large organizations is challenging and expensive which are often barriers to progress.

Simple customer transactions bring instant gratification. Customers don’t want to spend 10 to 20 minutes renewing/updating an insurance policy or changing details on a bank account or mobile phone contract when it is technically possible to complete those tasks in a fraction of the time.

Re-authentication and passing between departments and systems is a real time killer. Customers paying a premium while receiving great service are more likely to be loyal than customers at the other end of the scale.

Complicated processes and barriers to completing transactions won’t be tolerated just because a product or service is cheap. Customers and technology have evolved in equal terms and having a strategy that services customers efficiently across multiple channels is critical to building and maintaining brand loyalty.

What do the numbers say? Data from the CEB (Corporate Executive Board) shows:

• 57% of customers report having to re-explain or over-explain an issue
• 56% of customers report having to switch from web to phone
• 59% of customers report being transferred
• 59% of customers report expending moderate to high effort to resolve an issue
• 62% of customers report having to repeatedly contact the company to resolve an issue

Automation brings ‘consistency of experience’ to an organization as robots outperform their human counterparts where repetitive tasks are concerned.

Digital workers or software robots, however, cannot provide the complete solution to customer experience and the human workforce must step in when required to complete more nuanced tasks. Despite progress in Natural Language Processing, humans remain leaders at understanding subtext and tone.

TrustPortal and Blue Prism together offer a unified approach to automation by enabling automated process engagement with a user through the dynamic presentation of forms and data in a web browser, portal or mobile app.

This is where things start to get really exciting for organizations and their customers. World class customer communications require human skills. Humans excel at emotional intelligence, reasoning, listening and the power of persuasion which are not only key to resolving problems but also to selling products and services.

Arriving at a consistent experience for customers is aided using chatbots and AI. Chatbots can handle the initial interaction while AI can assess the best route to resolving a query. Software robots work in parallel with humans, increasing the speed of engagement and reducing process times. Robots provide complete compliance without error, omission or deviation.

Thanks to RPA, we are entering a new era of harmonization and confluence where digital and human workforces are beginning to blend together. RPA has traditionally taken the robot out of the human but TrustPortal now extends that robotic capability to the human, leading to a wealth of possibilities in improving the customer experience.