The way companies communicate with other companies and with the end customer needs to change. For some this is already happening but for others there is the danger of being left behind in this ever changing market place.

The answer to mass marketing

The answer to mass marketing was the call centre and to this day it still plays a vital role as the interaction between customer and company, even as the internet plays an increased role in both order taking and service. The call centre return on investment model seems easy when telephone data is collated from traditional telephone systems and ACD’s. For each lost call, a percentage conversion rate can be attached and with that goes a financial value to the bottom line of that business. This can be in pure sales and conversion terms or through a customer experience which drives repeat purchase and recommendation. Both have an accepted value that is important to the growth of any business today.

The lost call debate

The answer to the lost call debate is to staff up internally or to outsource what your internal resource cannot handle. Naturally a lot of money is allocated to prevent the traditional abandoned call problem but what about other areas that are increasingly important within an integrated communication strategy?

Society is changing

Society is changing and the telephone is becoming less popular with the younger generations we now recruit into business. Text messaging in the mobile phone market has transformed the way we communicate as consumers and in our business relationships, which has led to the world of more impersonal interaction through messenger facilities on the internet and email. Broadband has allowed communication over the web to be much faster and with that has come the expectation that conversations can also be much faster and that questions will be answered quickly between companies.

Expectations are changing

10 years ago people would accept being on hold for some time when contacting a major supplier. Now, that expectation has reduced considerably and with the rise of competition in every market the customer can easily shop around if they feel their expectations are not being met by a particular organisation.

Empowerment of resource

It has become the key management buzz word for driving the customer experience but has the market really done its research? Why is the service level to answer a call often as high as 80% of all calls to be answered in 20 seconds and yet the service level to answer a customer email can be as long as a week? At Direct Response we are studying the customer behaviour both in the business-to-business world and their consumers’ habits as well. With the increase in people e-mailing and wanting quick responses surely there is a need to improve the performance of this channel and to offer better service levels and alternatives!

The first reference point in today’s society is the website of an organisation and it is from here that it is essential to grab the customer’s interest and communicate through whichever channel the customer wishes. Failure to do this in today’s society can seriously dampen a company’s growth potential. In the study of the “The Year of the Omni Channel” it was predicted that e-channel volume would bypass phone volume by the end of 2006. It also stated that e-channels constitute 49% of total customer interactions and that they expect the trend to continue, so by 2010, e-channels could be representing up to 56% of total interaction volume.

Bad name: UK customer service

Customer Service in Britain has a bad name compared to many other nations and we each have numerous examples to share. When I contact another business I want to be greeted and assisted as opposed to being ignored and undervalued as a customer but maybe that is just me. Other people like to self-serve in peace, however when it comes to the checkout process we are probably much more similar; we expect to be interacted with and shown an element of courtesy and professionalism. The businesses that do the best in my opinion are those that spend money and time with their staff empowering them and building a good culture and value sets that everyone in the organisation demonstrates.

Increasingly the company’s website is their shop front or store. So why then is no help given to the potential customer on the website? So many sites are just online brochures or require the customer to read lots of material and then call the organisation for more information. This process is laborious. Direct Response has shown through working with business-to-business clients how simple technology and resource allocation can assist businesses to improve their customer interaction helping not only the sales funnel to close quickly but also driving service levels for their customers. Companies which are reliant on their website and true e-commerce businesses which take action for improvement now, will exceed those companies which choose to ignore customer abandonment trends.

E-contact product examples

E-contact products such as Proactive Web-Chat and Click to Call are both modern reliable ways for a business to get thriving results and increase online sales, by offering their customers immediate data and thus immediate answers. .

Proactive Web Chat acts as a service that simply bolts onto a business’ existing web site, reads the “body language” of the browser and proactively engages them if they are demonstrating any of the mentioned deterrents that would encourage checkout abandonment, or if the customer is showing clear signs of being a hot prospect.

Once the customer is engaged the business can simply guide the prospect down the ‘sales funnel’ and turn them into a profitable customer. This is an uncomplicated and incredibly powerful method of e-contact, which frequently doubles the conversion rates on web sites whilst incurring minimal charges.

With Click to Call, the business acts as the ‘contacter’ whilst the customer is the ‘contactee’. Web site visitors merely select a Click to Call icon to speak with a sales or customer services agent. A form is presented to the visitor, requesting the phone number they want to be called back on. The call request is then passed to an e-contact platform, which instantly dials the visitor, dials the business’ office and connects the calls together; just like any other call. In addition, automated recordings are played to introduce the calls and e-contact Click to VOIP lets callers choose to talk directly from their PC.

No focus on new technologies, why?

So why are companies not all focusing on new technologies to drive results with their customers. The answer is simple. Either companies do not have enough understanding of the new channels or they are investing time and money in the wrong types of CRM. Most organisations know that not doing CRM is more expensive than doing CRM but their lack of knowledge or customer intelligence often steers them down the wrong CRM route.

The fact remains that in a fiercely competitive marketplace where expectations are greater and greater, if you do not make these changes soon, one of your competitors will.

Direct Response is a business-to-business company helping its clients communicate using voice, data and contact centre solutions. It is a company that practices what it preaches and has recognised the shift in communications demands from both the business customer and consumer over the years and has built its reputation through helping others to address these changes.

By James Munro,
Service Excellence Director, Direct Response Ltd
Web: http://www.drltd.com
Tel: 0870 414 9000