If CX is #1 - Why Do These Things Happen?

In a previous blog post I mentioned that I was presenting to a group of 200 service executives and asked a simple question – how many had checked their IVR in the last 24 hours? No one. Last week? No one. Last month? A couple of hands were raised. After the break, I asked the same question and almost everyone raised their hand that they had checked in the last 15 minutes!

I had a firsthand experience with an IVR not working just this past week. I contacted a large satellite communications company (who shall remain nameless and somewhat obtuse in my description) as I was having password issues. The system would repeatedly allow me to reset my PW then advise me it didn’t recognize my user id even though it was emailing me password resets. So, I started a chat – or should I say a chat with a bot (or virtual agent) which didn’t recognize my issue. Once I used the word password it was downhill from there – finally it transferred me to an agent – that took a long time to respond. In the meantime, I tried calling – 4 times I muddled through their IVR prompts – layer after layer of prompts – which failed to recognize my issue – only to route me to a phone number that told me was no longer in use and advised me to call the exact number I had just called. WOW! What a great system that ISN’T working. When the chat agent eventually joined, he used company jargon to explain my issue – which in the end I finally resolved on my own. Took nearly an hour to resolve a password reset issue!! Yikes! How can this still be happening???

Chat bots and IVR systems are great but they are useless if not working properly. With all this focus on the experience, we can’t take interactions with our customer service organizations for granted.

Yet it seems we do when things like this keep happening….

• “Your call is important to us” recordings – but hold rates are excessive

• Automated requests for information to “verify my identity” that must be repeated when I’m finally connected with a representative.

• Policies are implemented that legislate for the exception rather than flex for the norm and impede customer satisfaction

• Template emails and live chat sessions that fail to answer my question or use internal language to convey external messages.

• Lack of documentation – the “who did you talk to that told you that?” syndrome.

• Promotions that don’t work when entered; are expired or the website doesn’t efficiently process the promotion code (and some are extremely long!)

We are all consumers, yet at times, when we walk through the front doors of our organizations, we forget that we are. Walk in our customers shoes and see how quickly you can find opportunity to improve the performance of your contact centers.

The good news is that with just a little bit of attention and a moderate investment in technology, these things can be changed quickly to the benefit of both your customer service employees and most importantly, your customers!