Author:  Roger Sumner

The results of the Aspect Contact Center Satisfaction Index are in and the news is mixed.  On the bright side, consumers are slightly more satisfied with their contact center interactions today than they were in 2005.  On the other hand, the Aspect Index shows that there is still a lot of room for improvement – especially when it comes to automation, where contact centers score a paltry “D”.

Obviously, consumer satisfaction can significantly impact your business, hence the importance of keeping your customers happy.  Research from the Aspect Index shows that a consumer who is satisfied with how an automated system works is two-and-a-half times more likely to conduct future business with a company.  And, a consumer who started with a live person instead of an automated system is two times more likely to conduct future business with a company.  Multiplying these numbers times your hundreds, thousands, or even millions of customers makes it clearer than ever that maintaining your existing customer base is the easiest and most cost-effective way to grow your business.

So, how can you increase your grades, particularly those related to automation?  Try revising your existing policies and processes. You can improve the design of your automated system and make it more user friendly by providing your customers the most commonly requested information up front, immediately after they have been authenticated.  For example, say that you work for a credit card company. Your automated system should tell your customer the balance of their card, the last payment made, the date of the next payment, and the amount due at payment. Next your customer should be given a short list of options to select from if their inquiry was not satisfied. This process will give your customers quicker access to the information and resources they need and, as the Aspect Index shows, will increase their satisfaction. 

One final note…if you aren’t already surveying your customers on a regular basis, you should start doing so.  It is important to make sure that the information you are providing via the self-service system is meeting their needs.  If it’s not, you should be prepared to make some changes.   It’s very challenging – if not impossible – to achieve perfection, so it’s important to instead strive for continuous improvement in your contact center.

Do your customers like your contact center’s automation? If so, why?  Let me know!

This entry was posted on Wednesday, April 18th, 2007 at 9:34 am and is filed under Contact Center Technology, Customer Service/Consumer Demands, Performance Optimization, Voice Self Service. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.