“To err is human” – we all make some errors and mistakes, but many more if tired or under stress. A bad error when dealing with a top customer may be fatal to your company and result in terminated contracts, damages, or even legal action. How can you use business automation to help prevent such errors?
Automation – when it isn’t there
Looks familiar? – your customer service gets a call from a customer. A VIP customer. With a complaint. So, as it often happens, he demands a solution immediately, and communicates that to the agent using harsh words.
The agent is new and inexperienced. And now understandably stressed. He assures the customer that somebody will immediately handle the issue.
With shaking hands, he sets the ticket priority. He sets it wrong but doesn’t notice. Seeing that the manager is busy, he decides to ask for help in a second. And the phone rings again…
The second turns into an hour – in the meantime the VIP customer has called the sales director and threatens her with legal action. Using harsh words.
How many times did the agents make “stupid mistakes” – treating important matters lightly or sounding the alarm on minor issues?
It’s actually quite normal and human. Research shows that under stress we turn the wheel the wrong way in 50% of cases. [Swain & Guttmann, 1983]
Business Automation Rules – Intelligent Help
How do you minimize human error in situations like these?
Automation rules can be a boon. Modern customer communication software, coupled with ticketing functionality – such as the Focus Contact Center platform with the Focus Desk module – allows you to define certain actions in response to system events.
It’s really simple.
“If event X occurs, perform action Y”.
So:
define the event – „VIP customer calls”. Then set the action you want the system to perform in response to the event – „set priority – high”.
The actions can be linked. “Set priority – high, redirect call to specific agent, notify manager”.
So the moment the system detects a call from a Very Important Customer, it will redirect him to an experienced agent, set the priority to an appropriately high level, and notify the manager to have a closer look at this particular case.
Business Automation – it Rules, and it Works
Let’s jump back in time.
Your customer service gets a call from a customer.
The system detects the phone number and checks it against the database. It recognizes the customer has VIP status. So it launches the automation rule you’ve previously set up: it redirects the call to an experienced agent who had spoken with that particular customer before.
In the background, the system automatically creates a ticket, sets high priority, and notifies the manager.
This way, the risk of error dramatically falls. Also, service becomes standardized, which makes overall management easier.
The customer, addressed by name by an agent he knows, forgets the harsh words.
Even better – he’s happy with the personalized care. This makes him more likely to recommend you to his friends and business partners.
Hang on for the second post in this mini-series to see how to reduce errors and make customer care easier and faster with advanced business rules.
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