In an increasingly multi-channel world, it may be no surprise that research shows the decline of voice in the customer contact centres of the Middle East, and especially among the younger generations.
But the voice channel is still alive and plays a vital role in the customer experience of multinational brands. The challenge now is really more about how to listen effectively to the voice of the customer and support them through multiple channels, in multiple languages and from multiple countries.
Global multi-channel customer service isn’t just about adding new channels but delivering the most effective service with the highest customer engagement. Sometimes this means expanding and experimenting with the more traditional channels, including the arguably most important channel – voice.
Latest industry figures show 74 per cent of consumers use three or more channels to access customer service and over 86 per cent of contact centres now offer multichannel support.
It also shows that customers want channel choice and that there is a direct correlation between preferred channel and a better customer experience. Quality customer service means resolving customer issues quickly and efficiently, in whichever channel the customer prefers.
What’s interesting is what happens when any of these emerging channels fail in the eyes of the customer. While customers may try other channels with their initial customer service request, they often turn to traditional voice support when their issue isn’t being resolved quickly or efficiently enough.
In 2013, Forrester Research found that 45 per cent of consumers abandon online transactions and switch to voice if their questions or concerns aren’t addressed quickly. The International Customer Management Institute (ICMI) discovered that this behaviour is almost the same for social interactions, as 43 per cent of social care users will transition to voice if their inquiry is not resolved to expectation.
Global brands especially acknowledge that they need to be accessible to customers across many channels. This is where the non-voice channels reign because of their simplicity — organisations can implement chat, email, and social faster and easier, as they have the help of online or built-in language translation tools. Twitter or email customer service inquiries rarely incur additional charges based on a customer’s location.
In comparison, it can be extremely costly for a consumer to call a customer service line that is based in another location. In the UK, the use of non-geographic telephone numbers has been a major cause of bill shock to callers and companies alike.
According to Ofcom, UK consumers annually paid around £1.9 billion for calls to non-geographic numbers, which is why there is now a move to Freephone numbers. In the US, if a toll-free number is not available, consumers try and bypass long-distance fees by using free or online VOIP services.
The call quality of these services can be unreliable and even though a brand is not managing the call integrity, consumers don’t always recognise this and so there is a risk to brand reputation.
When ICMI asked consumers why they preferred phone service to other channels, it was not because it is the most convenient option or the one that best fits their lifestyle – but because voice remains the most effective way to get to the best answer.
The multi-channel contact centre of today cannot discount the power of voice. Organizations need to ensure that they have the right processes, people, and partners in place to properly support the core of their contact centres – the phone channel.
There are still challenges of course: according to Accenture’s Global Consumer Pulse Survey, customers are increasingly frustrated with the level of service they experience for a few key reasons:
• 89 per cent for having to repeat their issue to multiple representatives in different channels;
• 91 per cent because they have to contact a company multiple times for the same reason; and
• 90 per cent for being on hold too long.
But even now, there are still many situations where voice is the most reliable, and possibly the only, option to reach customer service. Travellers find wifi or internet is unavailable, so no email, chat or social care is possible - not to mention a dead mobile battery and a reliance on a landline to contact service.
Voice offers remains the only guaranteed real-time customer engagement tool even as companies try to diversify channel offerings. On average, inbound voice represents over half (56 per cent) of overall volume. And for just under 30 per cent of companies, voice is actually 80 per cent or more of the total volume.
Regardless of the reasons, brands recognise that voice support can and should be a premium support option and is often necessary for certain interactions.
Ninety-two per cent of organizations say that customer engagement is a priority for them and 81 per cent of them recognise the linkages between customer experience and customer brand loyalty.
And it is the phone channel that is still seeing the greatest volume growth. In the next 12-24 months, 55 per cent of contact centres plan to expand or add inbound voice queues to accommodate the expected increase.
— : The writer is country manager Saudi Arabia, Orange Business Services, and Managing Director of Orange Business Arabia.
