Contact Center Solutions Featured Article

Creating the Ideal Self-service Experience

February 11, 2014

Self-service is all the rage. We want instant access to information, with transactions available at our fingertips. We don’t want to have to wait for the beep and we don’t want to make our way through the phone tree to find the answer to our question. The key to our happiness is to make things easily available and automated; if you can throw in a little personalization that would be great.


It sounds like a mountain to climb, living up to the growing expectations of the customer base. But all it really takes is listening to the voice of the customer so you can understand their needs. A recent VPI blog highlighted just how important self-service and automation has become in the interactions between a customer and a company.

For instance, according to Gartner, by the year 2020, the customer is expected to manage 85 percent of its relationship with an enterprise without interacting with a live person. Convergys estimates that the number of consumers preferring self-service has doubled to reach 55 percent in the last five years.

Likewise, ContactBabel suggests that U.S. contact centers spend around $12.4 billion each year verifying the caller to ensure they are who they claim to be with verification technology. Interestingly, 59 percent of calls actually require this kind of verification and yet only 3 percent are handled entirely through an automated process.

J.D. Power weighed in on the current trends in the industry as well, pointing out that while 27 percent of the total call experience is reliant on the IVR, only 7 percent of organizations currently offer an IVR that delivers an experience that is better than the live agent experience. This stat alone suggests the call center has a lot of work to do before it can move to complete self-service and still meet consumer expectations.

Consumers expect a lot from the companies with which they do business, including a personalized approach to communication and the products or services offered. If the call center isn’t paying attention to the needs of the customer or listening to the voice of the customer, they won’t know what channels are important for communication or why they matter.

Fortunately, you won’t be left to figure it out on your own. Creative Virtual is offering a free webinar on how to create the ideal self-service environment. Register today for Enabling Customers to Talk, Type and Tap to get Personalized Answers in any Channel with Johan Jacobs, Former Gartner Research Director. This free event is scheduled for Wednesday, February 12, 2014, 11:00 AM EST / 8:00 AM PST.

If you’re ready to create the ultimate experience that will meet the self-service needs of your customer base, this is one event you won’t want to miss. Register for your spot today.




Edited by Cassandra Tucker



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