Explore how Utterworks’ conversational solutions redefine key metrics for customer engagement.
The only consistent truth about customers is that they want what they need, quickly and efficiently, at a time that suits them and that they want to do that in a way that suits them and at their convenience.
Traditional key metrics for gauging customer service effectiveness often lack customer-centricity. Traditional measures seek to manage the performance of a contact centre to be most efficient for the company and are based on measuring the deflection and then handling of contacts when not deflected. This is all fine with a traditional approach, but what if you could change the rules and give the customer what they want, when they want it in any channel, at a price that is much lower than current approaches. Then what if this approach could be used not just for customers but across your business.
What if you could alter your approach to give customers what they want, when they want it? Here’s how conversational solutions like Fluent are reshaping the rules and redefining customer metrics for the better.
The Current Limitations of Traditional Customer Metrics:
The legacy approach to measuring customer engagement has been to focus on efficiency from the company’s perspective, neglecting the individual customer’s needs. This approach is increasingly becoming a roadblock to delivering superior customer experiences.
How Conversational Solutions Like Fluent Transform Key Metrics:
At Utterworks we like to think of every contact as the start of a conversation and not the start of a process, this isn’t a rules-based approach but an intelligent conversation; not a ticket or a transaction. By doing so, we move from rules-based interactions to intelligent, responsive conversations, enabled by cutting-edge AI and machine learning technologies. This ensures customer satisfaction while achieving cost efficiency.
Once a customer goes to the trouble of contacting your company, they want that interaction to give the outcome they want as quickly as possible, in a timescale that suites them, to their full satisfaction and also in a channel that works for them too. This interaction is an opportunity for companies to shine and they can do this without compromising quality, in fact they can improve quality and reduce cost to service by using the latest in Artificial intelligence and Machine learning. This article highlights five traditional key metrics and how the Fluent platform can improve the interaction.
1. Average First Response Time (AFRT)
Average First Response Time is the time taken by customer support to send its very first response to a customer. Usually, the shorter the AFRT the better, and at Utterworks we believe that for all customers there should no queuing or waiting i.e. within seconds for voice, SMS, WhatsApp, messenger, social media etc. Where the AI is able to, it should deal with all inquiries as quickly as the customer wants, this includes allowing customers to take as long as they need to respond. This takes away the importance of this metric as all first-time responses are immediate.
2. Average handle time (AHT)
AHT measures the time spent by a support agent on handling a transaction with a customer. AHT takes into account talk time, hold time and any after-call tasks the agent has to perform. This measure is fine for managing the performance of a call centre but doesn’t necessary help the customer, if the outcome isn’t reached to their full satisfaction for whatever reason. At Utterworks we believe that the platform should manage the conversation with the customer at the speed and time that they want, so if the customer want to start a conversation, then pick it back up the following day because they are busy, then the platform should handle that, even if the customer wishes to change the channel. If you work in this way then you always respond to what the customer wants and no longer are driven by your own handling time, it is no longer a driver of performance and cost.
3. First contact resolution rate (FCRR)
FCRR measures the proportion of tickets that are resolved on the first interaction. Customer satisfaction is closely linked to FCRR: the quicker the solution, the happier clients tend to be. We believe that most organisations do not track this rate fully, they track from first call, or maybe first text. We believe that this should start when a customer first visits the website to find an answer or make an enquiry, we believe this is the first opportunity to start a conversation with your customer, before queries become issues, and outcomes can be reached at first contact. We also believe that allowing customers to interact in the way that they prefer, gives more opportunity to have a conversation and proactively sell, resolve, or improve your relationship and grow your business.
4. Net Promoter Score (NPS)
The NPS is an index that assesses the willingness of customers to recommend a brand or service to others. We believe that customers that are able to have conversations with businesses are happier, they are not frustrated by processes, organisational rules or support constraints. The Utterworks platform is built to ensure that context is understood, that information that is already known doesn’t need to be asked again and the customer can drive the direction of the conversation if they wish to.
5. Customer Lifetime Value (LTV or CLV)
LTV is an estimate of the total amount a customer is likely to spend with a business, over the course of their lifetime. It is calculated by multiplying the average value of the purchase, by the number of times a customer may buy each year, and the average number of years they might remain a customer, over the cost to serve. We believe that providing a high quality service builds deeper and longer relationships with customers, keeping the cost to serve very low and margins high.
Successful customer outcomes start from the very first visit to a website or first interaction with your business. By understanding the outcomes the customer is trying to achieve and satisfy that through the use of Artificial Intelligence our platform can transform your business. Moving businesses to become truly digital without the need to replace all of your existing platforms is truly transformation.
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