1to1 Magazine - November/December 2008 - (Page 35) Is Your Contact Center a Marketing Asset? I s your contact center a brand differentiator? In a world of rapid commoditization, prod- center more of an asset to the marketing function—especially during times when retaining customers is paramount to survival. Don’t wait for them to call you Apply call center intelligence to product and marketing activities Remember that each interaction creates a brand impression 1. Don’t Wait for Customers to Call You. with the interactive voice response (IVR) system. This caller experience creates the first impression and manages an all-important moment of truth. Brand reputation can be established or tarnished in just a few short moments. So ask yourself this: Are you quickly greeting callers at the “front door,” securely identifying them and routing them to the correct destination? When they arrive at their destination, is their issue quickly resolved? Are your agents armed with as much data/ intelligence as possible to be productive? uct features alone are no longer enough to separate you from the competition. Rising consumer expectations mean the care experience, more than price and feature set, is driving business success. This makes the customer care operation one of the most important marketing channels you can invest in. Why Now? Nearly 75% of consumers choose brands based on others’ customer care experiences shared online. Failing to meet expectations can result in serious brand reputation issues in this age of social media. A recent study sponsored by Nuance, conducted by the Society for New Communications Research (SNCR) entitled “Exploring the Link between Being proactive can result in increased customer satisfaction, loyalty and revenue. Sending customers courtesy notifications (with relevant, personalized information) will help you stand out from the competition— and provide opportunity for incremental revenue gains. Anticipate why they’d call you and ask yourself if you could send customers notifications including: Appointment reminders Prescription refill reminders Updates on special sales or promotions Bill reminders Payment receipt confirmations 2. Apply Call Center Intelligence to Product and Marketing Activities. Don’t forget that the contact center—a place that has constant, daily, direct interaction with the needs, wants and concerns of the consumer—is a great intelligence-gathering resource. Use it to analyze the impact of marketing campaigns and inform future product design and development. Implementing call center analytics can help provide marketing and product organizations with insights including: Trending information about a company market position Customer opinions about competitors’ activities, strengths and weaknesses Opinions on products, services and support quality Whether it is brand impressions or increased loyalty, satisfaction or revenue, the contact center is more than an operational function for the enterprise. With the onslaught of social media, its performance and value has never been more important. Leverage each interaction as an opportunity to differentiate your business from the competition. Make every caller’s first impression a positive one with an automated system that handles callers promptly, accurately and securely. And go beyond “business as usual” with proactive outbound courtesy notifications that anticipate the needs of customers to make customer care a marketing asset. Customer Care and Brand in the Age of Social Media” provides some insights as to just how important the quality of care has become. The majority of consumers vent about bad experiences especially after calling a 1-800 number and failing to get the desired response. Sites like The Consumerist and Ripoff Report are rewriting the rules of customer relations. The Consumerist fields more than 100 daily emails documenting people’s encounters with airlines, phone companies, retailers and other businesses and attracts 15 million monthly viewers. The Ripoff Report, another blog reporting consumer frustration and bad care, receives over 800 consumer complaint emails a day and draws over 30 million monthly visitors. About Nuance Communications, Inc. Nuance’s Care organization helps companies better support, communicate with and understand their customers. It does this through its customer interaction solutions including Inbound/ Outbound Messaging, Analytics and Caller Authentication. Supporting over 6 billion interactions around the world, no other organization is better suited to drive an improved customer experience, better business performance and improved security. For more information, please visit: www.nuance.com/care The Contact Center as a Marketing Asset In light of this new environment, it is important to make the customer care operation a more strategic asset to the marketing organization. The measurement of both operations is closely aligned when it comes to metrics including brand impressions, customer loyalty, customer satisfaction and increased revenue. Keeping that in mind—let’s take look at three considerations to make your call Performance of recent marketing campaigns 3. Remember—Each Customer Interaction Creates a Brand Impression. The first interaction most consumers have with a business is BRANDED EDITORIAL http://www.nuance.com http://www.nuance.com/care
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