When the COVID-19 lockdown struck, it was a "no time to explain, just get in!'' rush for many organisations. They needed to create a reasonable copy of their physical business online.
It tested organisations' customer service systems to the maximum. Supermarket online shopping became overwhelmed when people, who days ago had visited stores, flocked to websites for groceries.
Technology company Vodafone already had a strong online presence but, even with the ability to tap into the IP of other Vodafone businesses around the world, the telco had to stop and think.
First, Vodafone has around 2.5 million customers and normally receives approximately 1.7m calls a month. Most customers are happy to interact online and self-service but thousands still prefer to visit physical stores or call up for technical support.
With stores closed in lockdown 1.0, and phone volumes spiking, Vodafone customer operations director Antony Welton says the telco had to quickly stand up additional digital customer services to meet new customer needs.
Among these were quickly enhancing its automated voice system and teaching the TOBi chatbot some new tricks. The team managing TOBi, which first launched in New Zealand in 2018, improved the bot's ability to handle the range of customer queries.
Customers were directed to use TOBi, but it was also easy for them to shift to live chats with local service agents when the chatbot ran into questions it couldn't answer. TOBi was popular though – and got a workout during lockdown 1.0 with a 550 per cent increase in customer interactions.
Online chat interactions increased four-fold as well. Welton says use of digital resources by customers remained high as lockdown ended.
Live chat settled at a "mere" 77 per cent increase. TOBi interactions currently run at one and a half times what they were before lockdown 1.0. Welton says this is due to New Zealanders becoming more comfortable with digital adoption, willing to try new things, especially as the telco worked to make it easier for them, driving customer choice.
Many customers in 2020 are on social media and Vodafone has also built up its team there with 17 fulltime members around New Zealand. The social media team now monitors Vodafone's channels like Twitter and Facebook from 8am to 9pm every day.
Perhaps not so typical for a large corporation, Vodafone has also encouraged staffers to engage on social media, especially with customers mentioning issues in which the company is tagged.
The motto is "customer experience is the responsibility of all employees", so if someone sees a customer needing help on social media then they should feel empowered to get involved. Even Vodafone chief executive Jason Paris rolls up his sleeves on social media, regularly giving out his email address to customers.
The hybrid mix of easy-to-use digital interfaces along with the ability to get hold of humans when required is what appeals to customers, in Welton's experience.
"I don't think there will ever be a 100 per cent digital CX solution," he says, especially as customers want to discuss emotionally important issues with fellow humans.
For example, when customers move house. When everything's on track, services are shifting with them, they're happy to stay in the digital channel.
"When they don't hear back, or something goes wrong, like they move and there's no coverage or connection, that's when people want someone to speak to about it," Welton says. People also prefer human interactions for security, privacy and payments.
Technology is improving, becoming easier to use with more integrated CX systems where channels are seamless and not separate from each other. Welton says it's also important to look after existing channels customers use and take advantage of what they can provide.
"Don't forget the traditional customer experience channels are becoming digitally enhanced and in the process, much more powerful," he says.
"Many organisations are looking at their Interactive Voice Response (IVR) systems so when people phone up the automated system can help them to self-serve, or direct them to an online chat option, or connects them to the right service agent as fast as possible.
"Intelligent voice recognition could be a powerful digital tool, with various systems integrated all in one place to be seamless for customers."
An agile and adaptive hybrid strategy with digital tools, and the human interaction customers choose, is key to success with CX in trying times.
For more, visit www.vodafone.co.nz