Deliver superior customer experiences across all channels Create an army of advocates who sing your praises It s a fact. Customer advocates are your greatest assets. They spend more, stay with you longer and sing your praises on- and off-line. These folks are more than satisfied customers. They are your future. There s no surefire formula for creating customer advocates. The transformation results from trust, quality, consistency and superior experiences over time. Companies cannot afford to lose sight of this, but they are. Despite investing in tools and technologies to manage and enhance the customer experience at critical touch points, companies are failing to create customer advocates for a number of reasons. www.astutesolutions.com www.astutesolutions.com page 1
These reasons include the following: Fragmented views of customers interactions and histories make it difficult to understand and address customers needs, personalize the experience, or resolve issues effectively. Inconsistent and inaccurate information across contact center and online customer service channels leads to customer frustration and distrust. Overwhelmed agents who must support large numbers of rapidly-changing products, and are so bogged down that they cannot focus on customers emotional needs or service quality. The struggle to find, access, and leverage the right information for responding to customer needs, which leads to inconsistent responses, poor issue resolution, slow handling times, and high levels of frustration. Piecemeal technologies that are not integrated or synchronized, leading to confusion, ill will, and lost opportunities. Failing to address the emotional aspect of the interaction, because many of the leading tools and technologies are focused primarily on improving interaction efficiency and productivity. To create advocates, customers pains/concerns must be addressed in a timely manner, and they must feel engaged and delighted. The takeaway? Choose tools and technologies that enable you to create an emotional service environment where advocacy thrives. Empower your agents to make the most out of every interaction. We can help. In fact, this is where we shine. Our multichannel solutions allow your customers to interact with you the way they want, when and where it is convenient for them. Regardless of how they choose to communicate phone, email, chat or Web our solutions address the three critical aspects of the customer experience like no others. Our solutions help agents address customer issues efficiently, effectively, and optimally based on the specific customer and issue at hand. Productivity, process, and emotional components empower your representatives and self-service channels. Your operations become highly efficient and effective. And your customers are wowed with every interaction, every time. Think about it. Customers are looking for acknowledgement a sign that you understand and value the relationship. Our solutions enable you to convey both through differentiating service. Your agents are equipped to make emotional connections by recalling customers small but important personal details, easing their pain through goodwill and compensation, delivering well-crafted communications and much more. They surprise and delight. Our solutions help agents address customer issues efficiently, effectively, and optimally based on the specific customer and issue at hand. They enable interactions to flow seamlessly and intelligently across channels. You gain comprehensive insights into customer needs, wants and motivations for continual improvements to the customer experience, and better products, services and processes. www.astutesolutions.com page 2
Around the world, leading companies rely on Astute Solutions technology to: Surprise and delight customers through high-touch, personalized interaction experiences Address issues quickly and thoroughly on the first contact Enable customers to help themselves through effective self-service tools without compromising their experience Provide customers seamless cross-channel service Deliver unexpected value during and after customer interactions Proactively respond to customers wants and needs Surprise and delight your customers through high-touch, personalized interaction experiences Our solutions help agents personalize the interaction from the moment the customer contacts your company. Knowing the customer. epowercenter presents agents with a comprehensive view of the customer s interaction history across all channels. It automatically searches for customer information based on their phone number or email address, helping your agents recognize and understand the customer right away. The interaction begins with a quick verification of their information and acknowledgement of their relationship with the company, and immediately progresses to their issues and needs. Customers like the confirmation that they are remembered and appreciated Surprising and Delighting. epowercenter also accommodates capturing and leveraging special information like birthdays, favorite items, and more. These details always surprise and delight your customers when acknowledged. epowercenter enables agents to drive home a quality experience with a personalized follow-up letter or email. It equips representatives with pre-approved responses and templates, while enabling them to incorporate personal details that make the customer feel special. Address issues quickly and thoroughly on the first contact We empower your contact center agents to conduct knowledgeable and productive conversations, while proactively guiding them through the best path to issue resolution. We empower your contact center agents to conduct knowledgeable and productive conversations, while proactively guiding them through the best path to issue resolution. Making it easy. Interactions can be routed based on information gathered from IVR or self-service interactions, or even the customer s IVR menu choices providing the agent valuable information to begin addressing the issue right away. No need for the customer to restate their issues. Getting it right the first time. With our solutions, your agents have a single interface through which they can quickly access data from key information sources within and outside of the enterprise. At their fingertips, they have the precise information needed to answer customer questions, resolve complex issues, and deliver high quality, relevant information to customers via email, phone, and chat. www.astutesolutions.com page 3
Best-in-Class (BIC) companies utlizing CEM programs improved their year-over-year performance in customer retention by 15%; improved year-over-year performance in customer satisfaction by 19%; and improved yearover-year profitability by 8%. Aberdeen Group Staying focused on the customer. As a result, agents can focus exclusively on resolving issues and enhancing satisfaction--not on searching for information. In addition, your organization will reduce costs through faster handling time, improved first contact resolution and more. Enable customers to help themselves through effective selfservice tools without compromising their experience With our self-service capabilities, customers are satisfied because they receive the answers they need whenever and however it is convenient for them without needing to search through irrelevant menus and information. Providing IVR that works. Our integrated voice response (IVR) solution integrates with customer interaction and loyalty databases to ensure inquiries are routed and handled appropriately. Enabling great online service experiences. Our intelligent Web self-service solution, RealDialog, delivers clear, accurate and specific answers to customer questions, rather than requiring them to sift through long lists of possible search and FAQ results. It engages customers in a conversation to better understand their needs when appropriate much like an online conversation with a knowledgeable, highlyskilled live agent. It incorporates and leverages customer specific data (loyalty card information, purchase history and more) into its responses for an unmatched level of personalized service. And, unlike other self-service solutions, it delivers responses with up to 99% accuracy. Provide customers seamless cross-channel service With our solutions, agents and self-service can work together, seamlessly, to ensure positive experiences across channels. With our solutions, agents and self-service can work together, seamlessly, to ensure positive experiences across channels. Eliminating the hassle. When a customer chooses to move from the IVR system to an agent, their preferences and activities go with them. Before the agent-customer interaction begins, the agent handling it is already empowered with information. They open the call with a focus on the issue at hand - not on collecting information they should already have. Escalating intelligently. When a customer is able to address their first few questions on the company s website, but is unable to resolve their other questions, they can initiate a live chat or reach the contact center via email or phone. RealDialog can pass a transcript of the Web interaction to the agent, providing them insight into what the customer already knows, and what question(s) must be addressed. The agent simply picks up where the self-service interaction left off, eliminating redundancy and saving time for the customer and the agent. 2010 Astute Solutions. All rights reserved. www.astutesolutions.com www.astutesolutions.com page 4
Deliver unexpected value during and after the customer interactions Our solutions help customers feel rewarded for their time and effort, by helping your agents deliver added value to the experience. Delivering rich and compelling information. With our solutions, agents have instant access to helpful, contextual information such as scripted answers, external data sources (loyalty information, order history, tracking systems, and more), graphic images, interactive surveys, and full multimedia files. Easing the pain. Agents are empowered to minimize a customer s pain through checks and coupons. This helps customer recovery efforts and builds emotional equity with customers at a relatively low cost. It also helps to generate positive word of mouth. Proactively respond to customers wants and needs Last year, through the innovative use of contact center technology, and goodwill initiatives like gift certifictes and store coupons, our customer relations center drove sales and cost reductions to the tune of $32 million. Bath & Body Works By providing insight into customer wants and needs, we help you build value into your products, services and processes, keep in front of customer expectations, and enhance satisfaction. Understanding customer needs. Our solutions enable you to collect and analyze realtime data from customer interactions, and distribute actionable insights across your organization. This enhances your company s awareness of customer needs, wants and critical issues. Enabling proactive service. You can also proactively broadcast communications to customers through epowercenter. Reach large or very specific customer groups to reinforce their value to the company. When proactively contacted about an issue that is important to them, they feel highly appreciated. About Astute Solutions Astute Solutions delivers CRM, knowledge management, and multi-channel contact center software and services that enable companies to create significant value through customer interactions in the contact center, on the Web, and in the field. Our award-winning solutions enable you to: Build exceptional relationships with your customers through high-value, personalized interaction experiences Improve interaction efficiency and effectiveness by empowering representatives with the right information at the right time Reduce service costs and complexity Quickly identify and respond to critical issues Gain actionable insights that drive continuous improvement, profitability, and growth By partnering with us, leading companies across a variety of industries achieve exceptional ROI by reducing overall costs, improving productivity, retaining more customers, delivering market-leading products and services, and increasing revenue. Corporate Headquarters 2400 Corporate Exchange Drive Columbus, OH 43231 office 614 508 6100 toll free 877 769 3750 email info@astutesolutions.com 2010 Astute Solutions. All rights reserved. www.astutesolutions.com www.astutesolutions.com page 5