ROI SERIES MODULE ONE The Business Case for Digital Self-Service: CALL & EMAIL DEFLECTION This guide is the first in a three-part series designed to help you build a comprehensive business case for digital selfservice one that paints an accurate picture of the ROI available from today s leading virtual agent solutions. Virtual agents deliver tangible business value in a number of ways, and this series is designed to give you a comprehensive guide to each of them beginning with Module One: Call & Email Deflection. CALL & EMAIL DEFLECTION 1 2 TARGETTED OFFERS 3 VOICE OF THE CUSTOMER INSIGHT Module One explains how virtual agents deliver cost savings through call and email deflection in all your digital channels (including web, mobile and social) as well as in your agent channel. In Modules Two and Three, you ll see how virtual agents open the door to revenue opportunities, by way of targeted marketing offers and unique digital voice of the customer insights. For now, let s open the ROI discussion by taking a close look call and email deflection. THE BUSINESS CASE FOR DIGITAL SELF SERVICE: CALL & EMAIL DEFLECTION 1
Virtual Agents: A Proven Way to Drive ROI from Online Self-Service Consumers are increasingly interacting with Virtual Agents (sometimes called virtual assistants) as a means to get problems solved and questions answered online. At their core, Virtual Agents are software services that engage in automated conversations with customers in self-service environments. They empower customers on their journey for answers and task completion by simplifying the process of information delivery in multiple channels, including the corporate web, mobile, social and agent environments. Virtual Agents are often the first point of contact between a customer and an organization, and excel in guiding customers toward the information they need, in a way that is fast, efficient and enjoyable. Virtual agents do all of this at a fraction of the cost of human-assisted service, and they deliver a combination of benefits that you just can t get from live support channels, including: 1) 24 x 7 service, via a VIRTUAL agent that works every weekend, never gets sick, and needs no vacation, 2) a highly effective method of giving customers more of what they WANT the ability to serve themselves in your digital channels, and 3) sustainable improvements in online CSAT metrics, brought about by the lowering of customer effort. An illustrative example of a Virtual Agent prominently greeting customers on a website home page. THE BUSINESS CASE FOR DIGITAL SELF SERVICE: CALL & EMAIL DEFLECTION 2
Foundational ROI Calculations The first-level of ROI offered by virtual agents comes from two points in the service delivery channel: 1) Digital Deflections whereby the virtual agent enables customers to resolve low-complexity queries in a self-serve manner on the web, including in your social and mobile channels. As a result, these resolved queries are deflected from higher-cost human assisted channels like call and email. 2) FCR Improvement (Agent-Level Deflections) Calls and emails not deflected from digital channels, which then route to live CSR agents, become candidates for deflection at the agent level. When CSRs in your contact center use the same virtual agent technology to consistently retrieve answers faster, and with a higher degree of accuracy, a measurable improvement in FCR is achieved. In the example below, we use sample data to calculate ROI from call deflections and email deflections separately. The call and email volume values used are only a percentage of the total calls that many organizations receive on an annual basis. Savings potential at your organization may be much larger. CALCULATING ROI FROM CALL DEFLECTIONS Total Calls 500,000 Total annual call volume. Info Calls % 45% Info Calls 225,000 Percentage of calls from customers seeking low-complexity information or instructional / how-to procedures. ROI FROM DIGITAL DEFLECTIONS ROI FROM FCR IMPROVEMENT Deflection Est. 20% Calls Not Deflected 180,000 Improvement in FCR 10% Deflected Calls 45,000 Calls Avoided 18,000 Cost Per Call $ 6.00 Cost Per Call $ 6.00 Deflection Value $ 270,000 Call Avoidance Value $ 108,000 Total Deflection Value $ 378,000 Total Deflected Calls 63,000 Est. Questions/Answers 189,000 to Achieve Deflection THE BUSINESS CASE FOR DIGITAL SELF SERVICE: CALL & EMAIL DEFLECTION 3
CALCULATING ROI FROM EMAIL DEFLECTIONS Total Emails 100,000 Total annual email volume. Info Emails % 45% Info Emails 45,000 Percentage of emails from customers seeking low-complexity information or instructional / how-to procedures. ROI FROM WEBSITE DEFLECTIONS ROI FROM FCR IMPROVEMENT Deflection Est. 50% Emails Not Deflected 22,500 Improvement in FCR 5% Deflected Emails 22,500 Emails Avoided 1,125 Cost Per Email $ 4.00 Cost Per Email $ 4.00 Deflection Value $ 90,000 Email Avoidance Value $ 4,500 Total Deflection Value $ 94,500 Total Deflected Emails 23,625 Est. Questions/Answers to Achieve Deflection 70,785 TOTAL VALUE FROM CALL AND EMAIL DEFLECTIONS Total Value from Calls Deflection $ 378,000 Total Value from Emails Deflection $ 94,500 Total Savings Deflections and FCR $ 472,500 Deflected Calls Deflected Emails Total Deflections Projected Annual Questions and Answers 63,000 23,625 86,625 259,875 Contact IntelliResponse for Pricing Details and a Free, No Obligation ROI Analysis Compliments of IntelliResponse THE BUSINESS CASE FOR DIGITAL SELF SERVICE: CALL & EMAIL DEFLECTION 4
Virtual Agent Technology Key Features WHAT FEATURES DIRECLTY IMPACT ROI? It s easy to get overwhelmed with available features, but the path to ROI becomes clear when you know what features directly impact the ACCURACY of the delivered answer. Without these key features, your virtual agent will be far less effective in actually resolving customer issues, causing calls to escalate to live channels, and squandering the opportunity for cost savings. For each feature, we show the extent to which they improve accuracy, which directly influences resolution. NATURAL LANGUAGE INTERPRETER This feature cleans up customer questions by by normalizing data, correcting spelling and and data input errors and understanding question fragments and word forms for enhanced accuracy. INTENT RECOGNITION i.match derives the intent of the customer question and delivers the one right answer and/or asks for clarification in order to match the question to the right answer. i.match derives the intent of the customer question and delivers the one right answer and/or ACCURACY BOOST + 20% ENHANCED PREDICTIVE SEARCH i.suggest streamlines the user experience and and minimizes customer effort (keystrokes and customer effort (keystrokes and time. i.suggest goes far beyond predictive time. i.suggest search goes byfar beyond recognizing predictive the search intent by behind every recognizing question. the intent behind every question. ACCURACY BOOST + 20% RELATED QUESTIONS Related Questions are are intelligently linked to to the answer, helping to answer the customer s most likely next next question. In the agent channel, 22% of In the agent channel, 22% of repeat calls involve downstream issues repeat related calls involve to the original downstream question. issues related Related to Questions the original help minimize question. these Related repeat Questions calls. help minimize these repeat calls. THE BUSINESS CASE FOR DIGITAL SELF SERVICE: CALL & EMAIL DEFLECTION 5
Key Takeaways for High-Growth Companies 5 REASONS WHY VIRTUAL AGENTS ARE PERFECT FOR HIGH-GROWTH COMPANIES 1 2 3 4 5 Virtual Agents are the future of customer service. Gartner predicts that by 2020, the customer will manage 85% of the relationship with an enterprise without interacting with a human. So it s not a question of IF virtual agents will take the lead role in your customer service operation, it s more so a question of WHEN your company will deploy the solution and, how many customer you may lose along the way to competitors who do so before you. Not having a solu*on in place yet may in fact be an advantage. For the moment. One advantage of building out your customer service strategy as a high-growth company is that you re not bogged down by legacy investments in contact centers, staff and processes. You may have a window to get a Virtual Agent solution deployed before key competitors, especially if your main competitors are large-scale enterprises who have been slow to react to the changing behaviors of today s consumer. But don t wait. Even the largest of companies, in Stay Tuned for the Next Installment in the ROI Series: the oldest of industries, are adding Virtual Agents at the center of their interaction channels. MODULE TWO LOOKS AT ROI OPPORTUNITIES FROM CONVERSION Virtual Agents offer many benefits over live agents. A Look You ve probably been hiringaathead a dizzying pace. You can take a breather now. With a Virtual Agent handling lowthisonline, guide you helped see the ROI opportunities by deploying a leading complexity questions canyou operate withtremendous a skeleton staff contact center,available with fewer reps that handle onlyvirtual agent technology in your digital channels. next center. modulewhat s in the more, series VIRTUAL will take the ROI higher-value or complex customer interactions. Thisand is agent the future of thethe contact Agents discussion further. Here s a look at what s coming next work 24 x7, never get sick, and never leave their desk to go to lunch, let alone to go away on vacation. InwModule Two, we ll show you chow you cansuse yourtmonthly A Virtual Agent ill help you mone*ze ustomer ervice raffic. call volume data to follow the trail back to customer uncoveringservice lost revenue opportunities that originate on your website. ThisVirtual calculation The link between positive experience and a customer s propensity to buy is clear. Agentsuses let widely accepted industry averages based on leading customer experience research. The numbers you capitalize on the immediate goodwill earned in the delivery of the right answer. Our clients have run their own A/ don t rates lie, andimprove reveal when a staggering amount of revenue likelythe leaving table. B tests that conversion you provide relevant offers you re that match intentonofthe a customers original question. The best Virtual Agents have this intent-recognition matching intelligence built in. RELEVANT offers open the We ll also broaden the ROI discussion by introducing you to the impact virtual agents can have on door to conversions. conversion, when the power of relevancy is unleashed. To do this, we ll reference the conversion organization they incorporated marketing offers Virtual Agents improvement Give You Vthat oice aoleading f the Cglobal ustomer Insight realized Like Nwhen one O ther. into their customer s digital self-service experience. There is no easier, faster, or more cost-effective way to begin building your understanding of the customer than with a employing a 24x7 market research agent with the capacity to talk to millions of customers every Virtual Agent. It s like Jump Ahead: Get a Custom ROI leaving Calcula9on from word IntelliResponse year and report back to you on every interaction without out a single from a single conversation. Let us help you get an accurate projection on ROI with a no-obligation consultation using your actual call and email volume data. Contact us today at info@intelliresponse.com. Geta afree, Free,NoNoObligation ObligationROI Assessment of Your Get Analysis Using Your Website s Self-Service Performance! Call and Email Volume Data info@intelliresponse.com linkedin@intelliresponse.com linkedin@intelliresponse.com 1-866-454-0084 Compliments of IntelliResponse Compliments of IntelliResponse and Forrester Research, Inc. To learn more about taking online self-service to the next level for your customers, visit www.intelliresponse.com