3rd Party Remote Call Monitoring Feature

Much has been made of the omnichannel customer service environment lately, and indeed, a lot of people prefer to have the option to address issues of customer service in different ways. Social media is rapidly becoming a major front on which such issues are handled, but a new report from Enterprise Holdings says that the old ways—particularly the telephone—are still best.

For Enterprise, most of customer service is being handled via phone calls, and the numbers speak volumes. Enterprise Holdings' contact centers—which cover a combined six million locations' worth of National Car Rental, Alamo Rent A Car and Enterprise Rent-a-Car airport customers—saw over 90 percent of customers using a phone to handle issues of customer service first. Just 10 percent used some other method, including email, social media and online chat.

That might suggest a course of action to some, but further reports from Enterprise Holdings suggest this may be a picture about to change. Enterprise Holdings vice president Ken Kreh pointed out that, in the last year, Enterprise Holdings had “more than doubled” the size of its social media team. Kreh also pointed out that volume in social media customer service is growing on a month-over-month basis.

Most requests are simple, Kreh further explained, but sometimes there was a level of complication involved as customers wanted to modify reservations, extend contracts, confirm agreements, or just land a copy of the receipt. Enterprise Holdings, accordingly, gives plenty of leeway to customer service agents in terms of making problems right and being best able to address many common issues that emerge. Kreh noted that the company, when hiring new agents, not only looks for those who can follow specific guidelines, but are also capable of quick thinking to go beyond the guidelines as needed.

That's proven to be a valuable stance for Enterprise Holdings; Enterprise was ranked the highest in customer satisfaction in the J.D. Power 2014 North American Rental Car Satisfaction Study, and brought home two Travvy Awards in the 2015 rankings. The company has also made significant expansions worldwide, offering service in over 70 countries.

It's that bit from Ken Kreh that really sells it. Social media volume is on the rise month-over-month. The company expanded its social media team better than two-fold. These are things that suggest a clear transition from one breed to another. It's important to consider the market for such things; rental cars are important to travelers, and these days much of travel is done for business. This could bring a function of demographics into play, as business travelers may be of a different age group, one that may prefer the telephone to social media as it's more familiar. It may also be simpler for many users to turn to a basic phone call while away from the office, or even from a hotel room.

Drawing conclusions about the overall customer service market from Enterprise Holdings' experience might be too narrow a field to consider, but it's still providing some good, general results. Being ready to cover customer service issues in every channel is important regardless of the industry, so whether renting a car or selling one, being ready to take on customer service on any front is valuable.