Anyone who has used an online search engine, Web mail, a social network or registered for an e-commerce account is familiar with targeted communications: ads and other marketing messages are presented that are tied to the keywords one types in, or past purchases or behaviors. In a customer service scenario, real-time communications and technologies like call recording offer offers the ability to take this kind of contextual contact to the next level.
Contextual approaches pay off in so many ways for marketing. According to the McKinsey Global Institute, decisions based on data-driven insights result in 23 times greater likelihood of customer acquisition, six times greater likelihood of customer retention and 19 times greater likelihood of profitability.
Amazon’s “Mayday” button is one example of taking a technology like WebRTC and applying it to the customer contact world. Kindle Fire users can tap the Mayday button to bring up a video feed of a customer service agent, with whom the user can interact in real time, thus boosting confidence and a sense of personalized service on the part of the user. CSI (News - Alert) has also recognized the Mayday approach by embedding support chat right into its Virtual Observer application.
“To win in this world, businesses have to leverage the latest technologies to get connected, stay connected and get more engaged with their customers,” said Jon Jorgl, GENBAND’s (News - Alert) president of enterprise sales, in a recent blog at Telecom Reseller.
Customer service gets better as more data sources are added to the mix. Jorgl pointed out the example of Salesforce.com’s (News - Alert) Wave, a cloud-based data analytics platform that slices and dices how a set of customers is using specific products and services to offer up real-time reporting at the point of contact or sale. The ability to link voice-based keywords from call-recording to upsell and cross-sell targeted offerings is but one example of how agents and marketers can gain a more holistic view of the customer.
“Interactions become more meaningful because they deliver objective data about preferences and buying behavior,” he said. “You don’t need to ask a customer service rep if your customers seem happy with your products and services, you can measure their usage and plot it versus their interactions with your sales and support staff. Ultimately, the right engagement model delivers actionable data that gets turned into refinements so the next experience is better – building deeper loyalty.”
Edited by Alisen Downey