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Serve Your Customers Quickly and Efficiently, Regardless of Contact ChannelBy Dan Ryan, Executive Vice President of Marketing and Business Development for Stellent Inc.
Quick access to information and rapid resolution of problems are critical to business success. Nowhere is this reality more evident than across an organization’s customer service function. Gone are the days when customer service representatives (CSRs) were primarily tasked with fielding basic inquiries, such as providing account information or the status of a recent order. For the most part, these types of questions are now answered through the use of automated technology.
Today, the customer service function is challenged to provide answers to complex queries and resolve problems in real-time –– the first time a question is asked or an issue is raised –– in order to achieve and maintain high levels of customer satisfaction. To accomplish this goal, CSRs must have prompt access to current information. And, with the Web and email utilized as viable mechanisms for delivering information to customers, customer service managers need to improve information management processes –– from creation to delivery –– across all contact channels, including phone, Web self-service, Web chat and email. By streamlining content processes and efficiently sharing information across a variety of media, customer service organizations can achieve four critical objectives: decrease call volumes through self-help Web sites, reduce call center handle times, increase customer satisfaction and improve employee morale.
Challenges of Streamlining Customer Service Information Processes
The methods for managing customer service information vary widely from company to company. Some choose to store and continually update content in hard-copy format, while others prefer to use information technology (IT) –– including home-grown solutions, intranets, mainframe-based systems (greenscreen), Lotus Notes or Folio Views, and customer relationship management (CRM) systems with built-in knowledge bases.
Many companies combine these technologies to manage their information, which can present numerous organizational and content-access challenges. Without the proper technology infrastructure, CSRs may be forced to search multiple repositories for information, and customer service managers may need to update the same content across multiple repositories. Furthermore, most companies have to manage different versions of the same information. For example, the information CSRs have available to them is typically more detailed and comprehensive than information on the same topic found on the public Web site or customer extranet.
Customer service functions at many organizations are turning to Web-based content management software solutions to create knowledge bases that effectively leverage and manage their information across all contact channels. Content management-powered knowledge bases can help improve the quality and efficiency of customer interactions by enabling CSRs to successfully locate accurate information and provide the right answer during the first customer contact (first-time resolutions). These same technologies can be implemented to provide accurate information for customer self-service via customer extranets.
Addressing Process Challenges with a Content Management Solution
Content management solutions can generate significant benefits for customer service operations by providing a single, unified platform for creating, updating and distributing information across all contact channels. For example, a content management solution that eliminates three of ten calls by redirecting customers to a self-help customer extranet, and reduces call handle times by 30 percent through more efficient access to the right information, has a dramatic impact on the bottom line. It also helps maintain a high level of morale among CSRs and results in happier customers.
Specifically, many content management solutions allow customer service organizations to store all content in a central, Web-based repository. This functionality allows customer service managers to consolidate information previously found in multiple content repositories –– eliminating the need for CSRs to search multiple locations for an answer. This ability to search only one repository is critical to cutting call handle times and ensuring quick access to the most up-to-date and relevant information.
A content management solution also enables customer service managers to create, submit and manage only one version of each piece of content, as these systems quickly deploy and publish information from one source simultaneously across multiple contact channels (a.k.a. single-source publishing), such as a call center knowledge base, a Web customer service area or even a customized partner portal.
Additionally, effective content management solutions provide workflow, security, version control and archiving capabilities, which are critical in an industry where information is updated continually to reflect new products and services. Workflow functions allow customer service managers to efficiently route documents via the Web for review, collaboration and approval. Equally important are version control features that record the date and time of any document revision or update; track who made changes and when the document was approved (via workflow); and ensure only the most current documents are available. Content management solutions also archive each version of a document, making it easy to identify and access previous versions in the event of litigation.
Finding a Content Management Solution Right for You
Although most Web-based content management solutions offer similar core competencies, all systems are not created equal. There are a number of criteria companies should consider when selecting a content management solution to power their customer service knowledge base:
1. Strong information retrieval capabilities: The primary goal of any CSR is to find the answer to a customer’s question quickly. To support numerous methods of retrieving information, a content management solution should have strong content classification, navigation and search features that make the system efficient for both “drillers” (CSRs who prefer to drill down through a category menu) and “searchers” (CSRs who prefer to conduct full-text searches for content).
2. Solid integration functionality: In most customer service settings, content stored in knowledge bases, such as details about new programs, product upgrades, and policies and procedures, is only part of the equation for generating customer satisfaction. For example, information found in a CRM system also can be critical to fully understanding the nature of a customer’s questions as the application provides details about a customer’s history, such as recent orders, payments and previous queries. As a result, the ability to easily integrate a content management solution into CSRs’ desktops –– now commonly a portal with multiple windows for different applications –– and with existing e-business applications is vitally important.
3. Complete management of the information lifecycle: Because customer service managers are responsible for making content changes on a frequent basis, it’s important to evaluate the information lifecycle capabilities of a potential content management solution. In particular, organizations should not select technologies that create “information islands.” For example, many CRM systems offer a knowledge base that provides little or no capabilities for creating, updating and delivering content. Instead, users must perform these tasks in another application, such as a content management system, and then upload the new or revised content into the CRM knowledge base — an extremely inefficient process. When selecting a solution, companies should look for technologies that can support all components of the information lifecycle within one system.
4. Content conversion capabilities: Organizations should select content management solutions that automatically convert content created in common desktop applications, such as Microsoft Office, into Web-viewable formats, such as PDF, HTML or XML. This functionality eliminates the need for content creators or Webmasters to route content for coding prior to its being published on the Web.
5. Ability to redact content for various customer service contact channels: Tailoring information across contact channels can present an enormous challenge without redaction capabilities, which enable customer service managers to create one comprehensive document and then, based upon privacy levels, deliver either the whole document or portions of it to the appropriate channel outlet. For example, information about a product recall may be made available to CSRs via a call center knowledge base, and published to the partner portal and public Web site. Yet, the level of detail provided in each contact channel is likely not the same. The Benefits of Content Management for Customer Service Operations
Content management solutions that optimize key information processes can improve critical performance indicators for customer service organizations –– including a reduction in average handle times, an increase in first-time resolutions, improved caller satisfaction, decreased call volume, and improved employee satisfaction and lower employee turnover –– and drive rapid return-on-investment (ROI).
Better decision making through trend analysis: When customers and CSRs use self-help Web sites, their search behavior is tracked. For example, if a customer visits a self-help site first but ends up calling a CSR because their question hasn’t been answered, analysis shows what the customer was looking for and couldn’t find. In addition, when CSRs utilize an extranet, the organization is able to detect customer call trends such as frequently-asked-questions and common issues. Organizations can easily respond by adding more information to the site, or simply rearranging Web content.
Case-in-Point: Bell Canada
Bell Canada, the largest telecommunications company in Canada, uses Stellent® Universal Content Management to create, manage and publish content (such as rate plan information, phone specifications and promotions) to a call center intranet site utilized by thousands of call center agents across four major divisions. This implementation allows agents to more quickly and easily access needed information, resulting in significant ROI for these divisions. In addition, the Stellent system supports Bell Canada’s need to offer the same content in both French and English.
Case-in-Point: Newport City Council
The Newport City Council uses Stellent Universal Content Management to power a contact center handling citizen inquiries quickly and efficiently. For example, if a citizen calls to report a faulty streetlight, a call center agent can run a search on the subject and respond quickly to the query using information located in the knowledge base. This functionality has not only made it easier for first-line contact center staff to address citizen inquiries on any one of the many services it provides, but it also means fewer calls are now routed to specialists. The council also continues to expand its online knowledge base using Stellent technology, offering individuals a choice in how they access city services.
The Contact Center of the Future
There are many technologies leveraged by the customer service function, but none may be more important than those utilized to manage the information communicated to an organization’s customers. A strong content management solution can help speed up access to answers for complex caller questions and eliminate conflicting versions of the same information; reduce the time and cost related to updating hard-copy content (if this content is still necessary); and enable organizations to easily repurpose information across all contact channels. As a result, many customer service managers and CSRs consider Web-based content management solutions to be an integral part of their operations today and for years to come.
Author Bio
Dan Ryan, Executive Vice President, Marketing and Business Development
Dan Ryan is responsible for developing and implementing customer-centric product and marketing strategies for Stellent, a global provider of enterprise content management software solutions. Ryan oversees branding and market positioning of Stellent Universal Content Management – the industry's first fully-integrated content management solution – enabling fast implementations and generating quick, broad user adoption of enterprise-wide and line-of-business applications such as call centers, Web sites, dealer extranets, compliance initiatives, accounts payable imaging and claims processing. Ryan joined Stellent in 1999 and has led the company to a market-dominant position in the enterprise content management market. Prior to Stellent, he spent 14 years in the Silicon Valley in senior marketing and business development positions.
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