Monday, July 12, 2010

Multi-Channel Service Delivery: The Path to Creating a Great Service Experience

The latest research report published by the Aberdeen Group, a Harte-Hanks Company, found that leading service companies were not only looking to utilize channels other than the contact center as a means to capture customer requests and deliver service, but also invest resources in ensuring the consistency and efficacy of information and the overall experience available on all delivery channels.

While the contact center, fax, and email have been the traditional channels available for customer service requests, channels such as live chat, customer-specific web portals, and others have seen increased support in the last three years. Looking ahead, organizations are actively looking to increase the availability of service information via live chat, social media platforms, messaging, and technical forums and discussion boards.

Research findings in the Multi-Channel Service Delivery report indicate that while all firms are looking to improve time to repair and first-call resolution, leading firms focus on increasing access to customer -- and service-specific information and knowledge across the organization. As such, these firms exhibited the following:

* An 85% current performance in first-call resolution, in contrast to a 56% performance for all others

* A 21% reduction in total support costs over the last 12 months, as opposed to a 1% reduction for all others

* An 86% current performance in customer retention when compared to a 74% performance for all other organizations

More information on service and support can be found at www.SupportIndustry.com

No comments: