The best customer experience software enables contact centers to streamline operations, deliver exceptional customer service experiences under one platform, and continue serving customers during a crisis. It's the right tool for the digital world and the experience economy.
Thinking about "right tools" reminds me of Apollo 13. I love the story because it's a great lesson about how ingenuity can help overcome seemingly insurmountable obstacles. For those who aren't familiar with Apollo 13, the spacecraft launched in 1970 and was supposed to be the third to land on the moon. However, an explosion in one of its modules put the crew in peril and ended their dreams of walking on the moon. Using NASA's version of duct tape and baling wire, the astronauts made it back safely after suffering severe discomfort and anxiety.
What does this have to with contact center technology? The Apollo 13 spaceship was modern, state-of-the-art equipment back in 1970, but you would be hard-pressed to find anyone willing to take it into space now. Technology has advanced far beyond Apollo 13's capabilities.
Similar to how Apollo 13 isn't the right tool to take people into space these days, antiquated contact center systems aren't the right tools for delivering satisfying CX to today's demanding consumers. Anyone who uses legacy, on-premises systems knows that harrowing feeling of using duct tape and baling wire to keep the system running, but it doesn't have to be that way.
Our clients have partnered with us to scrap their outdated systems and modernize their contact centers, with impressive results. Let's look at four case studies that prove the value of using the best customer experience software.
Telecommunications company improves NPS by 149% while also increasing efficiency
Contact centers are tasked with improving CX while also reducing costs. This first case study shows how these seemingly competing goals can both be achieved when contact centers use industry-leading cloud solutions.
Our client, a Canadian telecommunications company, was having difficulty achieving its goal of delivering outstanding customer service. An antiquated automatic contact distribution (ACD) and a disconnected customer survey system prevented them from having enough insights to move the needle on CX and agent performance. Agents had to transfer callers to the survey system manually, and they frequently forgot.
Additionally, maintenance and management of their old, on-premises system were too expensive. They wanted a solution that would enable them to offer email and chat support to their customers.
Our client determined they needed a new cloud platform with the following capabilities:
- Integrated post-call surveys
- Call back functionality
- Digital channels
- The ability for end-users to change the interactive voice response (IVR) system without IT support
- Call recording
- Real-time reporting
They selected several NICE CXone applications to fulfill these needs, including omnichannel routing, IVR, chat and email channels, feedback management, and reporting.
Now, opting into surveys is automated, so agents no longer need to remember to transfer customers to the survey system, which has led to an increase in completion rates. This provides the company with the customer insights they want, and they use the information to improve performance and close the loop with unhappy customers.
Having accurate, real-time reporting was a game-changer for the business, which can now optimize agent schedules and improve agent utilization. The new IVR is also a source of efficiency, as 8% of calls that used to be handled by agents are now resolved through IVR self-service.
The results of this digital transformation would be the envy of any company:
- 149% increase in Net Promotor Score®
- 96% increase in post-call survey score
- 93% increase in first-call resolution rate
- 8% of inbound calls are handled by self-serve IVR options despite an overall call volume increase
- 8% increase in callback take rate
- 2% increase in survey take rate
The best customer experience software substantially empowers businesses to improve CX and operational efficiency.
Read the case study to learn more about our client's success story.
Travel insurance business shows how a unified CX platform improves the customer experience
The travel insurance industry is highly competitive, and survival depends on providing excellent customer service. Our client had difficulty doing this because its contact center technology was a collection of disjointed, disparate applications. Additionally, their legacy Cisco system lacked basic functionality such as rerouting and recording calls, and reporting was grossly inadequate. It also couldn't integrate with their other solutions.
By moving to our flexible cloud contact center platform, our client was able to revamp its claims process. Smart, omnichannel routing ensures customers are connected to the proper claims agent on the first attempt, eliminating frustrating transfers. Additionally, because our open APIs make integrations so easy, our client can associate call recordings with specific cases, enabling them to see the entire life cycle of a customer interaction.
Other wins include:
- The scalability needed to react to major travel disruptions (such as hurricanes)
- Improved business continuity and disaster recovery plans
- The ability to provide omnichannel customer service experiences
- Optimized staffing due to access to interval reports
The results of the initiative illustrate the CX and business benefits of using the best customer experience software.
- Decreased abandon rate by 55%
- Reduced average speed to answer by 64%
- Increased SLA by 28%
- Processing time for claims decreased by 10 days
- Improving call routing efficiency resulted in savings equivalent to one full-time client services representative
Download the case study to learn more.
This Australian media organization ditched its antiquated technology and reduced agent attrition by 55%
Our client, a top Australian media brand, dealt with several disruptions in their contact center. They moved it in-house from its offshore outsourcer, they were hit with high pandemic-related interaction volume as they were moving their agents to work from home, and their agent attrition rate was a sky-high 90%.
Knowing they had to address these issues quickly, our client established four priorities:
- Creating a mission
- Focusing on employees
- Changing leadership actions and behaviors
- Using technology as an enabler
Our client believes exceptional CX begins with agent engagement. They were able to use CXone to make several changes that enhanced agents' roles and work-life balance, which ultimately increased engagement and retention. For example, they gave agents a choice to work from home or on-site and optimized their IVR to reduce their previous 33% transfer rate by 69%. The latter improvement enriched agents' jobs by significantly increasing the amount of time they spend helping customers. It also positively impacts CX when customers aren't transferred as much.
A focus on quality and first contact resolution, and the ability to better measure and monitor both, helped our client significantly boost both NPS and revenue, even during the pandemic.
The results of using the best customer experience software were impressive:
- 55% reduction in attrition
- 22% increase in Net Promoter Score® (NPS®)
- 69% reduction in call transfers
- 18% increase in revenue
- 9% increase in first contact resolution
- 8% increase in employee engagement
Our client proved that using modern contact center technology and focusing on the right things is a powerful combination that can lead to higher brand advocacy, lower agent attrition, and improved business results.
Read the case study to find out more.
The best customer experience software enabled this business to continue serving customers even as the world was shutting down
As a pet medical insurance provider, our Seattle-based client must handle claims quickly and meet stringent industry compliance standards while also empathetically helping customers through often emotional moments.
Because of their location—Seattle is on several fault lines—the company already had a strong business continuity plan in place, which included NICE CXone as an enabling technology. At the onset of the COVID-19 lockdowns, they executed those plans.
With the help of CXone, our client was able to move 900 employees to work from home in 72 hours - a Herculean task with an impressive outcome. The business reports that there was little to no disruption to the customer experience. Additionally, supervisors and managers can see the performance results of individual agents, even when those agents are located three hours away.
Watch the video to discover how this business leveraged our cloud CX solution to keep the lights on for their customers.
Common themes in these case studies about using the best customer experience software
All of these organizations experienced phenomenal results when they had the right tools in place. They transformed operational performance and the quality of customer service experiences simply by updating their contact center solutions.
You may have noticed some common themes among these case studies, including the following:
Outdated legacy systems hinder progress
Contact center technology should be an enabler, not an albatross around your neck. However, too many contact centers are severely restricted in what they can do to modernize CX and operations by their antiquated, on-premises systems. The result is lackluster customer experiences, inefficient processes, expensive IT infrastructure, and agents who are held back from performing at their best.
Outdated systems:
- Don't integrate well, if at all
- Aren't infused with game-changing artificial intelligence
- Have seriously limited reporting capabilities
- Don't support digital channels
- Are a huge pain to maintain and update
- Can't scale and deploy quickly
- Typically need IT and vendor support to make simple configuration changes
In contrast, the best customer experience software:
- Is in the cloud, so it scales quickly, and the software provider maintains the hardware and keeps the software updated
- Integrates easily due to its multitude of open APIs
- Empowers end-users to make configuration changes through an intuitive, drag and drop design studio
- Is infused with artificial intelligence across the platform, which makes core processes simpler and more accurate, enhances CX, and makes agents more efficient
- Provides real-time reporting on a wealth of data
- Includes a host of integrated digital channels and self-service options
When comparing the characteristics side-by-side, it's apparent that a modern contact center needs a modern CX platform.
The best customer experience software can improve both CX and operational efficiency
Contact centers do a perpetual juggling act between the seemingly conflicting priorities of delivering superior customer service experiences and adhering to tight budgets. A classic example of the balancing act is the constant struggle to have neither too many nor too few agents scheduled throughout the day.
When budgets are exceeded, contact centers may intentionally understaff and take the hit on service levels and customer satisfaction. And when service levels have been in the tank for a while, contact centers may overstaff to shore up customer satisfaction scores.
As these case studies demonstrate, contact centers don't always have to sacrifice one priority for the other. The right technology, just like a rising tide, can lift all boats.
Capabilities such as real-time reporting give contact center leaders the insights they need to optimize staffing levels, which directly impacts both CX and labor costs. Accurate routing substantially reduces transfers, making customers happier and agents more efficient and engaged. And well-designed self-service satisfies customers who want to handle their own matters while increasing agent capacity.
These are just some of the many ways the best customer experience software can elevate all aspects of a contact center's performance.
Cloud CX solutions are essential for business continuity
One thing I didn't mention when I was discussing the drawbacks of outdated, on-premises systems is that they don't do much for business continuity. For one thing, they make remote work difficult, if not impossible. Additionally, they require expensive redundancy, which many contact centers forgo altogether, exposing them to risks such as fires and natural disasters.
The case studies above highlight how cloud solutions enable companies to keep the lights on and even grow revenue during lengthy, worldwide disruptions. Continuing to serve customers in the face of adversity is not optional yet may not be possible with antiquated technology.
One of the reasons cloud-based software strengthens business continuity plans is that the best vendors have robust redundancy and recovery plans in place should anything happen to their primary infrastructure. Additionally, as our Seattle-based client so effectively illustrated, when contact centers are in the cloud, it's simple and fast to transition to a work from home model. Employees only need a good Internet connection, a browser, and a computer or laptop to be up and running.
Businesses shouldn't gamble on old technology to see them through a crisis. The best customer experience software is the right solution for modern consumer demands.
To learn more about NICE CXone, visit our product page and watch a demo. Get started on modernizing your contact center today!
