By the time customers reach out to your contact center with a problem, it’s often too late. They’ve already encountered an issue with your product or service, and their relationship with your brand is at risk. In some cases, they may even have begun searching for an alternative vendor. After all, switching providers is now easier than ever.
To retain customers and create exceptional experiences, businesses must look into the future to detect and mitigate issues before they occur. It’s not a simple process, but proactive customer engagement and support pays dividends.
In fact, organizations that prioritize proactive strategies achieve up to a 13 percent higher return on investment from their contact center. Not only does proactive engagement improve and preserve customer relationships, but it can also reduce the strain on your team, minimizing operating costs by reducing the number of interactions you have to handle.
So, how do you deliver a proactive approach?
Martin Taylor, Co-Founder and Deputy CEO at Content Guru, says:
“Proactive communications allow CX teams to get on the front foot and start to resolve issues before customers reach out. As a result, customers are reassured that any potential issues have been spotted and they can feel safe in the knowledge a resolution is being worked on. Advanced communications are hugely effective in a number of sectors and can alert customers to a range of issues from a power outage to a supply chain problem causing a delay for a delivery. Regardless of the sector, customers will be relieved to know the issue has been spotted and work is underway to rectify it and get back on track.”
The Rise of Proactive Engagement Strategies
Proactive customer service is quickly becoming a priority for many organizations. 71 percent of customers say they want proactive engagement from companies, and 72 percent report high satisfaction levels when they receive it, according to Forrester.
In the past, delivering proactive service was notoriously difficult. Analyzing the huge volumes of data collected by a contact center to determine issues in advance took significant time and investment. Today, advancements in technology are changing the landscape and arming organizations with better insights.
For example, we’re witnessing a rise in “machine customers”, Internet of Things (IoT) devices like vehicles, medical equipment, home appliances, and more, that can initiate interactions with the contact center, and inform companies of impending issues. According to Gartner, by 2026, these customers will make up 20 percent of contact center traffic, with 15 billion devices having the ability to act as machine customers.
Proactive Engagement and Contactless Resolution
An excellent example of proactive engagement comes from UK Power Networks, a company that delivers power to London, East and South East.
UK Power Networks strived to deliver exceptional service to their huge numbers of customers in an omnichannel environment, so they began working with Content Guru. Switching to Content Guru’s storm® platform, allowed the vendor to build a comprehensive Customer Data Platform (CDP), identify common issues, and pave the way for proactive service.