Authored by Parham Saebi, Customer Service Solutions Director at Arvato CRM Solutions
Customer experience will have a vital role to play in taking drivers on their electric vehicle (EV) journey, both in terms of building brand loyalty and creating revenue. Given the wealth of data generated by traditional channels, through the connected car and emerging EV touchpoints, the contact centre will naturally sit at the heart of the model as it evolves.
Here, we’ll look at the technologies brands need to consider if they are to deliver the outstanding customer experiences that drivers switching to EVs will expect.
Understanding the customer
Fully mapping out the customer journey, from how drivers consider and purchase a vehicle to the channels they use to contact manufacturers, charging point suppliers, energy providers and after sales suppliers for every potential issue they might encounter, is a vital starting point.
Leveraging this insight allows brands to pinpoint exactly where to implement technologies such as robotic process automation (RPA), Artificial Intelligence (AI), integrated chatbots and cognitive interactive voice response (IVR) to optimise the service their drivers receive.
For example, an automated voice IVR solution can be used to help customers search for details of the nearest dealership or to request a brochure during the research phase of the customer journey.
Similarly, drivers searching for charge points could be directed through a mobile-optimised, visual IVR to their vehicle app where a live, interactive map could guide them to the most convenient and potentially least busy locations.
But when it comes to more complex issues, such as supporting a customer looking for advice on an EV model or a home charging point, a human agent is best-placed to provide a more contextualised and detailed response, providing both a great service and bringing a driver closer to a sale.
A 360-degree view
At Arvato, we work with our clients to create a 360-degree view of their customers so they can understand how and why they interact with them across every touchpoint.
This insight enables us to future-proof processes and technology so they can reduce average handling times (AHT) and provide consistent, personalised experiences across every channel and at each point of the journey.
Chatbots and voicebots are a case in point. Many brands already use them to answer basic questions on digital platforms or to direct customers to the most suitable agent to handle their query. But by using AI, we integrate them with back-end systems that collect detailed customer information from across the business and provide personalised tailored information.
This means that when a customer asks for an update on their vehicle order or for a concierge service to find the nearest parking when they are in their car, a chatbot or voicebot can tap into the database, locate the information and update the customer almost immediately and reduce the effort and time taken to resolve their query.
Alongside enhancing experiences, these technologies will also play an important role in helping businesses across the sector find new efficiencies at a time when pressure is increasing to do more for less.
Taking our clients on a transformation journey
But this optimisation can’t take place overnight. Ensuring brands can deliver outstanding customer experiences in the EV era requires a journey of introducing technology and evolving contact centre processes as driver demands and contact touchpoints change.
To identify opportunities for transformation, we provide an in-depth insight analysis of frequently asked questions, voice and text analytics insight and our customer journey and process mapping to understand how customers use every touchpoint and the experience they expect and receive.
From here we recommend and implement trials of automation tools such as chats bots, voicebots, cognitive IVR and RPA to transform the transactional tasks identified in the insight phase that were previously handled by agents to automatically managed processes. This significantly reduces the volume of customer contacts an agent will have to handle, enabling them to focus on more complex, higher value enquiries, while reducing the cost per process for the automated transactions by up to 95 per cent.
With all of the data from across the end-to-end customer journey being collated into one place, we can provide all agents with tailored ‘next best actions’ through the CRM system. This gives them a full dashboard of information on customers as they’re engaging with them in real time and enables a more pro-active approach to supporting them by identifying potential issues early and allowing these to be addressed before they become complex problems, reducing cost and effort.
Together with helping them solve complicated queries quicker, it also provides push notifications for agents to contact drivers proactively at the right time with new products and services as well as hyper-personalised offers at the right stage in the customer journey.
The approach of deploying the right technology into your contact centre will not only increase insight and enhance the experiences your customers receive, but streamline your operations by reducing average handling times and cutting costs over time. Those brands who start readying their contact centres now will be best placed to meet the wants and needs of EV drivers as adoption rates increase sharply in the years ahead.
To learn more about how Arvato can support in readying your contact centre for the EV era, contact our team – CRMSE@arvato.co.uk