Are Inbound and Outbound Calls Really That Different?
The way customer workflows are designed and interactions are handled should be independent of the call’s origin – inbound or outbound. When developing a process, focus on how you want the interaction with the customer to flow, not on how the connection is made.
By driving interactions with repeatable, consistent processes, you are making the entire experience more pleasant for the customer and the agent. Once the connection between the parties is established, there is no fundamental difference between inbound and outbound interactions other than who initiated the contact. Therefore, at RiverStar, we see very little difference between the two when it comes to developing an efficient, effective and scalable process.
People generally think about outbound calling as needing scripts and workflows, but inbound calls also require consistent processes so that agents can easily identify and address customer issues – in other words, deliver great customer service.
With 80 to 90 percent of calls initiated by customers, developing inbound processes provides the greatest return on investment. In one case, we simply implemented efficient inbound calling process, which allowed our client, Blue Casa, to increase first-call resolution by 25 percent. Additionally, this same inbound process was fitted for an outbound call process to help new customers with proactive service issues. Increasing the efficiency and effectiveness on the majority of your calls through a process-based approach will result in happier customers and more productive agents.
The task of addressing inbound call issues may seem overwhelming when compared with those of outbound calls, where you have control of the content. You don’t, however, have to address every possible scenario with a process-based solution. Apply the 80/20 rule to determine the top reasons for inbound calls – for example, placing orders, billing inquiries or troubleshooting – and develop processes for those. Just a few processes will likely cover the majority of your customer interactions. You can also develop a ‘generic’ process to handle the “other” calls. Over time, you can add additional processes as the volume of transactions warrants the effort.
In addition to being an excellent customer service tool, utilizing a BPM platform-as-a-service tool will help you collect data so you have reportable results that describe exactly what occurred during each interaction. Anything that you put in a process – clicks, questions, call resolution, etc. – can be captured, stored and reported on. Integrating data from both the process and from the call transaction – such as length of call, number dialed or number of people contacted – will add value to your reports, providing a complete record of every transaction.
Contact us today to find out how we help you develop integrated processes for any types of customer interactions.
