5 Benefits of Online Communities For The Contact Center – Part II
In part one of this two-part blog series I identified three of the ways the customer contact center can benefit from online communities. In part two we’ll conclude with two other benefits.
4. They provide early warning signals
Because online communities tend to be the first place people go when experiencing a problem, they are also an early warning signal to the organization about problems with a product.
For example, one of our customers—a cloud-based software company—monitors the community activity around a specific set of keywords. A sudden increase in the use of those keywords is an indicator that there are problems with their cloud application.
This same customer reported that while customers were in the process of working with a customer service agent on the phone, they were simultaneously searching for answers within their customer community. Agents that were familiar with the customer community were able to help guide those searches too.
- They are part of the omnichannel experience
Customers will use the channel most convenient to them: email, phone, forums, comments, Twitter, etc. The contact center is expected to respond across all these channels as well. Organizations that lack an online community miss an important channel for interacting with their customers.
In fact, through research our customers have done, they have identified that not only is community an important tool used for supporting a product, but it is increasingly an important tool for buying the product too.
Potential customers peruse communities seeking to understand the experience of current customers, to understand the product, and to determine if the organization’s products are a good fit for their needs. In this regard the contact center is not only supporting the customer, but also helping sell the product.
The expectations of the customer contact center have changed. Omnichannel, customer experience and customer expectations around self-service are driving these changes. Leaders responsible for the customer contact center can leverage Verint’s wealth of experience here along with our portfolio of products to help customer contact centers take advantage of these trends.
If you’d like to learn more about online communities and their benefits to the contact center, please contact us.
The post 5 Benefits of Online Communities For The Contact Center – Part II appeared first on Customer Experience Management Blog.
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