Recently, I had to update the booking of an airline ticket. Whatsapp and Facebook Messenger were presented as support channels. So, looking forward of not having to call, I chose Messenger. Little did I know that it would take 5 business days to get my question resolved…
When you call a contact center, you expect to talk with a support employee within a reasonable time. But we all know that there are scenarios where you wait 10 or 20 minutes in queue before you get to speak to someone. When getting in touch with a company via chat, you also expect to get a conversation going within a reasonable timeframe.
Customers expect feedback
One of the items that annoyed me during this experience, is the lack of feedback. When first initiated, I got a(n) (Einstein – yes, the airline uses Salesforce) bot asking me some questions related to my topic. I provide my booking number and last name, after which…there was silence…
A recap of the experience:
- Monday 9h44: My initial question
- Monday 10h04: As there was total radio silence, I made a quick ‘Hello’ to check…which resulted in a message saying that it could take some time
- Monday 11h21: Quick check – no reply
- Monday 14h03: Quick check – no reply
- Tuesday 9h21: Quick check – no reply
- Wednesday 3h33: (that is in the middle of the night) A first reply from an agent asking some generic questions – asking my last name and booking number…
- Wednesday 9:38: Although I provided the booking number and last name via the Einstein bot, the same data were asked. I provided these (and some other) data to the support employee
- Friday 10h20: Answer with feedback on the requested change. After some further messages in both directions, the question was resolved at 19h04
In reality, we only got into a conversation on Friday. Before Friday this mostly generated a bad feeling about the airline’s support team.
How could this airline meet what their customers expect?
I am convinced about the Salesforce technology for Social Customer Service. But implementing technology never stands on its own. Their is a support team needed as well. Except for a brief message that ‘it may take longer than expected’, there was no communication at all.
Also read
Switch to Cases?
So, if the team cannot cope with the workload, perhaps it is better to not offer chat as a support channel. Perhaps it is better to let customer log a Case during the peak load period. This immediately shows customers that it may take some time to get a response.
Provide Feedback
At least some automated message should get provided at regular intervals. When people chat with their friends, 
they expect (near) immediate response. So, that is what customers also expect from companies that offer support via chat. Having to wait for about 2 days is unacceptable.
Leverage Einstein Bots & Omni Supervisor
Enable logic to better follow-up with the customer, but also internally. Enable (work) processes to better support customers, to better coach agents, to better manage support teams.
How about you?
At Omnicloud, we strongly believe in Social Customer Service. Implementing your Omni-Channel support strategy with Salesforce is an excellent choice. But implementing the technology without aligning your business processes and teams will generate failure.
We may help you with process/teams uptimization, and with the implementation of the Digital Engagement technology. Want to know more? Then get in touch via this form.
