Customer service to a new level

Vera Waltari

CUSTOMER SERVICE TO A NEW LEVEL QUICKLY WITH THE HELP OF SPRING

In the current business environment, consumers expect to receive high-quality service quickly. Customer support must be able to serve customers quickly and efficiently in all situations, even when demand increases suddenly. One of our long-term customers faced exactly this challenge when their business environment changed and the need for customer support increased significantly. Spring helped them to create a structure for the new way of working and, with the help of analyses, to target contributions as efficiently as possible, thanks to which customer service was raised to a whole new level in just a few months.

Challenge

As our client’s business environment changed, the need for customer support suddenly increased, and customer service was unable to respond to the significant increase in demand due to the sudden change in the operating environment. The number of contacts was huge and the need for support very diverse. End customers had to wait unbearably long times on the phone to get service and at the same time customer support was overloaded.

Diagnosis

We made a comprehensive simulation analysis of customer calls, the number of customer service employees and waiting times, which we used to predict response times for the coming months. The analyses revealed that to obtain a sustainable solution, quick methods needed to be utilised as efficiently as possible:

Eliminating possible problem sources from the perspective of both the customer and stakeholders
Self-service and proactive service: We made necessary information easy to find and communicated proactively about typical problems through the website, app and direct messages
We developed the ability to solve problems and improve the user experience through automatic responses and accompaniment
We ensured sufficient capacity by managing communication processes and contact traffic efficiently

Defining the solution

We used a funnel approach, where the goal was to speed up the service the customer receives in other channels and minimise the need to switch to a call. We created a comprehensive and measurable implementation plan by identifying the key challenges that require a solution. We created concrete metrics and milestones to ensure results. We divided the problem into manageable parts, i.e. streams, each of which had its own goals and responsible person. This approach enabled orderly progress and ensured that every aspect of the project remained aligned with our client’s strategic goals.

Results

At the beginning of the project, end customers had to wait more than 30 minutes on average before their calls were answered. Less than 4 months later, by the end of our cooperation, this waiting time had shortened to only 3-4 minutes. Our client implemented a comprehensive change in the way they met and served their customers. At every stage of the process, we minimised the end customer’s need to be in contact by phone, which significantly accelerated customer service and strengthened the customer experience.

Spring approach

The project showed how a systematic approach and close cooperation can produce concrete and measurable results in a surprising and very rapidly changing business environment. By bringing structure and the right kind of analysis support to the project, we were able to help our client to quickly navigate through a very difficult situation and find solutions that were both effective and sustainable. Our role as a facilitator, connecting the different parties and keeping the project moving, was a decisive factor in significantly reducing waiting times and improving the customer experience.

At Spring, we are committed to helping companies utilise their full potential in a constantly changing operating environment.