Think outside the box

Simple website enhancements have been proven to reduce inbound call volume.

In the communications business, we often try to solve a problem by adding more hardware, installing more sophisticated software, or—even worse—throwing bodies at it. Call-center volume is one of these classic issues. Companies grow. Sometimes they experience some sort of short-term crisis, like a product recall. Whatever the cause, they often experience significant growth in their inbound call-center volume. Usually, this results in the addition of more lines, the implementation of new applications that enhance operator productivity, and/or the hiring of more personnel.

However, many Net-savvy managers are learning that the best way to solve their company’s call-volume problem is to eliminate it. That can be done with some simple and relatively inexpensive modifications to the company website.

The idea is that if customers can find their own answers quickly on the Web, they’re less likely to place a call to a human operator. If your cost-per-call is a few dollars, then it’s clear that such Web-based self-service can pay for itself quickly. Plus, your customers will get their answers faster—which is what customer satisfaction is all about.

Site search functions are a prime example. How many times have you tried to use a site’s search feature to avoid pointing and clicking your way around the site to find the specific piece of information you were looking for? How many times have you gotten a set of search results that turned out to be useless? Or, even worse, how many times have you received back a message that said the search function wasn’t even working?

According to Jupiter Research, poor search capabilities rank second behind only slow-loading pages in the list of top reasons users abandon websites. If your site has poor search capability, chances are you’re losing customers.

Just as importantly, you’re causing many of them to have to call your service operators instead of finding what they need online. That’s not a very efficient way to do business.

WORLD-CLASS SEARCHES

Putting world-class search facilities on your site is not costly or time-consuming. In fact, with search software developers like Atomz.com and Picosearch delivering their solutions via the application service provider model, IT departments don’t have to invest any financial or human capital at all. This simple modification in your site can reduce your call-center volume by as much as 30%.

Another good way to reduce service calls is to improve the organization and relevance of your frequently asked questions (FAQ) section. A number of tools from vendors, such as Right Now and Brightware, dynamically create and prioritize FAQ pages based on actual questions generated by your customers and prospects. Automating the process doesn’t drain your already overburdened website staff. Plus, reports on FAQ activity are often useful feedback for product development and marketing staffs.

A third type of website feature that can go a long way to answering customers’ questions online is the decision tree. Take a look at CornerHardware.com’s Tool Advisor. The basic idea behind these mini-apps is to ask the customer or site visitor a few carefully selected questions, from which they can choose one of several answers. Based on their responses, you can guide them to select a particular product or service.

These decision trees are useful because a large percentage of calls from customers are generated by the same set of questions. By asking these questions yourself on the site—and leading customers to the appropriate answers—you demonstrate that a lot of thought about their individual needs and circumstances went into your site design. That not only lowers call volume, it also enhances their impression of your company as a whole.

THE NEED TO KNOW

Again, I’m telling you about all these nifty website features because CN readers are often called upon to solve call-center capacity problems. Many of these problems can and should be solved by means other than scaling up the call center. They need to be solved by service-enabling the website.

Outside-the-box thinking is applicable to a variety of communications issues. Too often, we get locked into one way of thinking—missing out on significant business opportunities. The way most companies are organized promotes this stovepipe thinking. Call-center problems are handed to the call-center folks, website problems are handed to the Web team—and never the twain shall meet.

The next time someone puts pressure on you to come up with a call-center solution, push back. Discuss the possibility that it might be a more general customer-service problem that can be resolved with improved website practices. Not only will you possibly prevent a big chunk of your budget from being diverted to an unnecessary infrastructure build-out, you’ll also come off as someone who has a grasp of the Big Picture. And that’s never a bad thing.

Contact me at LL@exit109.com to comment on this month’s column.