Taking Your Customer Experience to the Next Level with the Digital Front Door

When it comes to customer service, “digital front door” is an emerging term you may be starting to hear about. But, what does it really mean? Simply put, the Digital Front is where and how your business first engages with a customer or patient, understand their intent, and ensures they will have a consistent experience that aligns with your organization’s brand.

The goal of a digital front door strategy is to meet your customers where they are, no matter the channel they are using. A digital front door, built around conversational AI, will use data to determine the most likely reason a person is calling and predictively present self-service options to them. This plays a big part in getting callers to the right place quickly, reducing their frustrations and lowering call abandonment rates. Traditional self-service systems are built to keep the user in self-service mode containing the customer. For example, many systems have an option to press a key to return to the main menu but the user will need to start all over with their transaction. If they do transfer to an agent at some point, they will be asked for all their information again. Digital front door aims to take customer experience to the next level by customizing the experience for each person using the data you already have in your system.

Using Conversational AI to Simplify Your Process

Conversational AI functionality will ask your customer the appropriate questions (or use biometrics or a PIN) to identify who they are as soon as they contact you. The system can identify their language preference as well as other special criteria, such as loyalty customers, to be sure that the experience is catered to them. If your caller is not a current customer, conversational AI will begin an onboarding process just as an agent would. Using AI for this purpose comes with some benefits too … it’s been proven to reduce errors by 55% and also provides 15% more capacity for your agents who don’t have to handle these interactions!

Now that you’ve identified your caller and know a bit about them, you can predict the reason for the call and provide dynamic self-service options based on the data in your system. Here are a few examples:

• By using your data and the location/address you have for a particular customer, you can provide them with the store or branch closest to them and its operating hours.
• A utility or large retailer may have a service or website outage. Based on the geography of the caller you will know if they are affected by the outage and can give them options or information up front pertaining to the situation, so they don’t have to navigate your normal call menus.
• In the healthcare space, if a caller has a scheduled appointment within a week of their call there is a good chance they are calling about that appointment. Give them the details and the ability to reschedule without the need to involve an agent.
• A customer who has just received a delivery and is now calling is likely contacting you about a return or a problem with their order. AI will allow you to direct them to the appropriate department quickly to reduce the frustration they may be feeling from the problems they experienced with their recent delivery. It will also allow you to send the appropriate screen pop to the agent taking the call so it can be processed quickly.

Self-Service When You Can, Intelligently Transfer When You Must

So, you’ve seen some examples of how predictive AI and self-service can work in the contact center. But, it’s important to realize that not every transaction can be self-serviced. When a customer needs to be transferred to an agent is the moment your organization has to shine! Here are some tips to make the process smooth and enjoyable:

• Provide the customer identity with the transfer – no one want to repeat themselves!
• Provide the reason for the interaction as well as all the information that has already been collected – for example, the order number, item number and problem with the item if they are making a return.
• Provide your agent with easy access or screen pops into the application they need to do their job, whether it be processing a return, rescheduling an appointment  or otherwise serving the customer quickly.

Why a Digital Front Door?

The obvious benefit to a digital front door strategy is the improved service you will be providing to your customers. However, there are internal cost saving and benefits to your organization as well. Implementing a digital front door can offer:

• A 90 second reduction in average call handle times
• 40% of calls are deflected to self-service reducing your agent interactions.
• 55% less errors when it comes to onboarding new customers.
• Consistent messaging and branding to customers so they are serviced the same every time.

In this post-pandemic age where people have become accustomed to doing most things online, a digital front door strategy could be a huge differentiator for your organization. EDCi is positioned to support consumer brands and healthcare systems with AI, bots, software integrations and more as they reinvent their customer experience and move towards the digital front door. Contact us today to learn more about the digital front door and what it could do for you!