Solving a problem on the first try is a great way to please customers, save time and control costs.

What’s even better than that?

Solving a problem before it starts.

You’ll always be in touch with customers for problems big and small, but with predictive outbound messages, you don’t have to wait for your customer to contact you. You come to them and offer an experience that they will appreciate while reducing the need for them to speak to an agent.

Action vs. Reaction

Predictive, outbound messages are a great way to show your customers that you are attentive and invested in your relationship with them. For example, if you know that 30 percent of your customers call the day of a scheduled service visit to reschedule, why not send them an automated message on their channel of choice that would allow them to reschedule or confirm the appointment?

Here, the automated message hits four birds with one stone: it reminds customers of their appointment, decreasing no-shows; it lets them change their appointment if necessary, saving them the trouble of calling in while ensuring that they still use your service;  and it contacts each customer based on their upcoming schedule, letting you spend your time on more involved tasks.

On the Case

Being able to solve a problem on the first try is crucial for your business. Here are four keys to successful single interaction case resolution:

• Use data to determine what use cases are appropriate for proactive outbound campaigns. The last thing you want to do is spam your customer with notifications of any kind. Find out what most of your inbound communications are about, then decide whether or not outbound messages could better deal with them. The key here is for the consumer to be thankful to have received the notification, not feel like it was an unwanted message.
• Allow simple tasks to be automated via both voice and text messaging. Almost 75% of customers contact customer service on three or more channels, yet only 4% of contact centers offer texting. Increase satisfaction by letting customers serve themselves on their channel of choice.
• Train agents appropriately on the top reasons that people contact you. One-third of customers like talking to agents because of their specialized training. If customers do need more help than automation can provide, make sure your agents know about customers’ major pain points. A knowledgeable agent will be able to solve their problems or direct them to someone who can.
• Let your customers know that self-service is an option. By 2020, customers will manage 85% of their business relationship without humans. If your customers call in with a problem, mention that self-service is available at the beginning of your IVR. By allowing customers to serve themselves, you are able to offer a better user experience and control costs.

Predictive outbound messages save you and your customers time and money. It’s the best of both worlds.

You’re not going to solve every problem on the first try. What you can do is figure out what didn’t work and fix it to ensure a better experience in the future.

To learn more about automated outbound messages, professionally designed or do-it-yourself, visit onereach.com.

Photo by Flickr user Lauren Hammond.