Run into a problem online and the last thing many of us want to do is pick up a phone, dial a number and speak to a person! This type of communication is not dead by any means but, thanks to today’s self-service generation, customer service technology is not only improving gambling experiences, it’s saving time and money, too.
In an increasingly tech-savvy world, consumers are more willing than before to try to solve their own problems. In 2014, more US online consumers were using web self-service than any other interaction channel for customer service, according to Forrester.
Organisations that recognise this are allowing customers to engage with them on digital channels such as social media, messaging apps, SMS or chatbots, with those channels becoming the first entry point into the entire customer service experience.
Self-service at Kindred
Our goal is to offer a simple, intuitive and guided self-service experience that makes it unnecessary to contact us if a customer doesn’t want or need to. We are aiming to simplify our self-service experience by making our content clear and understandable, by using plain language and avoiding jargon so that customers stay in self-service and avoid having to switch channels.
Since the launch of our new Help Centre in May 2018, self-service rates at Kindred show a 32% increase as customers are now finding answers on the site without having to contact us.
Identifying and understanding the main reasons why customers contact the support team is also key to creating the best Help Centre experience for our customers. Ryan Scerri, Head of E-services at Kindred comments: “Main queries are bonus, deposit/withdrawal and account-related and our main aim is for customers to find the answers to their questions without having to look too hard.”
Our customers look to fix problems intuitively from the Help Centre. The search bar predicts frequently asked questions and lists top FAQs, so that customers find answers effortlessly. Ryan explains: “User journeys now take customers to our Help Centre to search, browse or view FAQs, before directing them to online chat, email or phone only if they really can’t find what they are looking for.”
Currently, our search fields tailor questions to suit particular markets and products, identifying “content gaps” by monitoring searches. This enables us to create new, relevant content to match the keywords used. For example, the tag “password” could generate several queries, including “I forgot my password”; “how can I find my password for…”; “I didn’t receive the password reset email”.
Although self-service is increasingly popular, some of Kindred's markets are more averse to change than others so sometimes phone is still the preferred mode of communication. Therefore, we are careful to offer a suitable balance between live chat, email and phone; a mix that is customised to suit individual markets and customer needs.
Omni channel customer service at Kindred
Next to self-service, the increase in touchpoints puts pressure on us to not only provide a consistent message and experience on those channels but to also provide the information and contextual responses necessary to create contiguous, and not isolated, interactions.
Channel and device hopping habits mean customers expect omni channel service. Our customers see a brand, not a department. They can’t understand why a customer service agent can’t remember a Twitter conversation they had with the brand the day before.
As customers move between channels, they expect to receive a consistent service and the experience to feel like one big conversation. They expect to move from self-service to a live voice agent without having to start all over again. This is particularly significant because most consumers change their contact channel depending on where they are and what they are doing.
The implementation of Oracle as a new customer service platform – with valuable input from 32Red who already use the technology – will better support Kindred in developing a cross-channel and mobile first customer service experience.
Soft launched in November 2018, the new agent desk top incorporates further enhancements to our self-service capabilities. It includes a tracking system which will follow every query end-to-end, no matter what the channel, enabling data to be referenced back immediately for the use of every customer support agent on every engagement, every time.
The shared statistics generated from Oracle’s integrated technology will not only provide significant operational benefits but will also keep our responses relevant, speedy and personalised, all from the convenience of a single front-end.
