Telecom Industry
Financial Industry
Retail Industry
|
Automated Enterprise Agent
Financial Services Overview
Today few would question that online financial services are not only here to stay, but that they offer substantial opportunities to improve company's reputation, promote higher fee margin and cross-sell services at any time, day or night.
Consumer Reports Web Watch report that 3 in 5 Internet users regularly use online financial services. From banking and lending to bill payment and investing, increased comfort, confidence and familiarity with the Web are driving consumers to the Internet to conduct their financial service activities.
Furthermore, according to Forrester, online research before purchasing financial products is also growing. Over 40% of US online households that applied for products researched online before making financial decisions. Shopping for financial products and making their own investment decisions in part without consultants.
Financial service institutions today face unprecedented challenges to differentiate themselves from competitors in this commoditized market. This is further challenged as customers have become more demanding. They want a convenient, easy experience with quick and accurate access to information for every inquiry.
And with a shifting customer demographics towards a sophisticated market of online users (particularly in the Gen X and Gen Y segments where Internet use is a given) it means their online customer experience must surpass their traditional brick-and-mortar service experience.
Consumers Online Service Expectations
|
| Intentional experience | Consumers expect an experience that is enjoyable and personalized, and which encourages them to participate in the brand. At the same time they expect it to be immediately valuable. |
| Available 24x7 | Consumers expect to get help whenever they need it, day or night |
| No waiting in line | Consumers expect to be able to ask questions and be served immediately, no matter how many other people are being helped at the same time |
| Expert advice is always available | Consumers expect to get accurate answers and expert advice whether they have questions during pre-sales research or during post-sale service and support. They expect to be able to ask as many questions as they need to, for as long as they need to. |
| Help completing tasks | Consumers expect help is provided to complete tasks, apply to services, and order products. |
The Problem
Providing superior customer experiences is the single most powerful way for companies to establish sustainable differentiation. And if companies succeed to persuade large numbers of customers to use the Web, the impact on service cost can be dramatic.
Typical cost of a transaction via a call center is $8 to $20, and via human chat is $3 to $10, while the same transaction via automated online channel costs $0.10 to $0.80.
However, financial institutions are faced with new challenges in order to create a compelling online experience and meet these consumers' expectations.
First, they need to be able to brand there customer interface in order to offer a differentiated customer experience. Second, when it comes to online customer service, frustration from current web sites and tools is increasingly the norm rather than the exception. Today's tools such as Search and FAQ, or even email, are perceived by customers as ineffective.
Too many consumers find web sites hard to navigate or incomplete resulting in frustrated visitors that give up or pick up the phone.
Companies Online Service Challenges
|
| Compelling online experience | How can companies provide a compelling and branded online experience that will grab the attention of visitors, generate more interest in the company's offering, and create a desire for specific products and services? |
| Increase sales | How can companies support the consumers during their online research for products (pre-sales) - preferably with targeted offerings that fit the consumer's personal needs? How can companies leverage more cross-sell and up-sell opportunities during the online service? How can they increase sales online while protecting thin margins? |
| Human support costs | How should companies deal with the costs of human service by email, chat or live calls? |
| Scaling support | How can companies scale their operation to ensure professional service 24 hours a day, 7 days a week? |
| Users frustration with current tools | Search/FAQ cannot resolve customer issues and have little impact on sales.
Unsatisfying Search/FAQ results cause the escalation of routine interactions to human support thereby driving costs to the company and leaving the customer frustrated.
|
Therefore with today's online customer service solutions, the financial institutions are left between options that are either too expensive (human support by chat or phone) or perceived as ineffective by customers (FAQ, Search, email, etc).
Facing these new challenges, financial service providers are looking for an innovative solution that combines compelling online customer service experience with the low costs of self-service solutions.
Solution Benefits
vSpirits Automated Agent solution for the financial services industry enables financial service providers to transform their online web service into a high quality, interactive, personal service that supports sales, build relationships and reinforces the brand.
It enables service providers to provide consumers with expert advice they want, when they want it, from pre-sales research and questions to customers' ongoing service and support.
The Automated Agent is a virtual CSR that chats with visitors and customers in order to provide them with product advice and recommendations that best fits their personal needs. They enable your customers to get immediate and accurate responses based on chat-like interaction and without requiring them to search through a long list of links and FAQs.
Automated Agent Solution Benefits
|
| Deliver superior experience to your customers |
Available Online 24x7. A customer can get help whenever he/she has a question or a problem, regardless of what day or what time it is.
A customer will not have to wait in line to get attention, regardless of how many other customers may be asking for help at the same time
Respond immediately and accurately with knowledge of the best-trained human CSRs. A genuine alternative to individual consultation and product recommendations
|
| Branding and promotional added value |
Universal customer interface with branded avatars
Enhance the companys reputation for high-quality service, which both attracts new customers and increases retention of existing customers.
Grab the attention of consumers, and generate interest for products
Increase visibility and traffic to web site
Leverage market communication opportunities
|
| Increase Revenues | Engage shoppers during product research (pre-sale) to introduce the variety of products to potential clients
Visitors get the right product with targeted offerings for their personal needs
Recognize and act on up-sell and cross-sell opportunities
Increase revenue by increasing customer satisfaction and reducing customer loss due to frustration and an inability to resolve issues
|
| Significantly reduce online human support costs |
Serve customers for a fraction of the cost associated with human email, chat or phone support.
Encourage adoption of web self-service
Humans are freed up to focus on higher-value cases
Scales infinitely to accommodate any number of concurrent sessions
|
| Business Intelligence |
Identify and leverage high-value customers
Enable follow up emails for campaigns, discounts, and events
Collect market information and trends. Generate online reports for a variety of parameters
Easily track what consumers are looking for to constantly improve provided information, CSR training, market communications
|
|