How can technology provide online customers with more defined search results and be able to analyse the searches simultaneously, while ultimately improving customer service?

There's nothing more frustrating than visiting a website and not being able to find the information you require, particularly if you're trying to decide where to go for the all important family holiday, in a hurry to get your new Playstation working or trying to find the correct insurance information for your car.

Failing to provide the right information at the right time on corporate websites is impacting businesses in two key areas: frustrated customers give up and either switch to a competitors website or contact the organisation directly - leading to increased costs and strain on contact centres, who have to deal with growing email and call volumes.

The benefits of driving customers to use the web cannot be overstated. The cost savings are potentially huge - on average a customer query dealt with automatically online costs 30p, compared to dealing with the same query over the phone or via email (both £6.50) [ContactBabel figures]. Yet if customers cannot find the correct information quickly and easily they will revert to traditional contact channels.

eService systems have been developed to address this problem. Offering a direct route to information increases the chances of keeping customers online. The key element in any eService system is how the information is accessed. By applying advanced mathematical theories to information retrieval techniques Natural Language Processing (NLP) has been developed.

NLP offers a search facility that understands everyday human language, slang terms, misspellings and concepts - meaning customers have an intuitive route to find the answers they require.

To be successful eService systems need a NLP search function, but the complexity of the system must be invisible to the customer - doing its job in understanding their questions and providing the relevant answers, but with minimal technology to baffle the customer.

eService systems need to be:

Intuitive - a search facility that understands Natural Language enables customers to ask questions in their own words, easier then guessing keywords or wrapping your head round Boolean Logic. This greatly increases the chances of finding information, which increases uptake of the system as customers start to rely on it.

Relevant - unless the knowledgebase is kept up-to-date there's very little point having it. eService systems need a process that identifies gaps in knowledgebase content. The easiest method is to let your customers tell you what information they require whilst they are using the system, by emailing questions that are unanswered to an organisations staff. eService systems require a simple process to publish the answer into the knowledgebase, with robust workflow and publication controls to ensure consistency of content. Technology must play its part to – the system needs to be able to automatically update the knowledgebase and index the new content correctly.

Seamless - an eService system needs to integrate seamlessly into your website. It needs to carry your brand through to all customer touch points. The online service itself should be completely customisable, as should any email communication generated from the system.

"It helps me read the mind of the customer"

Dimos Samsatli - Consumer Service Support Manager, Sony Computer Entertainment UK

Using eService to understand Customers

eService systems provide an invaluable insight into customer needs and expectations. Traditional customer research can be notoriously unreliable, customers often say what they believe the organisation wants to hear, rather then what is really on their mind. eService avoids this problem by capturing customer concerns at the point when they are actively engaged in the buying process or seeking support.

The anonymity of eService allows customers to be frank with their questions, offering a real insight into what a customer is thinking.

Analysing these questions offers up invaluable insight that can be used to improve support, develop products and services, improve website usability and aid in marketing development.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Fujifilm was experiencing problems with the sheer number of email and phone enquiries it was receiving from its customers.

Fujifilm is the UK market leader in digital photography. While digital camera sales were fast increasing so too was web traffic. The digital camera buying cycle typically generates a large number of queries from initial research to installation and post sales support.

Inbound emails were at 4,500 a month and rising 4 per cent month on month. The majority of customer email was being sent over the weekend and taking most of the week for the customer service team to answer.

In 2003, Fujifilm deployed natural language self-service on its website to provide pre- and post-sales customer support. The solution needed to offer advice to customers that were new to digital photography, while catering for the experienced technically aware photographer.

Because consumers were now able to quickly find answers to customer service queries online, rather than having to email or call Fujifilm customer service, email volumes immediately dropped by 62 per cent to 480 - and now average just 300 emails a month. Such a significant reduction in email has enabled the customer service team to take on phone support for spares, accessories and sales enquiries.

Christmas is a crucial sales period for every company; poor or slow customer service can quickly translate into lost revenues if potential buyers turn to more consumer friendly rivals. In this highly competitive market, Fujifilm believe being able to provide answers instantly through self-service is a key differentiator.

This is particularly true over Christmas itself when the customer contact centre is closed but new camera owners may have queries. Through December '04, 97.5 per cent of Fujifilm customers were able to find the answers to their specific questions online. As a result, just 224 of 9,927 users of the eService system needed to email Fujifilm for further information. This allowed customer service staff to concentrate on answering more complex individual questions. Overall, there was a 61 per cent drop in emails compared to December 2003, while sales hit record levels.

Transversal eCustomer service solutions enable organisations to achieve key sales, customer service and efficiency goals.

Fujifilm uses Transversal's proprietary Memory Engine technology to understand customer questions and provide precise and intelligent answers. Customers simply type a question in their own words, just as they would ask an agent, to receive an immediate and relevant answer from the company web site.

By making it quick and simple to find the answers to questions online, Metafaq immediately improves customer satisfaction and the efficiency of contact centre operations.

The Metafaq system can be installed and populated in less than six weeks. An initial set of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ’s) is all that is needed to get started; Transversal does the rest - making for a fast, efficient and painless solution for firms with rapidly growing customer enquiries.