How Real-Time CX Can Help Your Business Adapt & Thrive During Crisis

Faced with the global impact of Covid-19, consumers have been contacting their key services providers in record numbers. Such a dramatic shift inevitably puts pressure on companies as they try to adapt quickly to the new normal. Businesses who can adapt fast will thrive amidst this uncertainly in the short term and be best placed for any future changes in the medium to long term.

Forrester has just released an article detailing that Journey Orchestration Tools help firms manage Real-Time decision making in a crisis, mentioning how Alterian’s Real-Time CX Platform has benefited our client ScottishPower with their real-time customer engagement.

Forrester defines some key areas where companies are finding that Journey Orchestration Tools are really helping during this time:

Creating self-service journeys for isolated customers.
Directing customers to services that help in times of crisis.
Pausing non-critical journeys.
To calm customers’ fears.
Prioritizing the vulnerable.
Transiting customers to new, unfamiliar touchpoints.

Find out how two of our clients used Real-Time CX technology to adapt and fast-track new initiatives to cope with this unprecedented change and deliver a great customer experience.

ScottishPower

One of the UK’s largest energy suppliers, ScottishPower, supplying 100% renewable electricity and gas supply to over 6 million consumers had to adapt rapidly to a crisis such as COVID-19.

Scottish Power’s digital team orchestrate in real-time enhanced customer journeys for 80% of all interactions between customers, as well as suppliers across a multitude of channels and business lines. Utilizing the Alterian Real-Time CX Platform the team were able to quickly adjust each customer journey to take into account the impact of COVID-19 on the daily lives of their customers and change the way ScottishPower interacts with customers in person at their property.

Initiative 1 – Increase Self Service

Implementing a new accelerated journey to increase self-service amongst most customers whilst customer service teams are reserved for the most vulnerable customers. The key accelerated journey is to educate customers on how to take their own meter readings and digitally informing ScottishPower, by adjusting the digital customer experience with journey orchestration it makes for a simpler process and give the customer more control.

Initiative 2 – Supporting Social Distancing

By adjusting the SMART meter installation journey, a multi-step journey over several weeks involving thousands of customers, multiple business lines and external sub-contractors at any point in time. As social distancing took effect, customers were effectively paused at the point they had reached in any given journey, enabling ScottishPower to deliver clear communications on the changes to installations and give the ability switch this journey back on at the same point once COVID-19 social distancing measures have been eased.

Initiative 3 – Flexible Payment Options

ScottishPower implemented a combination of new digital multi-step journeys to support customers during this unusual time when energy affordability is likely to be a challenge, these included:

Created a new affordability survey tool, to help diagnose the best support function for customers.
Introduced payment holidays of up to 2 months for customers.
Changed the DirectDebit process allowing customers greater flexibility in their payments.

Since launching online payment management features, there have been more than 100,000 instances of Scottish Power customers self-serving to adjust and manage their payments.

All of the above has been supported with more than 3m emails, SMS and app notification communications, in addition to more than 125,000 page views for ScottishPower’s COVID-19 customer FAQs, to help educate, direct and reassure customers.

“Alterian gives us the ability to rapidly adapt our customer journeys to the changing needs of our customers and business. This was a key component supporting our customers in a time of uncertainty.” states Philippa Christie, Chief Digital Product Owner at ScottishPower

ScottishPower has been using Real-Time CX Technology for some time to orchestrate the customer journeys, to gain more insight download this case study.

Global Finance Service Company

A global Finance Services business providing support to over 13 million customers, needed to move quickly to adapt and inform, help and reassure their customers through the ever-changing economic hardship that Covid-19 has brought.

Initiative 1 – Pro Active Communication & Channel Switching

This Financial Services business like every other business in their industry saw a huge influx of inbound queries as many customers initial reaction was to contact their call center. They utilized Alterian’s CX orchestration software to communicate with customers in real-time, therefore they were able rapidly deploy content digitally and proactively reach out to customers keeping them up to date with the latest financial changes and assistance they could give to their customers to navigate the impact of COVID-19.

This led to an 80% reduction in inbound call volumes which had spiked in the preceding days. Customers were also better informed with more up-to-date information available to them earlier across multiple touchpoints.

To step up these times it is imperative to adapt and move forward in new ways, it will lead to a resilient business with loyal customers knowing you can be depended upon and lead the way for future change.

To find out more about Real-Time CX Technology, how it could save you money, and improve customer experience contact the Alterian Team today.

See the Forrester article “Journey Mapping And Real-Time Journey Orchestration Are Critical To Crisis Preparedness And Recovery”, Forrester, 2020