The Importance of Providing Real-Time Service

The Importance of Providing Real-Time Service

Did you know 80% of customers drop off the line when placed on hold for over 1 minute to schedule an appointment?  Reduce churn, and optimize the customer experience by providing real-time service. As an appointment driven business, it is crucial you provide a seamless scheduling experience for your customers to drive business to your organization’s branches.

A study run by Accenture found 49% of customers switched service providers in the past year due to poor customer service.  With the increase in customer service expectations, if customers feel they are receiving a poor experience, they are finding it easier than ever to change service providers. It’s crucial you provide your customers with the experience they crave in order to reduce churn.

Risk of not providing real-time service to your customers

When your appointment driven business does not provide real-time service, it can create a frustrating customer journey, leading to increased churn.  For example, when a customer calls your contact center to schedule an appointment, and are immediately placed on hold for a long time, it could make them feel undervalued and prompt them to take their business elsewhere.

Here’s a breakdown of how things might be playing out in your call center without the benefits of a real-time service

  • First hold: Customer calls into the branch and is placed on hold for the next available representative.
  • Basic details: Once the customer gets through to the representative, they are asked for their basic personal information, and what service they require.
  • Second hold: Customer is on hold for the second time while the call center representative searches through multiple platforms to find the necessary information to book the appointment.
  • Finally, booking the appointment! The customer is taken off hold for the second time, and can now coordinate an appointment time that works for them and the qualified advisor.

Additionally, this is a problematic process as it leaves room for error, such as double booked appointments because the data is not recorded in the system in real-time. This leaves a window where appointment slots appear available even after they have been promised to a customer.

Benefits of providing real-time service

With an integrated appointment scheduling solution, your organization will be able to schedule appointments in real-time with a streamlined process.  Your customers will feel their time is valued, and you’ll improve operational processes in your organization.

Show your customers that you care

When your organization puts in the extra effort to show your customers you value their time, it can go a long way.  Once you’ve implemented integrated appointment scheduling in your organization’s contact center, you can offer 24/7 online portals, catering to the enhanced customer service experience your customers expect.

You will also be able to streamline the appointment booking process when you implement integrated appointment scheduling into your organization’s contact center.  This will subsequently reduce the length of the initial hold when the customer calls to schedule an appointment with your organization, as well as call handle time. And, if you choose to implement an online scheduling portal, your customers will have the ability to schedule appointments with your organization wherever and whenever they want, in real-time.

Here’s a breakdown of how things might be playing out in your call center with the benefits of a real-time service

  • Customer calls into the branch: Customer calls into the branch and connects to a call center representative.
  • Representative accesses the integrated booking platform: The representative is taken through a streamlined booking sequence.
  • Books the appointment! The call center representative can go forward and schedule the appointment with the customer, having all qualified advisor calendars open on one platform.

Enhance Operational Processes

When you implement integrated appointment scheduling, not only do you provide your customers with a better experience, you are also improving your organization’s operational processes.  Manual, outdated appointment scheduling does not update staff data and availability in real-time, leaving lots of room for confusion. This can result in double booking appointments, or matching customers staff that aren’t qualified to carry out the service that they require. Rather, with an integrated platform, all appointment data is hosted in one place and customers can schedule their appointments through whichever channel best suits them. But the addition of 24/7 channels won’t affect your operational processes, as all the data from each channel will be updated in real-time in one virtual location.

Providing customers with real-time service is becoming less of a luxury and more of a necessity with the digital transformation taking n over the financial services industry, bringing with it increased customer service expectations.  Coconut Software’s integrated appointment scheduling tool is the perfect solution to provide your customers with real-time premium appointment scheduling while streamlining your organization’s operational processes.

For more information on the benefits that come with integrated appointment scheduling, book a consultation today!

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