Enhanced IVR Customer Experience Helps Drive Self-Service for Utility Provider
IVR Customer Service

This electric utility provider has been a client of Concentrix for over 18 years. A history of on-time, on-budget, successful solutions gave them the confidence to trust us with their biggest project yet.   

Challenge 

With over 19 million calls a year, this client needed innovative ideas for shaping the overall customer experience. Too many of its customer inquiries were being directed to advisors, and the volume was such that it often had to rely on costly external overflow advisors. It needed to improve the overall experience and reign in those costs.

What the client wanted most was to develop a user-friendly system that would allow customers to easily answer their own questions and address their own issues.

A familiar idea for many of us but, for the client, the work required to make that transition for the first time was daunting.

Solution 

We recognized that the client needed more than just a streamlined self-service solution; it needed a complete enhanced interactive response (IVR) solution that would give it control over the customer experience.

The solution included:

  • IVR administrative self-service: Things change all the time, so we created an administrative backdoor. This empowered our client to control IVR prompts for outages, common billing issues, and general topics—all without having to involve our team.
  • Natural language understanding (NLU): We helped our client switch from a menu-driven dialog application to a more conversational approach with the infamous “How can I help you?” question.
  • IVR move-out self-service: The client’s customers made it clear that moving out was a hassle, so we made it a breeze with our IVR move-out self-service. Customers could now easily provide all the necessary information and receive their confirmation via the IVR, eliminating the need to talk to an advisor.
  • IVR move-in self-service: It’s not just moving out that we made easier. IVR move-in self-service allowed customers to provide all the information required for their move-in. And when they needed to be transferred to an advisor to complete the process, their data transferred with them.
  • Billing self-service: Billing was one of those simple inquiries the client wanted to automate most. We integrated our IVR solutions with the client’s backend information to provide a more personalized experience. Our billing factors self-service advised the customer why their bill either increased or decreased, based on weather events and past-due amounts, while our billing analysis self-service provided more detailed information about current and past bills, with the option to sign up for text notifications on outages. We empowered the client to give each customer their own personal assistant for their bills.

Outcomes 

With our enhanced IVR customer experience in place, the client realized: 

  • 9 percent increase in customers using the IVR system to complete their transactions without having to speak to an advisor. 
  • 25 percent of outage calls being identified through predictive intent and routed accordingly. 
  • 40 percent of customers completing the automated portion of the IVR process to begin service. 
  • 20 percent of customers signing up for e-billing during the IVR process. 

By diverting 25% of incoming calls, our client can reduce advisor handle time and significantly reduce that costly use of external overflow advisors. 

Say goodbye to boring, menu-driven systems and hello to a more personalized, conversational, IVR customer experience. Contact us to learn how our Conversational AI, Natural Language Understanding, and Enhanced IVR Solutions can help you reduce customer effort and drive better outcomes.

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