Why compliance and customer experience are vital

Companies are increasingly turning to automated solutions to navigate the demands of quality customer experience transactions. However, this new communication era is also leading to stricter compliance requirements associated with customer information.

Here are three considerations for businesses thinking of automated communications and engagement solutions.

1. Meaningful conversations

   Mobile chat and video communications are new and important tools in the customer engagement space. These come at a time when customers are demanding more convenient ways to interact with businesses. However, adoption of such technologies and solutions present new challenges for businesses as they try to understand and respond to customer needs in real-time.

   Virtual engagement is being driven by automation and is viewed as the next battleground in the customer engagement arena. In particular, chatbots are leading this space. According to a recent Gartner report, 25% of customer service and support operations will integrate virtual customer assistant or chatbot technology across engagement channels by 2020, up from less than 2% in 2017. It comes as more organisations allocate increased capital and investment aimed at improving the customer experience.

   Verint can attest to this, having recently spoken to a tier-one bank that was looking to have more meaningful conversations with customers online. For example, if a customer was interested in a loan, the bank wanted to have a user-friendly chat dialogue in place that would help capture the profile of the customer for a loan in a fully automated way. The days of a customer filling out onerous paperwork is coming to an end as automated communication solutions transform and improve the customer experience.

2. Cementing customer trust

   Customer mistrust towards organisations is on the rise following widespread data breaches and fraud-related activity. The recent implementation of Europe’s General Data Protection Regulation exemplifies the emergence of a new privacy era that emphasises the need to protect customer information. While automation can save businesses time and money, alongside improving the customer experience, some organisations underestimate the importance of implementing strong anti-fraud solutions into their automated communication solutions.

   A recent survey sponsored by Verint and involving more than 36,000 consumers globally found "an organisation I trust" is the third most important factor in the purchasing decisions of consumers. Trust was cited behind quality and cost as a key driver of purchasing behaviour.

   To safeguard against acts of fraud in an age of automation, companies should consider voice biometrics technology, which provides peace of mind for the customer. Passive voice biometrics can recognise a fraudster’s voice during a support call, so organisations can act on suspicious activity. This effective weapon in protecting and safeguarding customer information can also influence and improve customer trust.

3. Re-thinking compliance

   As more organisations introduce technologies that automate lines of communication, the need to remain compliant across these new mediums is crucial. Essentially, automating communications to keep up with the times calls for a renewed focus on compliance. If something goes wrong, or an action is called into question, businesses could have thousands of communications subject to compliance failure. As a result, companies need to test processes in advance, or, in the case of a compliance problem, reach out to customers in an automated way to take corrective action.

   The savings that accompany modes of automated communication are significant, but new challenges arise alongside those cost savings. Therefore, compliance technologies must adapt. Compliance solutions, such as virtual assistant technologies and automated quality management technologies, can effectively capture businesses’ compliance needs in this new age of communication. For example, a full-time compliance recording solution that can capture and store voice and text interactions across a variety of channels can help businesses comply with strict industry regulations as well as effectively mitigate risk.

In summary, there is no question that automated capabilities are rapidly changing the communications landscape. The opportunities this presents for improved interactions is enormous, resulting in a vastly enhanced customer experience. At the same time, compliance requirements need to be adequately understood alongside new automated communication methods to help enhance customer confidence and trust.