The surprising key to better customer service: Engineering

When customers today need help, the first place they go to is a website or social channel. So it's critical to ensure your customer service keeps up with the times. But while customers expect simplicity and speed, modern customer service portals are often complex and sluggish as they are not engineered correctly. In fact, while more than three-quarters of organizations have implemented digital care platforms, only 10% say their customers are able to make full use of them, according to McKinsey.¹

Modern customer care operations require rethinking the customer experience by enabling self-service, automating back-end processes, and providing a 360-degree view of the customer across the entire resolution lifecycle, all while ensuring customer data security and privacy. Customer-facing operations, therefore, touch many parts of the IT ecosystem, including customer relationship management (CRM), cloud infrastructure, back-end systems, data, insights, and machine learning. In addition, the rise of generative AI based on sophisticated large language models (LLMs) is opening up new possibilities right before our eyes. A new generation of intelligent chatbots will improve the quality and resolution time of customer interactions significantly.

In this era of need for breakneck acceleration, building a customer service platform that seamlessly binds together all these varying IT systems into one satisfying experience doesn't just happen on its own – it must be engineered. At Virtusa, engineering is in our DNA. Our Engineering First approach implements the right digital technologies for the best-in-class customer experience, so you can not only meet your customers where they are today, but where they are going to be tomorrow.

The importance of customer care to business outcomes

Digital transformation of customer care can help your business in three meaningful ways. First, it maximizes efficiency while focusing on outcomes, increasing first-contact resolution, and freeing up your human teams to focus on high-touch, high-value customer moments. The industry benchmark average for first-contact resolution is 70%, with a rate of 80% considered world-class. However, just 5% of all call centers hit that mark². Coupled with increasing retention challenges and training costs – call-center turnover was 42% in 2021³ -- and it's clear that innovative technology, implemented correctly, is going to drive the future of customer care.

Second, digitalization of care enables deeper, more meaningful insights and creates a consistent customer experience. Legacy systems often create data silos that disrupt a smooth customer experience. A broader customer data strategy that collects and analyzes customer data in real time helps you build better models of their behaviors and needs, anticipate problems, and identify opportunities to sell-in other products and services. For instance, we implemented an advanced AI-powered chatbot for a top U.S. bank, giving senior leadership instant insights into customer sentiment and pain points, while saving $3 million a year in operating expenses.

Third, and most importantly, it will turn your customers into brand ambassadors who will stick around and advocate for your brand. Recently, Virtusa helped a leading insurance carrier reimagine its user experience and customer engagement. Using our deep domain expertise and embracing a human-centered approach to digital customer interactions, we designed from scratch and implemented a world-class broker portal within 18 months while ensuring it supported other core transformation initiatives being implemented in parallel. The results? This insurer realized a 45% improvement in customer satisfaction, a 25% rise in NPS, and a 75% reduction in call-center volume.

Improving care through engineering

Why settle for a subpar customer care transformation when you can get it right the first time with our Engineering First approach? The Engineering First approach means we delve deep into your business to truly understand your needs -- and your customers' needs – in order to create cutting-edge solutions that ensure lasting business transformation.

Our team comprises top-notch engineers who possess extensive technical expertise and a profound grasp of critical sectors such as banking, healthcare, media, telecommunications, and others. We go beyond mere words by providing tailored coaching, mentoring, and feedback initiatives that enable our engineers to deliver best-in-class results.

When it comes to technology, we don't believe in half-measures. That's why we partner with industry-leading product companies like Pega, Salesforce, and Amazon Connect to future-proof your customer care offerings. And because, like master artisans who have honed our craft with passion and pride, we also bring our own suite of custom tools, APIs, and test cases to the table.

Moreover, our industry experts and solution architects come together to form the ultimate dynamic duo, working together seamlessly to create tailored solutions that meet your specific needs. As we recognize the need for faster time to market, our strong delivery capabilities ensure that we deliver on spec and on time.

That's the power of Engineering First -- transforming legacy systems and processes at speed and scale to streamline your operations, unlock new opportunities, and create happy, satisfied customers.  Don't settle for a poorly designed and implemented transformation when you can work with us to engineer customer care greatness.

¹ Customer care in 2022 and beyond | McKinsey

² First Call Resolution (FCR): A Comprehensive Guide (sqmgroup.com)

³ nice-attrition-to-retention-global-survey-20220211.pdf (callcentrehelper.com)