112 INTERVIEW The power of three for exceptional experiences Susan Terry of Avaya says a combination of three key factors are necessary to provide a foundation for customer satisfaction BY ELLY YATES-ROBERTS Today’s customers expect to receive a personalised experience from all businesses with which they interact. A company hotline is no longer enough when looking to resolve a query. Customers want the option of connecting across a full range of channels, including voice, email, web chat, text messaging, and social. They want 24/7 self-service capabilities that are natural and dynamic, and they want to be connected immediately to the right resource. “For businesses, this means employing a centralised platform to provide these capabilities while also optimising workforce capabilities and process efficiencies,” says Susan Terry, global vice president of portfolio maximisation at Avaya. “It is not just artificial intelligence, omnichannel routing or data analytics – it must be the combination of all three to deliver a seamless and efficient customer experience while improving customer satisfaction and loyalty. This is the role of today’s contact centre solutions.” The stakes for delivering an exceptional customer experience could not be higher; research from Avaya indicates that a single bad experience can cause 20 per cent of customers to leave. Multiple bad experiences could result in the loss of over half of a business’s customers. Avaya is helping its clients to meet these expectations and avoid losing customers through its range of contact centre solutions. “We serve the largest businesses with the most complex needs and are relied on by over 60,000 customers in 190 countries,” says Terry. “Our powerful portfolio of contact centre and communications solutions enable immersive, personalised and memorable customer and employee experiences. “These customers all have varied approaches to innovation, and they have also made significant investments in their existing systems and processes. We are evolving our portfolio to enable our customers to innovate while protecting and building on the investments they have made.” Central to these solutions is Avaya’s close alignment with Microsoft and its technology. “This partnership provides our customers with a unique opportunity to drive substantial workplace transformation,” says Terry. “One of the most exciting elements is the opportunity to remove the historical partition separating contact centre and general employee communications. In the future, not everyone will be a contact centre agent, but they will be a customer service agent. We are working to accelerate this by integrating Avaya communication tools with Microsoft Teams capabilities to streamline and elevate internal and external collaboration.” The relationship simplifies processes through the integration of Microsoft Dynamics 365, Teams and Avaya’s communications infrastructure. “This “Our customers gain the benefit of expertise from two global leaders”
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