7 Ways to Automate Call Deflection in a Hurry

Call deflection is reducing the number of calls that come into your contact center, help desk, or other areas of your business by diverting calls to alternate means of answering customer questions, such as self-service or digital channels.

Call deflection is also valuable to customers who would rather receive service without speaking to another human. As a result, call deflection is the new king of the castle.

But how do you reap the benefits of call deflection quickly during the current crisis?

In this article, we will cover seven ways to automate call deflection in a hurry:

1. Learn what people are calling about
2. Add bots to automate human conversation
3. Create space for your customer community to support each other
4. Preempt the call
5. Eliminate waiting on hold
6. Take advantage of digital channels
7. Optimize your knowledge base

Implement intelligent virtual assistants (IVAs) and chatbots, which have been proven to deflect 40-80% of calls. Some IVAs, like Verint’s, have production-ready packages already trained on your industry, allowing you to get up and running quickly to meet customer demand.

When customers can interact with an IVA using conversations instead of menus and forms, they can get the answers they seek without having to place a call. Conversational artificial intelligence (AI) can predict what a customer wants, personalize the interaction, and determine the best next action to deliver a successful outcome – significantly reducing the need for customer calls.

Amtrak uses an IVA on its website, Amtrak’s IVA “Julie” which directs customers with Coronavirus-related questions to that page in a personalized manner, but sticks around on the screen to field any additional questions.

A great way to deflect calls in a hurry is to give customers the information they need before picking up the phone. There are several ways to direct customers to self-service options before they have a problem. For example, you could use automated emails, SMS messaging, and website notifications to inform customers to use self-service channels due to the current crisis.

Additionally, get in touch with customers ahead of their calls with messaging addressing how difficult making a phone call will be.

For example, the first thing customers might do is visit your website for your phone number. If you include a prominent banner on the website saying something like “Our phone lines are experiencing extremely long wait times; please consider our self-service options” and direct them to where they can find their answer, you can reduce call volumes. You can also use the banner as an opportunity to let customers know which scenarios DO require them to call. Let the people who need to get in touch know they can.

Digital channels provide an excellent opportunity to deflect calls. Promote your digital channels, such as chat, email, and surveys. You can also use an IVA in front of these channels to answer common questions.

Digital channels still involve your agents, since customer questions are routed there, but these channels are likely less overwhelmed than your phone channels and often cost less. It’s a good in-between mechanism that should be promoted prominently on your website so customers learn they can use these digital channels and know how to access them.

In the past, call deflection has always been thought of as a cost-control measure. Today, companies see firsthand that call deflection is about creating the optimal customer experience when conditions are suboptimal.

Call deflection is now about protecting and empowering your agents who have an unprecedented task in front of them. By leveraging call deflection, you can ensure that your human agents get what they need in terms of support, while your customers get what they want out of your business.