Reactive Is “So Yesterday.” Proactive Service Is Now
A couple of weeks ago I rented a few (OK, well, five) movies from Blockbuster for a weekend movie marathon with my daughter (complete with popcorn, Coke, and Twizzlers, of course). They were all due the following week. Two days before the due date I received an automated call with a reminder to return the movies by that Thursday to avoid any charges. Wow. Blockbuster took proactive action to save me money – at the expense of the company adding to its coffers. The result?
I’m thrilled about it. It’s just a small touch, but sometimes a detail like that can make a big impact. Now I’m more likely to rent again instead of avoiding the place or switching to Netflicks. And I’ve already told not only my friends, colleagues, and family, but also the 800 people or so attending my presentation on contact center best practices last week at the Genesys G-Force customer conference. And now I’m writing about it online. Not bad, as word of mouth goes. All because Blockbuster invested in a bit a technology that allows it to proactively service its customers, but more, of course, because someone inside the organization championed adopting a proactive approach as part of its customer strategy.
Blockbuster isn’t alone. Several of Genesys’ Customer Innovation Award winners, who I saw present, have also adopted proactive service to benefit both company and customer. Aeroplan, for example, uses its speech system to ask (during hold) if customers need to update their mail address or update/add an email address. This helps to keep customers' information current, which is also a boon to its marketers, who can better target e-statements and promotions. The company also uses speech to inform customers of pending account cancellation, as well as to explain ways to keep the account active.
ScotiaBank, not surprisingly, contacts customers with fraud alerts, but also to help them complete new account applications. What’s more, its automated dialer eliminates the need for agents to initiate the contact, and detects whether the outreach should be via phone or email and in what language.
Is your organization using proactive service? If so, how? If not, what example of proactive service have you encountered as a customer that made a positive impact?
