Introducing The Customer Interaction Cube, And The Eight Types Of Contact Centre Interaction
by Liz Seyi Digital marketing managerWhatever the specific vertical market a given organisation’s contact or call centre operates in, there are two main influences that will need to guide its decisions: the commercial activity within that sector, and the preferences and requirements that customers have in relation to contacting the organisation.
Yes, the nature of the given business vertical market does need to be taken into account; however, it is also crucial to consider how urgent, complex, and emotionally important each particular interaction is.
When customers call a bank’s call centre, for example, the person who simply wishes to check their bank balance will likely have very different preferences and needs to the person who is urgently calling to check how their mortgage application is progressing.
What is the Customer Interaction Cube, and why is it needed?
With there being various types of customer interaction that organisations need to handle, a structure known as the Customer Interaction Cube has been developed. This structure provides a means of categorising contact centre interactions on the basis of their urgency, complexity and emotional input as far as the customer is concerned.
The existence of the Customer Interaction Cube, accounting for high and low levels of interaction urgency, complexity, and emotional input alike, enables organisations to be more informed in their decision-making.
They can use it to, for example, analyse the volumes they receive of each type of customer interaction, cross-referencing it with other variables such as the times of day they receive certain types of interactions, and customer demographic preferences. This process, in turn, can help ensure the appropriate levels of resourcing are allocated to different channels, in order to improve the customer experience and lower the cost of service.
The eight types of interaction that make up the Customer Interaction Cube
The Customer Interaction Cube takes the form of a 2x2x2 structure, effectively covering eight types of interaction through the various combinations of high and low urgency, complexity, and emotional input.
Distinguishing between these different types of
interaction is important, given that different interaction types may be best
suited to different channels. So, there could be benefits for both the
organisation and the customer in ensuring certain interaction types are matched
to a suitable channel.
But what are those eight interaction types,
what would be good examples of each given interaction type, and what channels
might be best suited to handling the given type of interaction? Below is a
summary.
- Low
emotional importance, low urgency, low complexity
If a customer is carrying out casual research into
a product or simply wishing to give a meter reading, such interactions could be
considered ‘low’ in relation to all three of the above parameters. Self-service
might therefore serve as an ideal primary channel for such interactions,
followed by web chat.
- Low
emotional importance, low urgency, high complexity
Good examples of this type of interaction include
finding out about proposed planning or house building, and seeking out
instructions on how to program a TV remote. Email could be an effective primary
channel for this interaction type, with phone as a secondary channel. Customers
may well want to visit a physical store or branch as well.
- Low
emotional importance, high urgency, low complexity
If a customer needs to top up their mobile credit
or check that a payment has been made, this type of interaction might be most
suitable for self-service, with phone or web chat contact as a secondary
channel.
- Low
emotional importance, high urgency, high complexity
A customer interaction may have this combination of
characteristics when they are seeking out details of how to make an insurance
claim, or trying to understand mobile roaming charges ahead of their imminent
trip to another country. Web chat or self-service tends to work well for this
type of interaction, with a possible secondary channel being phone
contact.
- High
emotional importance, low urgency, low complexity
A customer attempting to book train tickets for an
important engagement would be one example of this interaction type and
might be best served via self-service, although phone could still be an
important supporting channel.
- High
emotional importance, low urgency, high complexity
If a customer has a complaint about incorrect
billing, phone contact with the call centre might be a suitable first step,
with email a secondary channel.
- High
emotional importance, high urgency, low complexity
A simple question about an imminent desired
purchase – such as when they can expect their ordered item to be delivered –
would be a good example of this type of interaction from a customer. Web chat
could represent a good primary channel for such an interaction, and phone or
social media a secondary one.
- High
emotional importance, high urgency, high complexity
An obvious example of this type of interaction
would be a household emergency necessitating a call to 999, with phone contact
being the primary channel, and web chat a possible secondary channel.
One more thing…
As we touched on above, the task of deciding how
different types of customer interaction can be most suitably handled is more
complicated than simply understanding – and responding to – these eight
types.
Other variables, such as demographics, time of day,
and whether certain channels are more easily accessible to some customers than
they are to others, will impact on the decisions your organisation needs to
make about the suitability of channels.
To learn more about this and many other aspects of
how your organisation can refine and improve the call centre experience, please
feel free to download our “2022-23
UK Customer Experience Decision-Makers’ Guide”, or the equivalent
US version, from
the ContactBabel website.
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Created on May 5th 2023 00:15. Viewed 115 times.