Why credit card companies should focus on phones

This, according to the experts at [24]7 is one reason credit card companies should not forget about phones as a strategy point for customer service and loyalty building - and that means real people available to answers calls, not just messaging services.

"Credit card providers should not be offering yesterday's IVR to today's connected customer. Customers want a smart IVR that is conversational, uses natural language and connects seamlessly to other channels and devices," said P.V. Kannan, co-founder and CEO of [24]7. "When a customer continues their interaction on the web, they expect the context of their previous phone call to be maintained. Our [24]7 Speech solution enables that seamless omnichannel experience that meets the high expectations of today's customers."

Some interesting findings from the report include:

• 88% of consumers user 2 or more devices when engaging with credit card providers' customer service
• 83% use 3 or more channels when engaging with credit card companies
• 30% made a second call after an initial phone contact, 25% move to websites post-phone contact

"In response to demands from consumers that are now mobile and social, the customer service experience that enterprises offer must adapt to how these consumers want to engage, which is on their own terms, using devices and talk-paths of their own choosing," said Dan Miller, senior analyst, Opus Research. "Firms of all sizes have had to gear up to engage with their customers and prospects in new ways that support mobility, web-based commerce and social networking. And all this is going on in the era of Big Data and analytics, meaning that the most successful companies are the ones that efficiently deploy technologies that quickly recognize each customer's intent in order to resolve issues quickly and effortlessly."

Image via Shutterstock

Tags: credit card providers, customer service, ecommerce, [24]7