The challenge

A computer software provider had an enviable problem to solve: rapid customer growth in various segments had led to a large backlog of cases. The backlog was further exacerbated by an increased volume of technical support cases. Growth is great for business but it can strain an organization. The tech firm needed a cost-effective way to reduce its backlog and maintain the quality service its customers expected.

Our solution

Instead of adding more associates and increasing costs, our first move was to utilize our Proactive Solution process, in which TTEC associates analyzed the root causes of the issue and collaborated with the client on identifying a solution that was effective and efficient. What we learned was that the support teams were struggling to keep up with a rapid introduction of many new and innovative products to the market.

Even though multiple downstream knowledgebase updates were being introduced to keep associates informed of the new products, many times it was customers who were more knowledgeable about what was working well and what required further support.

We recommended that the client leverage that customer knowledge to ensure associates had the most up to date knowledge around the products and its capabilities. We proposed that our client deploy a best-in-class CX automation platform to leverage gig-economy workers who were already experts in the products to answer questions, create content, and train their website virtual assistant.

A 30-day pilot was developed for pre-selected categories within the client’s newest products. When a customer visited the client’s website and submitted a question for a product in one of these categories, an AI interaction routed the question to a team of experts to have their question answered. After the interaction, the customer could accept or reject the answer and rate the expert. The interaction was automatically documented in the CRM system and the ticket was closed. If the question was not answered satisfactorily, the customer was transferred to an agent.

The results

The pilot was a great success, resulting in a 95% CSAT rating, a response time shorter than 1 minute, and more than 17% of the cases were solved by AI, which continues to rapidly increase. Customer testimonials included messages such as, “excellent support,” “quickly answered my question,” and the experts are “diligent and thorough.”

The successful pilot paved the path to implementation. The crowdsourced solution was expanded to include many other lines of business and products. This proactive solution has enabled associates to focus on high-value conversations while the crowdsourced platform and experts take on addressable volume. The platform allowed us to scale our volume and continue to provide a personal touch with the client’s customers.