The customer self-service Cost Imperative

Customer self-service reduces costs while increasing customer satisfaction and loyalty by allowing customers, employees and partners to access information and perform routine tasks over the Internet, without requiring any interaction with a representative of an enterprise.

Traditional service and support engagements such as new account enrolment or applying for a new service take place through visits to branch offices or phone interactions with customer support representatives to fill out the necessary paper or electronic forms. 

The problem with traditional engagements is that they are expensive, error prone, inconvenient and time-consuming for all.  At the same time research shows us that users increasingly prefer to be able to help themselves online – the most cost effective communication medium – without having to engage with your customer service staff.

Customer self-service applications streamline complex, multi-step processes so that users can easily find information and complete transactions online.  Giving users the ability to get information and complete transactions on-line shifts them away from the more expensive and slower service channels to the Web site.

Figure 1

The cost savings from this shift to Web Self-Service are significant.  Industry research has shown that the cost for a web transaction is $0.10 while the cost for a contact center transaction is between $5.5 and $55.  This means that even if the volume of calls or emails shifted to the Web site is low, the difference in cost ensures a significant ROI on all customer engagement investments. (1) 

Figure 1 shows the expected savings from shifting 1K, 10 and 100K calls from the call center to the web site.  The savings are calculated by subtracting the cost of a web transaction ($.10) from the cost of the contact center transactions ($5.5, $50).

The Customer Self-Service Quality Imperative

Giving users an engaging and effective self-service experience increases customer satisfaction and loyalty.  Research shows us that customers prefer the web over visits to field offices or interactions with customer support representatives.  Consider that:

1. Over 90% of all consumer purchasing decisions begin online (2)
2. 83% of consumers indicate that their primary sources for non-technical customer service information are company web sites (3)
3. Customers are visiting web sites in record numbers, but the percentage of people who successfully find answers or complete transactions online is actually decreasing (4)

In other words customers increasingly prefer to be able to help themselves online – the most cost effective communication medium – without having to engage with your customer service staff.  They want information, the ability to complete transactions and answers to their questions immediately accessible online, not later over the phone or by email.
This means that the area where most companies incur maximum costs to deliver service is becoming a non-preferred service. 

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