If you step back and think about the customer service process, it has the potential to be some very messy business. At the very least, it makes for a complicated flowchart. A convoluted one, even, if you’re not careful.
As each new ticket enters the system, there is a countless variety of possible steps, outputs, and results. What’s the problem? Which product? How severe? Who’s responsible for fixing it? What’s the service level? Who else needs to know about it? How do we keept the customer in the loop?
Without some upfront planning, a little well-considered strategy, and the technology to make it happen, each customer interaction would arrive with the predicatability of a four-way-stop without stop signs. It’s an adventure of the very worst kind.
When the time comes to choose pick a customer service and support platform for your company, pay close attention to the business rules engine of each platform you assess. A closely integrated business rules engine will help control the flow of traffic and information. It’s like a traffic cop, only way more advanced and infinitely more efficient.
Rather than dropping stop signs down at the afformentioned intersection, a business rules engine opens things up, creating an information autobahn. Based on the your specific rules and requirements, the business rules engine will keep everyone in the loop throughout the incident lifecycle.
For example: When a new incident is created, the assigned agent receives an alert detailing the issue at hand. Simultaneously, the customer receives an e-mail confirming their ticket along with a link to track its status online. If the agent makes changes during the support process, or needs to order parts to complete the repair, the customer receives another alert to keep them informed of what’s going on.
As the issue approaches the threshold for its service level agreement, additional alerts are distributed. The agent is reminded to complete the issue, while the support manager is alerted to the status of an aging ticket. With this information, the manager may then decide to assign additional resources or perhaps contact the customer to offer a more personalized update on the status of their issue.
With an effective business rules engine directing traffic, the standard questions on the mind of every customer service manager – what’s the problem? who’s taking care of it? are we within the service level agreement – are continually monitored and consistently addressed. As a result, customers get timely solutions, agents focus on their core responsibilities, and managers always know what’s going on.
Interested in learning more about an effective business rules engine? Follow this link to read about the PhaseWare Tracker Platform and Tracker Event Engine.