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The Evolution of the Customer Journey 2024

Part 1: A seamless spark for energy customer concerns

Welcome to the blog series “Evolution of the customer journey”! In a world where digital interactions are becoming increasingly important, companies are challenged to continuously optimize their customer journeys.

We, the LinkThat team, take you on a journey of discovery through innovative customer journeys, revolutionized by the use of our advanced communication and automation technologies. In this series, you’ll learn how companies across industries – from energy providers to public institutions to e-commerce – are reshaping their customer interactions with modern and intelligent products. We will show you how these tools can be seamlessly integrated into existing systems to increase efficiency, reduce costs and, above all, raise customer satisfaction to a new level.

Each article in this series highlights a unique customer journey shaped by new technologies. Join us on this exciting journey and discover how your business can benefit from the evolution of the customer journey.

Modern strategies for an optimized customer journey

In our connected world, customers often switch between different communication channels in leaps and bounds. An effective multi-channel strategy that seamlessly links channels such as chat, email and telephony can reach a wider audience and serve different customer needs. This makes it possible to optimally support customers even when they switch channels spontaneously.

The automation of routine tasks, combined with a personalized customer approach, is a key to success. Chatbots that respond efficiently to frequently asked questions significantly improve the customer experience. At the same time, personalized communication makes customers feel understood and valued.

The rapid and accurate provision of information is essential in a fast-paced world. Systems that efficiently manage customer data and provide service staff with instant access to relevant information are critical to successful customer care. This includes the ability to integrate customer data from different sources and make it accessible in real time.

Proactive customer service means anticipating customer needs and offering solutions before they are asked for them. Modern technologies that are able to recognize intentions and possible next steps in real time and react accordingly are setting new standards in customer service. This makes it possible to respond quickly and in a targeted manner to specific customer wishes and to surprise customers in a positive way.

Practical example:
Innovation in action at the energy provider

Imagine you’re about to move house and want to take your energy tariff with you or change it. Of course, you also want to look around for new options and subsidies – but you don’t want to waste any unnecessary time.

This is exactly where our story begins. A customer, Mr. Haller, experienced a smooth process through the use of modern solutions that demonstrate the possibilities of modern customer journeys.

The initial situation​

Our customer, Mr. Haller, is in the middle of his move and needs to organize numerous things, including contacting his energy provider. With a busy schedule, Mr. Haller wants to get information and make decisions quickly and easily.

He decides to use the provider’s online chat, operated by the SHIFT chatbot. In the chat with LinkThat SHIFT, Mr. Haller asks basic questions about tariffs. The bot responds immediately with precise information – and at the same time mentions current subsidies that Mr. Haller can use in his federal state. This automated, yet personal communication saves the provider valuable time and the customer money.

The customer leaves, but the service continues

When Mr. Haller asks to receive the information by email because he has to catch his train and end the chat, SHIFT sends him the summary. At the same time, SHIFT looks up the information in the provider’s telephony system: The current waiting time there is 7 minutes. “Should a service employee contact you by phone in the next 10 minutes?” is the question. Mr. Haller agrees and receives the call from the agent on his way on the train – without having to wait on the phone.

Valuable time saved: the automatic recall process

LinkThat CUBE handles integration with the energy provider’s telephone system. Access to current telephony data enables a range of useful features. In this case, SHIFT uses the CUBE to position an automatic callback. This means that the next free place in the queue belongs to Mr. Haller, and then an outgoing call is automatically started to a service agent. A complex process of which the customer is unaware.

The seamless spark

Proactive offer for a seamless handover

The LinkThat CUBE also makes contact with the energy provider’s CRM system – in this case SAP Service Cloud – at the time of the callback. When the agent, Ms. Mayer, is offered the call and calls Mr. Haller, his customer profile opens automatically. Ms. Mayer immediately has all the relevant information, including the chat history, at her fingertips – a clear advantage for efficient and targeted communication.

Speech recognition with AI as a prompter

During the phone call, Ms. Mayer uses the LinkThat ECCO system to pay attention to important keywords in Mr. Haller’s request in real time. When all the details about the move have been clarified, Mr. Haller mentions that he would like to pay his bills by direct debit. ECCO recognizes this stored key term in real time. Ms. Mayer can then immediately send the corresponding direct debit form from the CRM system to Mr. Haller by email.

Automatic closing with document processing

Mr. Haller fills out the PDF during the train journey and signs it digitally. LinkThat PRISM, the automatic document processing system that monitors the mailbox, recognizes the file attachment and verifies the content. As all checks are successful, the result is automatically saved in the CRM system. The direct debit is thus confirmed – and Mr. Haller’s entire case is closed.

Costumer satisfaction - fully automated 100%

Mr. Haller’s entire experience – from the initial chat to the proactive callback to the automated resolution of his concerns – shows how efficient and customer-oriented interaction works today. What could take hours or days was done in minutes.

We have illustrated how our SHIFT, CUBE, ECCO and PRISM products work seamlessly together to provide not only technical efficiency but also personalized service. This makes it possible to create a perfect balance between technology and human interaction in today’s fast-paced world.

Do you have any further questions? We are happy to help.

We hope that this article has sparked an idea or two in you. In the next article in the series, we will take a closer look at a citizen’s approach to public authorities.

Picture of Bettina Zambo

Bettina Zambo

Since studying communications Bettina is working in media und produces content at LinkThat: written and spoken.

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