The present invention relates to support systems for customer service representatives, and more particularly, to providing call center representatives with easy access to customer related data and quotes related to products and services for the customer.
Traditional call centers have incorporated technology in an effort to provide improved customer service. However, when providing price quotes for goods and services, customer service representatives are required to enter an application for providing the particular good or service. Such applications will require entry of the customer's general information as well as information that is pertinent to the particular quote. If review of a previous different quote is required, the customer service representative must save and close the current application, and restart the other. Despite advances in technology, the ability to streamline interactions with customers remains an elusive goal. For another example, when customers call a company to enroll or change their services with the company, very often the conversation must be paused to allow the representative time to find the program and/or webpage that relates to the customer's desired action.
Often, referral from one customer service representative to another for specialized services is desirable. In such a case, traditional call centers have no ability to facilitate hand-off between customer service representatives beyond placing the customer on hold while the first representative tries to fill in the second representative. This not only yields often poor and inconsistent results, but creates dissatisfaction among the customers on hold and after reconnection when details and information already presented must be discussed again. The need exists for the information developed during the interaction by the first customer service representative to be made handy for the second customer service representative.
Accordingly, there is an unmet need to provide companies, such as financial services and insurance companies, the ability to streamline interactions with their customers even when more than one product and/or service is discussed with a customer during a single or multiple interactions.
The purpose and advantages of the below described illustrated embodiments will be set forth in and apparent from the description that follows. Additional advantages of the illustrated embodiments will be realized and attained by the devices, systems and methods particularly pointed out in the written description and claims hereof, as well as from the appended drawings.
To achieve these and other advantages and in accordance with the purpose of the illustrated embodiments, in one aspect, a computer-implemented method and system for streamlining interactions between a customer and a customer service representative of a company is described in which an interaction is commenced between the customer and the customer service representative during which historical data is accessed related to the customer stored in a company controlled computer system responsive to the interaction. The historical data preferably relates to at least one product or service provided by the company to the customer. At least a part of the historical information is displayed to the customer service representative. On the display, a first tab is generated related to the historical data as is a second tab relating to a quote for a new product or service for offering to the customer. The customer service representative is thereafter enabled to switch between displaying the historical data and the quote by selecting the first or second tab, respectively, without having to save the quote.
So that those having ordinary skill in the art, to which the present embodiments pertain, will more readily understand how to employ the novel system and methods, certain illustrated embodiments thereof will be described in detail herein-below with reference to the drawings, wherein:
The below illustrated embodiments are directed to streamlining and improving customer interactions based on analysis of all available data relevant to the customer. It is to be appreciated that the below illustrated embodiments are not limited in any way to what is shown, as the illustrated embodiments described below are merely exemplary of the invention, which can be embodied in various forms, as appreciated by one skilled in the art. Therefore, it is to be understood that any structural and functional details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as limiting, but merely as a basis for the claims and as a representative for teaching one skilled in the art to variously employ the certain illustrated embodiments. Also, the flow charts and methods described herein do not imply either required steps or a required order to the steps, and the illustrated embodiments and processes may be implemented in any order and/or combination that is practicable.
Unless defined otherwise, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art relating to the below illustrated embodiments. Although any methods and materials similar or equivalent to those described herein can also be used in the practice or testing of the below illustrated embodiments, exemplary methods and materials are now described.
It must be noted that as used herein and in the appended claims, the singular forms “a”, “an,” and “the” include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Thus, for example, reference to “a stimulus” includes a plurality of such stimuli and reference to “the signal” includes reference to one or more signals and equivalents thereof known to those skilled in the art.
It is to be appreciated the certain embodiments described herein may be utilized in conjunction with a software algorithm, program or code residing on computer useable medium having control logic for enabling execution on a machine having a computer processor. The machine typically includes memory storage configured to provide output from execution of the computer algorithm or program. As used herein, the term “software” is meant to be synonymous with any code or program that can be executed by a processor of a host computer, regardless of whether the implementation is in hardware, firmware or as a software computer product available on a disc, a memory storage device, or for download from a remote machine. The embodiments described herein include such software to implement the equations, relationships and algorithms described above. One skilled in the art will appreciate further features and advantages of the certain embodiments described herein. Thus the certain embodiments are not to be understood to be limited by what has been particularly shown and described, except as indicated by the appended claims.
Referring to
For exemplary purposes only, personal information 202 about customers may include the customer's legal name, what name they preferred to be called by, names of their family members (including former family members such as ex-spouses), ages for the customer and their family, how the customer is eligible for coverage (if applicable). Recent activities data 204 by the customer may include the customer enrolling in a service that the company offers (e.g., mortgage, automobile loan, auto/home/life insurance, banking, and credit card), changing the settings of a service already enrolled in (e.g., raising the deductible and lowering the premium of an auto insurance policy), calling the company to ask a question and/or discuss a topic, researching information on the company's website, and/or researching information on the internet and later visiting the company's website (e.g., wherein the company's servers may glean past Internet activities based on “cookies”).
Business rules 206 may include associations, correlations and/or causations between (1) information and/or past activities and (2) future activities. For example, a business rule may reflect the relationship between (1) a child attaining the age of 15 and (2) adding another member to an auto insurance policy. In another example, a business rule may associate (1) browsing the company's website searching for life insurance information and (2) the subsequent phone call to the company being a request to (2a) enroll in a life insurance policy, or (2b) change the settings of an existing life insurance policy. In yet another example, a business rule may associate (1) a customer attaining retirement age and (2) the customer lowering their life insurance premium to a lower amount.
In one embodiment, a conversation plan 208 may include a series of topics about which the company's representative can discuss with the customer. For example, if the customer is about to turn 65 years old and has a child about to turn 15 years old, the conversation plan may include the representative first suggesting to talk about adding the child to an auto insurance policy, and subsequently discussing if the customer wants to amend their life insurance policy. In yet another example, a conversation plan may include asking about each service the customer is enrolled in with reference being made to the most recent event associated with each service (e.g., the first topic may be asking if the customer wants to amend their recently added home insurance policy, and the second topic may be asking the customer about the additional member she added to her auto insurance policy a year ago).
The services database 210 includes information related to the customer's enrollment in any services that are offered by the company. Such information may include the details of the customer's policies, the details of previous settings to current policies, and the details of the settings to previous policies the customer has enrolled in. For example, if a company offers credit card services, mortgage services, banking services, automobile loan services, investment services, insurance services and housing services, the services database may include information related to their customers' involvement with those services.
Turning now to
The term “module”/“engine” is used herein to denote a functional operation that may be embodied either as a stand-alone component or as an integrated configuration of a plurality of subordinate components. Thus, “modules”/“engines” may be implemented as a single module or as a plurality of modules that operate in cooperation with one another. Moreover, although “modules”/“engines” may be described herein as being implemented as software, they could be implemented in any of hardware (e.g. electronic circuitry), firmware, software, or a combination thereof.
Memory 240 is a computer-readable medium encoded with a computer program. Memory 240 stores data and instructions that are readable and executable by processor 310 for controlling the operation of processor 210. Memory 240 may be implemented in random access memory 242 (RAM), a non-transitory computer readable medium, volatile or non-volatile memory, solid state storage devices, magnetic devices, hard drive 245, database 246, a read only memory (ROM), or a combination thereof.
Processor 210 is an electronic device configured of logic circuitry that responds to and executes instructions. Processor 210 outputs results of an execution of the methods described herein. Alternatively, processor 210 could direct the output to a remote device (not shown) via network 50.
It is to be further appreciated that computer networks, upon which the embodiments described herein my interact and/or function, can include a local area network (LAN) and a wide area network (WAN), other networks such as a personal area network (PAN), or any combination thereof. Such networking environments are commonplace in offices, enterprise-wide computer networks, intranets, and the Internet. For instance, when used in a LAN networking environment, the system 100 is connected to the LAN through a network interface or adapter (not shown). When used in a WAN networking environment, the computing system environment typically includes a modem or other means for establishing communications over the WAN, such as the Internet. The modem, which may be internal or external, may be connected to a system bus via a user input interface, or via another appropriate mechanism. In a networked environment, program modules depicted relative to the system 100, or portions thereof, may be stored in a remote memory storage device such as storage medium. It is to be appreciated that the illustrated network connections of
It should be understood that computing devices 200 each generally include at least one processor, at least one interface, and at least one memory device coupled via buses. Computing devices 200 may be capable of being coupled together, coupled to peripheral devices, and input/output devices. Computing devices 200 are represented in the drawings as standalone devices, but are not limited to such. Each can be coupled to other devices in a distributed processing environment.
Turning to
For example, a typical screen shot 400 is shown in
It is expected that a plurality of screens related to the customer are presented to the customer service representative by the integrated desktop program running in the system. For example, screenshots 500, 600 of
In order to provide more clear information regarding screenshot 600,
Referring again to
Referring now to
Referring again to
In yet another example, if the topic is to ask if the customer would like to initiate life insurance, the link may allow the representative to quickly and automatically access the ability to generate and configure life insurance quotes. It is contemplated herein that the link may be a hyperlink (e.g., such as in web browsers) that opens in the same “page”, the link may be a hyperlink that opens a new “page”, clicking the link may start a different program/application on the representative's computer, or any other functionally equivalent or similar computerized transition mechanisms as known in the art.
In one embodiment, the system 100 creates a screen 900 with tabs 902a-d to access and create various quotes as shown in
Returning again to the dialog or conversation between the customer and the customer service representative, conversation plan area 602 of
As the customer service transitions into the recommended topics and indicates such, the system 100 presents an additional suggestions and elements area 604 as shown in
Referring to
By discussing the customer's needs in view of their current life situation, the customer service representative guides the customer in a discussion of recommended solutions, options and opportunities. Because of the assistance of the integrated desktop program running on the system 100, the customer service representative helps the customer think through concerns and possible objections. By making the customer feel empowered to decide on the course of action, the customer is willing and likely to select solutions, products and services of the company that best address their needs and aspirations. The integrated desktop helps the customer service representative see a global view for the customer and respond when the customer requests assistance. By asking questions to make sure that the customer service representative truly understand the needs of the customer, a shared understanding of the requests and needs is accomplished. From this point, the customer and the customer service representative can engage in detailed tactical work, still within the integrated desktop, to bring decisions to fruition and tasks to completion.
In order to complete the designed plan, future action may be required. The customer service representative uses the integrated desktop to create the future plan in a tangible and actionable manner. The customer service representative passes along from the integrated desktop the relevant resources to support the customer in following their personal path to financial security and accomplishing the plan goals. Milestones, deadlines and follow up with the customer are all entered into the integrated desktop. After the interaction, the customer service representative follows up with the customer, upon prompting by the integrated desktop, via the channel of the customer's choice, to deliver tangible evidence of progress and provide support for taking the relevant next steps.
Referring still to
In the example of
Still referring to
The screen 900 also provides details for the conversation plan in area 908. The conversation plan area 908 includes status of the various quotes, information related to recent customer events, the ability to update various information, and the like. The screen 900 provides a recommendations area 910 that includes quick and easy access to other product and service areas that may be of interest to the customer including financial needs analysis, home security, credit card information, investment information and the like. Conversation support area 912 of the screen 900 provides information paired to conversation plan and recommendations areas 908, 910. For example, the conversation support area 912 provides a proposed script to discuss financial needs analysis. Lastly, the screen 900 includes a lower bar 914 with options of a phone browser and seeking help as well as details regarding the current telephone call.
Again referring to
Referring still to
For example,
Referring to
As can be seen, it is recognized that the customer service representatives will have different skill and experience levels. Thus, the system 100 may display different conversation plan items based on the skills, training and experience of the customer service representative. Additionally, the education and/or work history of the customer can impact the conversation plan/screens presented to the customer service representative(s). The techniques described herein are exemplary, and should not be construed as implying any particular limitation on the present disclosure. It should be understood that various alternatives, combinations and modifications could be devised by those skilled in the art. For example, steps associated with the processes described herein can be performed in any order, unless otherwise specified or dictated by the steps themselves. The present disclosure is intended to embrace all such alternatives, modifications and variances that fall within the scope of the appended claims.
The terms “comprise”, “include”, and conjugations thereof are to be interpreted as specifying the presence of the stated features, integers, steps or components, but not precluding the presence of one or more other features, integers, steps or components or groups thereof.
Although the systems and methods of the subject invention have been described with respect to the embodiments disclosed above, those skilled in the art will readily appreciate that changes and modifications may be made thereto without departing from the spirit and scope of the subject invention as defined by the appended claims.
This application is a Continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 16/925,542 filed Jul. 10, 2020, which is a Continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/855,453 filed Sep. 16, 2015, which claims priority to U.S. Patent Application No. 62/051,725 filed Sep. 14, 2014, which are incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
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Number | Date | Country | |
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62051725 | Sep 2014 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 16925542 | Jul 2020 | US |
Child | 17992306 | US | |
Parent | 14855453 | Sep 2015 | US |
Child | 16925542 | US |