Transforming contact centres into care centres

Groundbreaking B2C and D2C sales strategy

One of the world’s biggest home appliance manufacturers, Electrolux strives to improve everyday life for millions. The Swedish company embodies this guiding principle in every idea, product and human interaction. It competes in a fast-changing market, where customers regularly switch between visiting stores and shopping online.

Driven by the rise in eCommerce, Electrolux saw an opportunity to develop B2C and D2C channels — launching its Consumer Centric Transformation (ConCenT) program with the goal of getting closer to its customers and driving sales. Success meant redesigning its contact centres for greater efficiency and faster innovation.

“Old technology stood in the way of realising our B2C and D2C model,” said Mateusz Jazdzewski, IT Consumer Experience Solutions Manager and Head of CX Product at Electrolux. “We had different channels on different systems with no CRM integration and limited outbound, routing and reporting tools. So, our agents struggled to track journeys, increasing handle time and making service inconsistent.”

Holistic consumer-centric solution

Electrolux executed a threefold B2C and D2C strategy. “We wanted a cloud platform that combined omnichannel routing, AI-powered analytics and a unified agent desktop for managing the D2C sales funnel,” added Jazdzewski. “Genesys Cloud gave us all this and more.”

Forming a solid omnichannel foundation, the Genesys Cloud platform ensures efficient multitasking with inbound, outbound, email and chat conversations managed from a single desktop. Agents quickly collaborate with colleagues using the Genesys Cloud interface, rather than having to navigate multiple screens and apps. Managers and supervisors always have visibility into what’s happening, instantly drilling down into reports and monitoring queues and workloads.

Voicebots and chatbots powered by Google Contact Center AI now detect customer intent and suggest self-serve options, or intelligently route calls to the best specialist with the right skills. “Once engaged with an agent, knowledge is automatically surfaced from SAP C4C and our knowledge management systems, ensuring they have all the information needed to resolve the customer’s particular issue,” said Jazdzewski.

Completing the company’s B2C and D2C model, Genesys Predictive Engagement connects the dots on website journeys by leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) and analytics to uncover visitors’ behaviors and interests — and then personalises engagements in real time based on those insights.

“The system flags excessive webpage dwell times so agents can launch a timely webchat offering support or a tailored offer,” added Jazdzewski. “And we can also set up alerts if shopping basket checkouts appear to stall, again enabling agents to reach out and get the sale back on track.”

Contact centres become care centres

Electrolux has exceeded expectations with consistent journeys and reporting across all channels. Enhancements include better self-service options and significantly less wait time and customer effort. These gains are reflected by increases in FCR and Net Promoter Score (NPS). Later, when the COVID-19 pandemic struck, Genesys Cloud enabled Electrolux to accelerate its rollout of online stores.

Service efficiency has also improved with a 56-second reduction in average handle time (AHT). During the first three months, the company’s Google concierge bot successfully recognised over 75% of customer intents. These included requests for appliance repairs, made in English and Italian, for instance. “Bot intent recognition rose and, in some cases, reached almost 100% as we added use cases and training,” said Jazdzewski.

Employee satisfaction has improved, too. “Agents have responded very positively,” said Jazdzewski. “Genesys Cloud has improved their day-to-day work with neat shortcuts and better search capabilities and wrap-up tools.”

Data is easily cross-referenced between Genesys, Google and CRM systems, reducing agent frustration. And supervisors have better visibility into interactions. They now use call and screen recordings to accurately pinpoint coaching opportunities.

“We’ve transformed Italian and UK contact centres into data-driven care centres,” concluded Jazdzewski. “We can clearly link events, see why conversations did or didn’t convert into sales, and learn how to create better experiences next time.”