Reinventing
Customer
Experience
Vodafone´s journey to a people-based Digital Care
Model using messaging services and automation
Vodafone, Facebook and
Accenture partner to reinvent
customer experience
About this report: this paper is jointly published by Accenture,
Vodafone and Whatsapp (via Facebook). It explores how
Vodafone is using Whatsapp as a messaging app for their
customer service. Accenture helped Vodafone roll out the
services and setup for messaging by defining use cases and
key performance indicators.
Decades ago, companies came up
with technological innovations
and presented them to the market
to see if consumers would
embrace them. Think of the
touch-tone phone. There was no
huge demand from the market for
it to replace rotary-dial
telephones in homes and offices.
But when it was introduced,
consumers saw its advantages
and began to use the touch-tone
more often.
Today, this dynamic has been
flipped on its head. Monolithic, top-
down technology adoption has been
replaced. Consumers now demand
companies give them the seamless,
hyper-relevant, zero-friction
experiences they have become
accustomed to elsewhere, such as in
private life. This customer attention
and expectation for a better
experience has now zeroed-in on
messaging apps.
WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger,
WeChat and other online platform
messaging apps have been widely
used by consumers in private
interactions for over a decade. In
2013, platform messaging volume
surpassed that of SMS (short
message service). Many young
people have rarely experienced
another type of electronic
communication and strongly prefer
messaging over email or calls,
perhaps due to lack of exposure. In
2020
, the number of messaging
users worldwide had reached 2.7
billion. The most popular app
worldwide is WhatsApp, which is
used by more than 2 billion people
to send more than 100 billion
messages
every day.
How Vodafone is using
messaging apps to
improve customer service
By 2022, the number of messaging
users is expected to be 3 billion,
according to eMarketer. The use of
digital communications has risen, and
companies started to take note. The
first ones began to offer customer
service via opt-in messaging apps
around 2015. Customer service
messaging got a further boost in the
aftermath of COVID-19.
The companies that have taken the leap
into customer service messaging are
reporting all sorts of benefits: greater
customer satisfaction, more efficient
customer service, higher sales and more
customer loyalty (e.g. higher net
promoter scores (NPS)). Given the
benefits, the number of companies that
will use messaging apps to communicate
with customers is expected to skyrocket.
Customers are more satisfied interacting
with brands via messaging apps because
the apps give them the ability to keep and
easily view their chat history. It does not
disappear, as happens in live chats. In
addition, they can engage with a company
around the clock and communicate with
text or multimedia (such as audio or video).
As of 2020, 85% of people around the
world want the option to message with
brands, up from 65% in 2019, according to
LivePerson, Inc.
Customer
experience
of people around the world want
the option to message with brands.
LivePerson Inc.
%
Vodafone Group was one of the
first telecommunications
providers to use WhatsApp
globally for customer service. In
2018, it began using Apple
Business Chat and WhatsApp
Business to allow its customers to
text, share documents, send
images, video or audio messages,
and handle all their
communication with the operator.
Germany was among the first of
15 countries in the Vodafone
Group to use messaging for
customer service by the end of
2020.
One of the reasons that Vodafone’s
customers say they like messaging
apps is also a reason that makes
those apps part of a compelling
efficiency use case for
telecommunications companies:
Messages can be consumed when
the recipient is ready to do so. They
do not have to be opened
immediately - even if messages are
instant.
Because of this feature, messaging
apps are considered asynchronous
communication. Unlike telephone
calls or live chats, messages can be
opened on each party’s own time.
As a result, service representatives
can work within multiple
conversations at the same time, just
as they may switch between
simultaneous chats with their partner
and colleague. Or they may decide
to focus on other work and review all
messages later.
We wanted to reduce
the friction of customers
working with our service
department and cut our
service operating
expenses
Jörg Knoop
Lead - Technology Digital Incubator
Vodafone Germany
Communication
on your own terms
Convenience
is king
The ability to stay connected while also controlling your own inflow of
messages is not to be underestimated. For many people, the ability to get
things done and stay connected, but to unplug when desired, represents
quality of life. When users decide when to receive messages, they retain
their sense of personal agency and autonomy. They say when they are
reachable and are not left waiting for long periods and then expected to
immediately react when a representative responds.
One could argue that this experience is an important part of the promise
many companies are trying to make to their customers – a promise of
purposeful change through technology. They aim to make a promise that
is not just stated, but a promise that is also felt. It also underlines how
customers are the ones driving change, and the flexibility companies need
to respond to evolving customer demands for a seamless customer
experience.
For telecommunications
companies in particular,
implementing messaging-based
customer service can help
increase customer loyalty. This is
key during a time when their
business models are undergoing
massive change and it is still
unclear how things will shake out
in the industry.
The business of telecommunications
operators is based on legacy
systems which, in comparison to
younger tech companies, is holding
them back. In general, they need to
transform their operating systems
and business services to compete.
One could even say most
telecommunications providers are
being “dragged” into a new age for
their industry by fierce, technology-
driven competitive forces and the
demands of tech-savvy customers.
One scenario for the future is
operators finding new ways to grow
by combining different technology
elements in their ecosystems for
competitive advantage and
becoming orchestrators of the
network. To do this, they will need to
be much nimbler and build trust with
their customers.
Introducing customer service via
messaging, and doing it as part of a
wider digital transformation for the
telecommunications company, can
support both goals. The messaging
apps allow companies to take a very
personal approach with individuals,
sending e-receipts and transaction
alerts or simply responding quickly
to a question, for instance about a
new phone purchase or usage fees.
No more holding on the line and
waiting for the agent to find an
answer on a live chat. Such positive
experiences can build trust.
Telecommunications &
messaging
Messaging: a fixed part
of customer-related
processes
Accenture recommends companies begin offering
customer service via messaging in a first step -
regardless of how far along they are in focusing on a
customer-centric digital transformation. This will
differentiate the company with competitors and improve
customer satisfaction.
According to Accenture's Wireless Purchase Study
from September 2020, 74% of customers of
communication service providers (CSPs) value
digital interactions over in-store, phone or home
interactions.
And, according to Facebook, consumers around the
world are embracing messaging for brand interaction.
Already in 2018, two out of three people surveyed
globally had messaged a business during the
holiday
season
.
In a second step, CSPs have the opportunity to integrate
messaging deeper into company and customer-related
processes. This will require a change to technology
stacks and the IT infrastructure in general, as well as a
change in mindset.
According to Facebook,
consumers around the
world are embracing
messaging for brand
interaction: Already in
2018, two out of three
people surveyed globally
had messaged a
business during the
holiday season.
of customers CSPs value digital
interactions over in-store, phone or
home interactions. - Accenture's
Wireless Purchase Study
September 2020
%
Vodafone´s Journey
Vodafone has more than 300 million mobile
customers throughout the world and is one of the
leading telecommunications providers in Germany.
Making use of a messaging platform was a natural
choice for Vodafone Germany, since so many
Germans are chat users already.
It began with a rollout of both Apple Business Chat and
WhatsApp. WhatsApp caught on quickly: in Germany,
approximately 78% of the population are regular users - a
number that spans all age groups.
As part of its ongoing collaboration with Vodafone,
Accenture helped Vodafone set up agile teams and
define use cases to enable messaging services. On this
journey with Vodafone, Accenture supported Vodafone
with best practices learned from similar projects.
Vodafone wanted to improve customer service when it
rolled out WhatsApp, and it also sought to increase the
efficiency of call centers. Traditionally, call centers have
been at the core of customer service, but sometimes
they were not customer-friendly in every dimension.
Vodafone has now given customers the chance to
choose to avoid call centers if they wish.
We’re proud to have
helped Vodafone
reinvent its customer
service
Alfonso G. Imbroda
Global Industry Lead for Comms and
Media
Accenture Interactive
Now, if a customer is using a messaging app to communicate with Vodafone,
they can completely bypass the call center, and therefore the hassle, too.
Instead, they can start a chat. They can be hands-free, get an instant and
relevant response from a chatbot, and perhaps most valuable of all, they can
save the chat history. Customers can also start a chat anywhere, at anytime.
Customers now overwhelmingly prefer digital services. In fact, they prefer them
even to in-store or in-the-home interactions. In a recent study (LivePerson, Inc.
2019 Global Study), nearly half of respondents reported that they were more likely
to do business with a company if they could text the firm rather than call it. It’s not
difficult to see why, especially when it comes to call centers. Vodafone was able to
recognize this trend and do something about it.
No more call
centers or live
chats
Soon after Vodafone began using
WhatsApp, TOBi, Vodafone's
artificial intelligence (AI) bot that
supports the service, was already
solving half of the standard
requests that came in.
TOBi, powered by IBM Watson, is the
starting point of any chat initiated by
the customer. It is self-learning — it
can now recognize more than 250
intents - and only switches over to a
human employee when there are
questions it cannot answer itself.
Via WhatsApp and TOBi, images and
documents can be shared to meet
customer requests. TOBi checks
their content and classifies them for
further use. Later, TOBi may also get
a voice to speak with customers and
not just chat via text.
Vodafone was also one of the first to
launch new WhatsApp capabilities
like quick replies (buttons) which
make the dialog more convenient for
the customer and more robust for
TOBi. Buttons summarize questions
for the user and allow them to click
"yes" or "no" buttons to give an
answer.
Right out of the gate, Vodafone saw
stark changes in the ways customers
were interacting with their customer
service team. On the first day, more
than 1,000 customers reached out
to Vodafone via the WhatsApp
channel. After six months, 10
percent of the volume had shifted
from call centers to messaging, with
a strong upward trend.
Currently, more than 200,000
Vodafone customers are serviced
each month via the WhatsApp
channel, and 52 percent of them
get their problems solved there
without having to go to a live chat or
a hotline.
Every conversation is routed and
stored through Vodafone’s central
customer contact platform (powered
by Genesys). 360-degree history is
available at every touchpoint.
We believe that within
three to five years,
messaging as a contact
channel may overtake
the classical channels
such as the call hotline
and email.
Jörg Knoop
Lead - Technology Digital Incubator
Vodafone Germany
Introducing
TOBi
TOBi:
Vodafone‘s new
digital assistant
“Hello, I am TOBi, your virtual assistant. Vodafone built me to help you
quickly and easily
,”- TOBi says.
That’s how TOBi answers if a customer starts a conversation via WhatsApp.
It’s not just the call center dynamic that’s being
updated at Vodafone. WhatsApp chats are also set
up for use in other service areas and for sales.
This is a trend being witnessed in businesses throughout
the globe. A recent report shows the number of website-
generated customer leads jumped by more than a
quarter when WhatsApp was the first point of contact for
a customer (OMR 2020). Customer service agents
benefit from the new processes, too. Since customer
inquiries are prepared by TOBi, a history is created for
each inquiry. Vodafone says this greatly reduces stress
on its agents, who can familiarize themselves with the
issue before reaching out to customers.
Of course, chatbots like TOBi were previously available
via chat windows before those same bots delivered
information via messaging apps.
So where does the savings come in when humans
become involved with messaging apps?
First, since chat history is visible to the customer, the
customer is more likely to ask relevant questions and less
time is lost covering things that happened in the past.
Second, because of routing, human agents can batch
their work, thereby improving their responses and
response time. They can manage multiple channels at
once and can also use down time on slow-moving live
chats to work on open asynchronous messages.
Finally, the improved customer satisfaction from
being able to choose the channel of communication
and receive service on your own schedule reduces
churn, thereby saving Vodafone money.
.
Digital Customer
Care: digital operations
in 6 dimensions
1
2
3
4
5
6
QUALITY
ERADICATE
PREDICT and STEER
DIGITIZE
AUTOMATE
EXPERT
Transform how we quantify
and act on contacts
Eliminate unnecessary
contacts
Change customer behaviour
using predictive models
Re-position My Vodafone as the
primary interaction channel
Automate high volume, basic
tasks with chatbot TOBi
Expert care where we can
add more value
More than just
a helpline
The marriage of messenger services with
customer service is a new one, but already the
benefits of messaging integration are evident.
Increased customer satisfaction: People are
happier with a streamlined experience that translates
into significantly shorter wait times, fewer dropped
calls, more flexibility for sharing information and
control of their chat histories.
Increased profitability: By reducing the workload
for call center employees, companies that use
messaging at scale for customer service can reap
operational savings, particularly in developed
countries, where call centers can be costly. In
developing markets, they can use messaging apps
for boosting sales with top-ups.
Takeaways
In May, Facebook launched
“Shops,” wherein businesses
showcase their products and
services, and people can start a
chat via WhatsApp.
With this shopping channel available
to Vodafone and other CSPs, the
potential for increased revenue is
significant. “We want to test
messaging apps to drive sales during
customer service conversations and
in general. This is definitely
interesting for us.” said Jörg Knoop,
Technology Digital Incubator at
Vodafone Germany said:
Messaging apps and sales through
them have become even more
important after the outbreak of
COVID-19 and the temporary
shutting of physical stores in many
countries.
The loss of access to stores
apparently gave consumers a reason
to reconsider. Some 60% of
consumers report that they would
feel no real sense of loss if retail
stores closed.
In November 2020, WhatsApp
announced that people could send
money through WhatsApp in India
with the same ease with which they
send a message. It is the first country
to roll out the service and highlights
what will be coming in more
countries in the near future.
As businesses reopen
and reinvent themselves,
they are looking for
stronger ties to their
customers and new
sources of revenue.
Messaging apps with
integrated shops and
payment functions
certainly fit the bill. We
see significant potential
for companies like
Vodafone to use them to
boost sales and discover
new ways of unlocking
value for their
customers.
Michael Schmid
Communications Expert
Accenture Strategy
The future of WhatsApp
and CSP´s
The integration of pay functions into shops in messaging apps will significantly
boost sales for companies using them.
Louis Moynihan, Product Business Director at WhatsApp, said, “Businesses need to
meet their customers where they are, and with more than 2 billion users across the
world, that’s often on WhatsApp.”
The way forward in the changing landscape will continue to be led by customers.
Companies that want to stay relevant must become more flexible and adaptable to
respond to their demands.
In an increasingly mobile world, it is no longer enough to master technology;
businesses must master the art of the seamless customer experience.
More than 175 million people
already message a business
account on WhatsApp every
day, and as businesses rapidly
shift their operations online
during the pandemic,
messaging is playing an
increasingly important role. It is
helping businesses
provide sales and service use
cases to Whatsapp users.
Louis Moynihan
Product Business Director
WhatsApp Inc.
The future
is here
This type of commerce platform
is the next wave of the future
for mobile commerce. It will
open the floodgates.
It’s not a question of whether
telecommunications companies
will use them to increase
revenues. It’s a question of who
will be first.
Jürgen Spanger
Interactive Industry Lead for Comms & Media
Accenture Interactive
Contacts
Alfonso G. Imbroda
Global Interactive Industry
Lead for Comms & Media
Accenture Interactive
LinkedIn Profile
Jürgen Spanger
Industry Interlock
Communication,
Media and Technology
Accenture Interactive
LinkedIn Profile
Dr. Michael Schmid
Communications Expert
Accenture Strategy
LinkedIn Profile
Jörg Knoop
Lead - Technology Digital
Incubator Vodafone
LinkedIn Profile
Jessica Birth
Head of Digital Service
Vodafone
LinkedIn Profile
Sacha N. Kraft
Digital Transformation for
Tech, Telco, Energy,
B2B and Consulting industries
Facebook
LinkedIn Profile
Louis Moynihan
Product Business Director
for WhatsApp
Facebook
LinkedIn Profile
ABOUT
ACCENTURE
Accenture is a leading global professional services
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enterprises.
Visit us at www.accenture.com.
ABOUT VODAFONE
GERMANY | WHO WE ARE
Vodafone is one of the leading telecoms and technology
service providers in Germany. Half of all citizens in
Germany are Vodafone customers – using Vodafone
technology to access the internet, make calls and watch
TV; and for connectivity at offices, farms and factories.
The Düsseldorf-based company provides a
comprehensive portfolio of internet, mobile, fixed and TV
services. As digital transformation partner to German
business and industry, Vodafone caters to enterprises of all
sizes, from startups and SMEs to DAX-listed corporations.
Vodafone is the #1 mobile network operator in Germany:
No other market player connects more people and
machines in Germany via its mobile network. It also has
more gigabit fixed network connections and more TV
customers in the country than any other German
company.
As a gigabit company, Vodafone is a key contributor to the
development of Germany’s infrastructure. Its German
cable footprint extends to almost 24 million households
and it provides a gigabit service to over 21 million of those.
Vodafone Germany is the largest operating company of
Vodafone Group, one of the world’s largest
telecommunications companies, contributing around 30%
of its revenues. Vodafone Group has over 300 million
mobile customers, more than 27 million fixed broadband
customers and over 22 million TV customers worldwide.
More information: www.vodafone-deutschland.de or
www.vodafone.com.
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family, to find communities and to grow businesses
