8x8 is shining the light on customer-focused brands and individuals. This post features customer-obsessed change agent Ian Palmer of Agilisys.

From the Age of Atari to the Dawn of Omnichannel CX

Some of Ian Palmer’s earliest career inspiration came from watching Evil Knievel perform death-defying tricks on a motorcycle. Yet, while it looked cool to jump over rattlesnakes or large canyons on a bike, he realized that a wiser course of adventure could take place on the newly emerging Atari and Nintendo gaming systems—and those activities would leave him with all bones intact! It was those early computer games that first turned him on to technology.

Upon graduating from university, a friend recommended that Ian consider a consumer advisory position with Agilisys, a cloud, IT, and digital transformation consultancy for the public sector in the UK. He joined the company in 2007 and progressed through management roles into operational leadership, combining technology and his other passions: data analytics and customer experience (CX).

Navigating customer experience change

During his career, one of the biggest customer service changes that Palmer has seen is in omnichannel strategy. “Although email—and to a lesser extent web chat—have been around for a while, I don’t necessarily think that they've been leveraged by a lot of companies in the right way,” Palmer mused. “In one sense, you can assign someone to answer emails, but the way that it works doesn’t lead to prompt resolution. There's the difficulty in the back and forth.”

Palmer observed that it is technologies like chat and social media that have allowed people to communicate faster and companies to deliver better service to customers.

Listening and acting: The CX North Star

As communications channels open up a world of insights into customer experience, Palmer believes that it's how companies listen and react to those insights that sets great companies apart from the rest. “Customer-focused brands do something with the feedback they receive. They listen to their customers, and act on their feedback. It’s how they are able to deliver a smoother experience to people.”

The CX surveys developed by customer-obsessed companies is yet another differentiator. Palmer recommends taking the customer satisfaction survey back to basics.

“The first step is to make your questionnaires as simple as possible to ensure you get the most information you can,” Palmer suggests. “The more information you have, the greater insights you’ll gain, and the better service you can deliver.”

Palmer continues, “The best customer experiences are built from listening and removing barriers.”

8x8 IVR: Elevating the customer experience at Agilisys

In his role as a Customer Service Design Analyst, Palmer has found that the flexibility of 8x8’s Interactive Voice Response (IVR) system has enabled his team to continually improve and enhance the customer experience at Agilisys. Working directly with customers and contact center agents, Palmer and his staff pinpoint the right configurations in the IVR system to ensure that each outcome takes customers to an agent who is fully qualified, trained, and empowered to resolve their inquiry.

“With 8x8’s IVR, we can route the customer through to the right agent as quickly as possible, and then use after call coding to document what the call was about,” Palmer said.

“As an outsourcer, we often have clients who ask for seven upfront IVR options,” Palmer continues. “We can push back and provide them with data that shows a friendlier and faster way to navigate their customers through the system.”

This strategy delivers savings for clients and a better experience for customers—a win for everyone.

Agilisys’s Management Information team uses 8x8 Customer Experience Analytics to gain insight into every step of the customer journey. “We look at how people are moving through the IVR, so we can discuss with clients how to redraw their IVRs and continually improve their customer service,” Palmer adds. “We work together to make sure that the flow is dropping people into the right places in the system based on which number they're dialing, taking away any barriers and removing the need for additional IVRs.”

Change Agents like Ian Palmer inspire us with their relentless pursuit of innovative ways to elevate the customer experience using technologies such as 8x8.

Learn more about the return on investment for customer-obsessed companies from Metrigy CEO and Principal Analyst Robin Gareiss. Click here.