Cruise retailer achieves 71% revenue boost using intelligent call routing solutions

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How a global cruise retailer improved efficiency and customer service by implementing Oration by Convai to optimise call routing, reduce hold times and deflect calls to self-service options or chat.

THE CLIENT

A leading cruise retailer operating in more than 700 ports globally.

THE CHALLENGE

Due to an increase in government cruise regulations, the client sought ideas to reduce their cost to serve whilst improving their customer experience. The client felt they had a large proportion of callers that still called to complete tasks that could be completed within their online self-service tools, their existing virtual agent or could be better served in the lower cost chat channel.

The client’s goal was to drive at least 10% of their voice traffic into digital. The existing call routing system was outdated, often leading to misdirected calls, long hold times and a lack of streamlined processes. These inefficiencies not only affected customer satisfaction but also impacted the operational efficiency and effectiveness of their customer service team.

The client needed a robust solution to modernise their call handling processes, reduce wait times and ensure customers were directed to the right resources quickly and efficiently. This solution was essential to improve customer interactions, enhance satisfaction and ultimately drive better business outcomes.

INTELLIGENT CALL ROUTING AND ADVANCED SPEECH RECOGNITION

Oration’s intelligent call routing uses advanced speech recognition to understand the caller’s spoken words when they respond to an automatic greeting. This allows the system to assign a purpose or ‘intent’ to the call. For example, Oration answers a call with a simple, open-ended question like “How can we help you today?” or “What’s the reason for your call today?”. This enables callers to freely express their reason for the call, rather than being restricted by a traditional menu-based system. The advanced interpreter then maps the caller’s response to an ‘intent,’ triggering actions such as follow-up questions, playing a voice message, transferring the call to a specific agent or call queue, or offering self-service options.

BOOKING REFERENCE LOOKUP

Oration captures the caller’s booking reference number and retrieves relevant cruise details, which are automatically provided by the client in a file (not through API integration). This streamlined process reduces the need for additional questions and ensures that agents have the necessary information at hand.

DEFLECT CALLERS

Once an intent has been interpreted, Oration can offer deflection to appropriate channels. In the event Oration couldn’t provide the information a caller requested, it would deflect calls through to a web-based self-service, virtual agent, live chat or appropriate live agent call queue for the best possible customer experience.

PRIORITY SERVICE QUEUE REDIRECTION

Oration prioritises callers whose cruise departs within the next 14 days by automatically redirecting them to a priority service queue. This feature ensures that time-sensitive requests receive faster assistance, improving the overall efficiency of customer support.

THE RESULT

The infrastructure the client now has in place is three years ahead of industry-related standards and has resulted in the following:

71% increase in revenue per contact when compared with pre-outsourcing averages
Over 300 intents identified within the first three months of deployment
46% reduction in cost per contact within four months of shifting back office contact centre volumes to the outsourced team in the Philippines
Outbound sales conversion increased by 51% and revenue by $1.8 million via a proactive outbound strategy
63% increase in sales close rates
59% reduction in cost to serve
25% increase in customer service levels
The ‘ask for the sale’ call flow element increased from 30% to 83%
3% increase in sales, equivalent to $3 million in new revenue
A rise in direct passenger bookings of 19%
Over 10% of voice calls are deflected to chat services.

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