With the use of the online shopping channel escalating exponentially worldwide, mainly due to the technological availability of the process, and perhaps also accelerated by the rigours that were imposed as a result of the pandemic; it has become increasingly necessary to provide adequate online customer support and to bridge the gap between online and in-store retail activities. In this regard, EFMP German Partner, HTW/O, is delighted, and well positioned, to assist Cheil Germany with their request for the provision of Virtual Customer Service Support for Cheil’s client, Samsung-Zeil.

The Role

Chiel Germany was looking for someone to fulfil the function of online to offline consumer consulting. This person would serve as a real-time contact for online customers who need advice about products being sold online, and would be responsible for providing in-depth  support for all inquiries regarding additional services, ordering procedures, orientation in the online store, repair service, and warranty issues. Chiel was looking for someone who would be responsible for the execution of company-specific and Control Tower initiated orders, in the context of service extensions or new service approaches within the Virtual Support arena; as well as for excellent representation of the brand.

Responsibilities    

The Consultant in this online forum of Virtual Reality would have the following responsibilities:

·     Provide consultation and support to online customers via phone or video chat.

·     Do product consulting via video chat by presenting the products on site to the customer via video chat.

·     Have experience consulting within the Samsung-Zeil flagship store via video chat.

·     Provide technical support for Samsung devices.

·     Record and process customer concerns.

·     Provide holistic support for customers in the Samsung webshop.

·     Document customer inquiries.

·     Help with the handling of repairs and complaints.

Virtual Customer Support Systems

The software of the following systems was in put place:

·      Splinkr

·      Outlook

·      Google Forms

Procedure:

The Consultant is to log in to Splinkr: each Virtual Consultant is provided with his/her own Access Code.                                                                                                                 He/she must then wait for calls: either audio or video calls.                                                                                He/she must be able to advise customers regarding product consultations or orders and to send out vouchers to interested customers, and then to report back using the Google Forms platform.

KPI’s

There is a star rating of the service delivery received by the customer after each call where the customer awards a score;  a 4 or 5 star customer rating = 100% payout of the variable. This serves as one key performance indicator.

Voucher sales also serve as a KPI; if the customer displays interest in a product, the Virtual Consultant can send him/her a voucher, trusting that the customer will buy the product using the voucher. In this way, the voucher sale becomes an indicator of sales performance.

Facts

Since the beginning of the project, 3 Virtual Consultants have done 2280 consultations. This works out at approximately 60 consultations a day over a 38 day period.

These numbers indicate the benefit of having Virtual Consultants operational in the online forum. Not only does their work have value in the virtual environment by encouraging online sales, but it also provides the all-important human contact that customers often seek when making purchasing decisions. Furthermore, their work helps to bridge the gap between online product research and in-store purchase of the product. Altogether, a win-win situation.