During this era of rapid growth, we have seen that the number of enquiries that both iLOQ and our resellers and partners receive has grown at the same rate. It is likely that this number of enquiries will become impractical to handle without dedicated tools in the near future. Ensuring the quality of the partner and end customer experience is vital. This is why we have invested in developing a digital business platform to support our sales organization and resellers and help them create the best possible experience for their customers and end users alike. The first version of this online portal is expected to be released around mid-2019.
Digital customer service is a co-operative effort
“Supporting our resellers in their work and by providing new and easy touchpoints has been the key driver for this project,” states Ari-Pekka Hietala, Head of Services at iLOQ. “Providing the best customer experience and proving ourselves as desirable partners through hands-on involvement is one of our strategic objectives. We have to go out and prove every day that customer service is in our DNA.” Also, when we equip our own employees with the right tools, we can improve our own internal employee experience, which will in turn have a direct effect on the reseller experience.
We have to go out and prove every day that customer service is in our DNA.”
Ari-Pekka Hietala, Head of Services, iLOQ
To make sure the new digital business platform best serves our resellers and customers, we have developed the platform in close co-operation with our international partner network. To cater to our key European markets, the new digital business platform will be published in local languages. The platform will be the home of a comprehensive set of documents and useful information. It enables online ordering and product returns, and it will combine support requests into one knowledge base, acting as a live connection between iLOQ and our partner network. Each iLOQ country office will have dedicated people overseeing enquiries coming into each of the market-specific language versions.
One of the key customer service features will be structured trainings provided for our partners. We want them to have the best possible up-to-date knowledge and tools to serve their customers, and ultimately all iLOQ key holders. The aim is to develop training content based on typical enquiries and customer feedback. Each registered user will be able to take part in online trainings and receive certification for completing some of the lessons.
Automation with a human touch creates a strong service presence
“The future of customer service is digital, but it is important to maintain a human touch”, Ari-Pekka Hietala explains. He points out that even though the system will quickly learn to recognize, anticipate and understand typical issues and enquiries, and chatbots will be able to handle much of the traffic, human contact should never be more than a few clicks of the mouse away. “Our resellers and customers should never feel like they’ve been left alone with any questions they may have.”
The future of customer service is digital, but it is important to maintain a human touch.” Ari-Pekka Hietala, Head of Services, iLOQ
Our resellers will continue to be our most important interface towards our customers, so we have to make sure to provide services that meet their daily needs. This is why the platform is not only about answering questions and providing valuable information; it is also about listening and understanding. The new digital platform is designed to give us at iLOQ valuable insight into the typical issues our resellers, installers and maintenance partners encounter. This information is not only valuable for developing our customer service practices, but it may just as well translate into data used in R&D to develop our products and new services.
Modern digital customer service will bring us closer to our partner network, our clients and our end users. “Better service will make us a better partner, and that’s what we are all about. We want to open new doors for our partner network through improved customer service. Isn’t that what our customer promise, making life accessible, is all about?”