Whirlpool has selected ContactEngine to improve communication with customers and increase efficiency by verifying “first time” the machine part requiring repair. By working with ContactEngine, the world’s largest manufacturer of domestic appliances has tripled the rate of washing machines being fixed in a single visit by an engineer. In turn, wasted customer visits by engineers have reduced by 10 per cent.
- First time repairs for washing machines increase by three-fold
After a customer reports a fault relating to their washing machine, customer services need to quickly classify the issue. However washing machines contain hundreds of moving parts and incorrect diagnoses lead to financial waste with incorrect parts being ordered and wasted engineer journeys.
With ContactEngine’s new job classification-screening process, once a contact centre advisor has established what they believe is the issue ContactEngine begins an intelligent, automated conversation with the customer. By opening a dialogue with the customer before the engineer’s visit (using either interactive SMS or intelligent interactive automated telephone calls), Whirlpool can ensure that the issue is correct and the exact parts are ordered.
“Whirlpool is a true leader in its field and customers are at the centre of everything it does,” said Dr. Mark K. Smith, CEO of ContactEngine. “Our intelligent technology works alongside the customer services team, helping them to proactively identify the root cause of a problem before any resources are wasted.”
Opening a conversation with customers (to verify the exact washing machine part requiring a repair) has also led to a three-fold increase in the accuracy of first time parts orders.
“We operate a truly global operation and our products are in most homes around the country,” explains Alistair Dobson, Service Operations Director of Whirlpool (UK). “Any delay in fixing an issue is frustrating for the customer and inefficient for a business of our scale. Working with ContactEngine has really changed the way we approach customer appointments, and we’re now in a stronger position to fix problems on the first visit.”
Customer responses are made available to the customer services team in real time through a secure dashboard. This information is accessible 24/7 by authorised Whirlpool staff.
