The obligation to offer accessible and personal care is not something new. The legislation has already stated since 2007 that telephone attention must be “personal and direct, beyond the possibility of using other technical means at your disposal in addition.” What this new Customer Service Law seeks is to improve consumer rights, establish minimum quality standards, reduce waiting times and guarantee personalized interaction. It is no longer enough to offer a quality product or service; An effective and responsive customer service process must also be guaranteed.
In seeking to improve the customer experience and strengthen their relationship with them, companies have been implementing automatic technological systems to be available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and provide quick responses to their queries. From incorporating interactive voice response systems or IVR (Interactive Voice Response) through voice commands and key tones; ‘chatbots’ to simulate conversations with customers and redirect them to solve problems; self-service tools that allow them to solve their own problems without having to contact a human agent, to systems to collect customer information such as CRMs (which collect contact data, interaction history, preferences and any other information relevant information that facilitates service customization and faster and more effective problem resolution), or data analysis to better understand your customers and their needs. All of this allows them to personalize the customer experience and offer more relevant products and services.
However, all these processes are insufficient when it comes to contacting companies and resolving queries or incidents. In fact, most complaints and claims share a common denominator: poor customer service, particularly notable in large companies.
For this reason, the approval of Law 4/2022, last February, emphasizes guaranteeing that all consumers receive a quality, personalized and accessible care in basic services. A standard applicable to all large companies and any other company that provides, regardless of its size, water and energy services, transport or postal, financial or telephone services.
From the Spanish Confederation of Small and Medium Enterprises (Cepyme) they point out that the regulations establish that “companies that provide public services provided by public administrations in the sectors mentioned in this section are included in the scope of this law when a consumer relationship with your clientele. This wording, in principle, leaves the Administration out of these obligations when it directly provides the services, but also in cases in which the citizen can be considered a user or beneficiary of the service, but not as a consumer as a client. A situation that, for example, occurs in the case of public employment, health or services linked to Social Security and tax management whose provision can be greatly improved in the opinion of a good number of citizens.
From Cepyme they warn that “the regulatory avalanche is hanging over small companies”
In this context in which large companies are the most affected, What about SMEs?
“The purpose of the regulations is extended under the assumption of a position that is debatable” – that is, those made up of more than 250 workers with an annual profit greater than 50 million or with a balance sheet greater than 43 million euros. “In our opinion, an excessively demanding criterion,” Cepyme continues to explain. «In fact, it is enough to comply during the previous year and, even if only residually, with one of the thresholds of workers, business volume or balance sheet based on definitions whose origin is based on a recommendation of the European Commission of 6 May 2003. So we are faced with legislation that, instead of limiting the number of obligated SMEs, seeks to increase it.
Telephone attention
Although telephone service continues to be the most common means available to consumers, companies currently also establish omnichannel communication through different channels so that the customer can choose the tool that best suits their preferences and needs: Email, online chat and social media offer greater flexibility and convenience for users at certain times – young people prefer automated services to direct interactions with people when they need answers. Of course, it is important that these channels are integrated with each other to provide a coherent and seamless experience.
Data analysis allows you to better understand the customer and personalize their experience
According to Manuel Tarrasa, Global Director of AI and Innovation at Konecta, “artificial intelligence is key to addressing the requirement” of guaranteeing that 95% of phone calls are answered, on average, in less than three minutes or comply with having uninterrupted services. But in general, “companies are responding with a combination of several strategies: adopting technologies such as AI, data analysis and automation, training their staff in digital skills and seeking new customer-centric service models.”
Reluctance
Some companies have greeted these new demands with reluctance, concerned about costs and complexity. On the other hand, others see them as an opportunity to differentiate themselves and build customer loyalty.
“The cost of implementing these technologies can be high, but many companies are willing to make the investment to maintain their competitiveness,” says Tarrasa. “We have projects that allow the delivery of a data-driven operating model, the improvement of processing times and quality of responses and the use of augmented advisors to improve the efficiency and automation of digital tools,” explains this expert.
In this sense, large companies usually have more resources to adopt cutting-edge solutions, while SMEs must be more selective and look for slightly more affordable options. However, both must adapt their processes and train their staff to make the most of these tools.
For Cepyme, on the other hand, “the fact of complying with the broad regulation implies costs of implementing tools, but also of staff training and opportunity, because SMEs are diverting their limited monetary and labor resources from productive activities to others linked to regulatory compliance. In this sense, the key is that the effort is not limited to complying with a new standard in isolation, but rather with an avalanche of regulations that accumulates on SMEs and that represents an unbearable burden, despite the fact that technology can limit in isolation the effort involved in each new standard.
