Editorial
The Gist:
- Unpaid customer labor. Inefficient customer service and outdated technology lead to increasing customer frustration and operational costs.
- Human costs highlighted. Delays and system failures in customer service can have severe real-world consequences, such as financial hardship and emotional stress.
- Metrics vs. reality. Relying solely on metrics can obscure deeper issues in customer experience. Qualitative research is essential for a complete understanding of CX problems.
Being the lead story on the 6 o’clock news because of customer experience failures isn’t what any organization wants.
But that is what happened to the Virginia Employment Commission (VEC) on July 16, when WRIC reporter Rolynn Wilson interviewed me about my three-year ordeal trying to get the rest of the unemployment benefits that I had been owed since the pandemic.
As a user experience researcher, I identified many “what not to do moments” throughout the experience. Here are 10 lessons I learned from my ordeal so your organization won’t endure the same reputational damage. Although the VEC is a state agency, these customer experience lessons apply to organizations in the private sector.
1. Minimize Unpaid Customer Labor
Ineffective operations, customer service and technology require customers to pay an unwilling amount of time money, or stress to try to get issues resolved (aka “Unpaid Customer Labor”).
Not being able to log in. Long wait times. Calls dropping without an answer. Your customers shouldn't have to work this hard.
Related Article: CX Crisis: Customer Experience Hits All-Time Low
2. Don’t Ignore the Real Human Costs
Addressing the human costs of poor customer service is one of the essential customer experience lessons that can transform your approach to CX.
Bad CX leads to real human impact. No answers can mean loss of ability to pay essential bills.
3. Go Beyond Metrics
Relying on metrics alone does not capture many of the failures of customer experience. Qualitative research provides necessary details to identify patterns of issues.
The VEC frequently reported that they were making progress on their backlog of appeals and cited the number of claims it had decided. But those metrics did not provide a full picture of what was occurring. Those metrics did not capture that when I followed up on my appeal, I received at least four different instructions from “just wait” to call a special phone number that either rang unanswered or had a full mailbox.
Related Article: Quantitative and Qualitative Data Research for Marketers
4. Manage Technology Failures
If technology used to support operations and free up employees to do other tasks provides unreliable information, people rely more heavily on needing to speak with a human to ensure they are receiving accurate information. This puts additional pressure on an organization that is already understaffed.
One of the reasons I distrusted the VEC’s automated phone system was because it often took me through prompts and either hung up on me or directed me to call the number I had just called.
5. Design Technology with Customer Needs in Mind
Designing technology with only one-sided communication incorrectly assumes that the technology has been designed to handle any and every issue that comes up.
When the online portal sent me forms asking for evidence of my work search, it did not recognize some of the weeks in which my “Temporary Waiver of Work Search Requirements” was in effect and there was no way for me to communicate through the VEC portal that this was the case. So, when I completed the forms including a statement about the waiver in each form field, the system deemed my response inadequate and supplied the same forms again.
6. Effective Tech Integration Lessons
New technology has to provide a real benefit to customers, or it is a waste of their time.
When the VEC recently implemented an automated phone system feature which reads a list of the issues holding up your claim, seven of the eight issues on my claim had a “Pending Review” status and no dates. The other issue had a “Removed” status and a 2021 date. I was left no more informed than I had been before using this feature.
Related Article: No Easy On-Ramp to Technology Adoption That Sticks
7. Reduce Stress for Everyone Involved
Customer-facing employees unable to answer basic questions is a recipe for unnecessary stress for both customers and employees.
When speaking with VEC representatives, they routinely told me, “I can only help you if you don’t have a claim in effect,” “The department that sent that form doesn’t talk to the public,” “You have to call the First-Level Appeal Department,” and “It’s an administrative hold. They don’t tell us what the issue is.”
8. Develop a Clear, Proactive CX Strategy
Proactively providing next steps reduces the number of customers making contact asking for them.
The December 2022 letter that informed me that I had won my appeal did not include next steps for either me or the VEC. The VEC’s website provided steps if you lose your appeal but nothing on what to do after winning your appeal. This was inexplicable because at the time the VEC had nearly 100,000 appeals in its backlog. Even if only 10% won their appeal, that’s almost 10,000 people potentially making contact to find out next steps.
9. Mitigate the Risks Associated with Outdated Systems
Outdated technology and staffing shortages put organizations one crisis away from disaster.
The COVID-19 pandemic pushed the underfunded and understaffed VEC in need of a technology upgrade into a disaster that they still have not recovered from. Southwest’s December 2022 meltdown or Delta’s inability to quickly recover from the recent Crowdstrike issue shows how outdated technology is a problem in the private sector as well.
10. Implement Efficiency Across Processes
Efficiency should be implemented throughout the process and should not stop, especially when it comes to money.
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My wait from winning my appeal to receiving my benefits took over 18 months and only ended because of a reporter's inquiry.
Final Customer Experience Lessons and Key Takeaways
Consider these customer experience lessons, especially in light of The White House’s “Time is Money” initiative. This is a new “governmentwide effort to crack down on all the ways that corporations — through excessive paperwork, hold times and general aggravation — add unnecessary headaches and hassles to people’s days and degrade their quality of life.”
Both negative media coverage and regulatory action are real risks to organizations that provide poor customer experiences. Incorporating the critical customer experience lessons I’ve learned not only helps avoid these pitfalls but also empowers organizations to build stronger, more resilient customer relationships.
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