As a customer, it’s exceedingly frustrating when brands don’t deliver on their customer service experiences. Case in point: my subscription meal kit service. Every month, rain or shine, my meal kit showed up at my door. Until Saturday.
For no reason, I stopped receiving my meal kit, which put a crimp in my meal planning. I went online and reported the problem using the online form. I figured that would take care of it. But Monday rolled around, and there were still no farm fresh ingredients.
Again, I submitted an online form. End of the week arrives and still no meal kit. Now I’m getting desperate as I’m starting to run seriously low on groceries. So I also used their IVR tool. I managed to navigate my way through the IVR tree (2-1-1-1-1-6-3—ugh!) to actually speak to an advisor who assured me he would have the problem taken care of.
Two weeks out: No meal kit. I reported it online and via the IVR and, having memorized the key sequence to finally get to an advisor, I finally reached Diego. Over the course of 10 minutes, Diego apologized profusely for the problem and assured me that he would take care of it, that he could see all of the notifications I’d submitted, and that he would personally monitor them.
Next day: My assortment of food items showed up!
The point of my story is, somewhere along the way, front-office and back-office processes at the subscription service company weren’t working in sync. Advisors spent 20 minutes dealing with me and who knows how much time trying to figure out the problem on the back end. This was costly for me, for the subscription company, and for their brand.
So, how can a business identify and avoid these situations? By applying process mining and process intelligence analytics that identify and optimize processes in the front and back office, businesses can eliminate bottlenecks and improve customer satisfaction.
The Value of Process Mining
Let’s go back to my meal kit problem. Imagine you’re a CX manager at the subscription service company. You have access to a special device that records every action taken in the production and distribution of a meal kit, from the moment the ingredients are packaged and sent out to the moment it arrives on your doorstep. This device captures every worker’s movement, every machine’s operation, and every step in the process.
But the outcomes you produce using a process mining solution don’t have to just stop at the front office. Back-office operations, such as managing payables, receivables, and supply chain processes, can be enhanced and better integrated with the front office, making for a superior customer experience.
Process mining is like using that device’s data to solve the mystery of why my meal kit isn’t arriving at my house. By analyzing the recorded actions and steps, you can see exactly how the processes flow, where any delays or hiccups occur, and how different parts of the delivery process work together. Process mining uses real process data in businesses to uncover insights and help make production and delivery processes more efficient and effective.
By leveraging the vast amounts of data generated by front- and back-office operations, process mining offers valuable insights into process inefficiencies, bottlenecks, and compliance issues.
Connecting the Front and Back Offices
Front-office operations can be considered customer-facing activities that directly impact customer satisfaction and business growth. From my meal kit example, contact center advisors, the IVR, and online forms I interacted with would be considered front– office operations.
While many organizations have technology and solutions to monitor contact center performance, it’s rare that they can weave data across their front office operations to tell a coherent story. Using process mining tools, like that magical device I described above, this now becomes possible. Some benefits of process mining include:
- Streamlined customer journeys: By analyzing data from various touchpoints such as websites, contact centers, and customer relationship management systems, process mining tools can provide a comprehensive view of customer journeys, including where to remove bottlenecks, eliminate unnecessary steps taken, and relieve other areas of friction.
- Improved service quality: By analyzing data on response times, customer complaints, and service interactions, organizations can identify process inefficiencies, optimize resource allocation, and implement targeted training programs to enhance employee performance.
- Enhanced sales and conversion rates: Uncover insights into the sales process, such as the time taken at each stage, conversion rates, and customer preferences. By identifying logjams and areas of potential improvement, organizations can optimize their sales processes, allocate resources effectively, and implement personalized strategies that increase conversion rates.
But the outcomes you produce using a process mining solution don’t have to just stop at the front office. Back-office operations, such as managing payables, receivables, and supply chain processes, can be enhanced and better integrated with the front office, making for a superior customer experience.
Here are just a few ways process mining can help you improve business efficiency and protect your brand:
- Streamlined workflow: By analyzing data from various back-office systems and applications, process mining can help visualize end-to-end workflows, identifying, and removing redundant tasks, unnecessary handoffs, and areas of process delay.
- Risk mitigation: Process mining can provide a comprehensive understanding of how compliance rules are being followed and adhered to. By analyzing process data, organizations can detect compliance violations, identify potential risks, and take corrective actions.
Getting Started
Would you like to identify runaway and bottlenecked processes that are hampering your business? Our CX Bridge solution is the only tool on the market for organizations seeking to improve both front- and back-office operations. Learn how we can help you mine your data and create a seamless customer experience in real time.
Anil Kumar
Vice President, Global Analytics