Retailer Mitigates Call Volume Surge with Rapid Digital Triage

An icon of Australian retail

One small change, thousands impacted

When the retailer migrated its credit card products to a new provider, 250,000 customers ran into issues accessing their accounts. As part of the migration, customers were advised that card services should be accessed via the retailer’s online portal. However, a high volume of customers could not log in.

Many accounts had lapsed or sat dormant, causing unforeseen issues with login credentials, multi-factor authentication and linking accounts to the mobile app. This triggered a significant spike in calls to the contact centre, overwhelming the staff, as well as an influx of digital enquiries. Calls rose from the baseline 30 calls a day to 5,000, climbing to 50,000 in the first four weeks of the three-month-long event.

Customers typically waited an hour for assistance behind 200 other callers. By the time someone connected with an agent, they were aggravated and often aggressive, which placed additional pressure on the frontline. Meanwhile, many customers hung up and sought help from the general customer service line. Or they tried email and live chat, shifting the service impact onto other channels.

A multi-pronged mitigation strategy

Probe CX stepped in to alleviate pressure on customers and frontline staff, and within hours of identifying the surge, implemented a rapid response strategy. It centred on adapting Oration, a conversational AI and insights solution deployed by Probe CX, to meet the demands of the situation.

The strategy included:

• Creating a direct phone line which expedited access to customer support
• Training 40 additional local agents within 24 hours to exclusively serve affected customers
• Expanding coverage with teams in Manila and New Zealand to alleviate pressure on the local team
• Updating Oration’s Voice AI (IVR) and Virtual Agent with banner messages indicating lengthy wait times and a zero-tolerance policy for abuse
• Deflecting customers to the website, where FAQs and the Virtual Agent enabled self-service and timely resolution

Additionally, operations leveraged real-time insights to keep senior stakeholders informed of call trends and dynamically adjust Oration’s messaging.

Probe CX prioritised the most cost-effective channels as the duration of the impact was unknowable. For example, callers were encouraged to troubleshoot using the website and provided an email address to contact as an alternative to staying on hold. Bulk SMS was also used to communicate important updates at scale. This comprehensive omnichannel solution managed the influx of calls and associated costs, while maintaining high-quality service for other customers.

While technology managed call volumes, human agents played an equally important role in repairing the customer experience. Service teams in every region handled aggravated customers with appropriate care and empathy, ensuring first-call resolution wherever possible.

Business as usual restored

The rapid response successfully stabilised the contact centre, demonstrating the agility of Probe CX in handling large, unexpected surge events:

• Nearly one-third of callers deflected to digital channels after hearing the Oration banner messages, where they accessed timely customer assistance or self-served.
• Calls declined sharply from 51,000 in September down to 11,000 in October, attributed to the deflection strategy and support via digital channels.
• Just 100 to 200 calls a day now concern login issues — a sizable decrease from 5,000 at peak.

As seen, call volumes returned to near baseline. Oration’s trend data gathered from the surge event continues to inform contact centre operations, and by extension, improve the customer experience.