Adeptra outlines the customer psychology behind the success of Auto-resolution in fraud prevention and collections

-94% of customers respond to automated fraud verification requests, 85% respond to a payment reminder-

READING, UK - March 2, 2010 – An understanding of customer psychology is key to successfully deploying technology designed to support communications in customer-driven organisations, according to findings in a comprehensive summary published today by Adeptra, entitled: “The Psychology of Customer Communications: The cultural effects of Auto-resolution”. 

The briefing paper summarizes Adeptra’s findings from its experience spanning over a decade and across hundreds of millions of transactions. Findings show that when organisations take into account customers’ responses on how and when they are contacted, they can increase the efficiency and effectiveness of automated customer interactions, and reduce response times to resolve fraud queries and increase collections.

As well as outlining the psychology behind transaction-based communications, the paper reviews key success factors when engaging with customers via automated, multi-channel methods including landline/cell phone calls and SMS text messages.

The findings illustrate that customers welcome automated solutions such as Auto-resolution™ services for bill payments, and reveal how factors such as type and tone of voice, time of day, and the use of trigger words or phrases in call scripts all have a significant bearing on communication success rates. 

For example, the gender of the automated agent can have an impact on how customers respond to a communication. A female voice is typically more likely to hold their attention for longer, while a male voice is more likely to prompt a decisive outcome. 

How a script is tailored also has a significant impact on the call’s effectiveness. Where in the script the customer's name appears in relation to the organisation’s name, has a direct bearing on the “feel” of the call and can reduce disconnects by over half.  The use of some words such as fraud can be perceived by customers as negative and cause suspicion, increasing the likelihood of a customer ending the call early.  Adeptra has found that fine tuning the choice of words and their sequence in scripts, helps personalise the interaction allowing organisations to engage more successfully with their customers.

The findings show that customers have a positive perception of Auto-resolution technologies, revealing that in self-service interactions, they feel in control of the communications, and can drive the call to their desired outcome. According to a customer satisfaction survey carried out with one company following a live trial, eight out of ten customers felt automated calls were effective and efficient in performing the collections task and more than three quarters felt they were in control of the call even though it was not initiated by them.

From a bank’s perspective, Auto-resolution is more efficient as an automated system can make more calls than a human agent. In parallel scenarios, automated calling achieves 20 percent more right-party interactions than human agents. As the system is without the physical resource constraints of traditional call centres, the technology can continue to communicate to a customer at the right time and in the right way to make contact. Furthermore, the automated system frees up human agents to provide value-added advisory contact on a case-by-case basis.

Commenting on the results and research findings, Lou Venezia, CEO of Adeptra, said: “Our personal financial affairs are increasingly complex. With our system making more than two million calls every day, multiple transactions occur simultaneously and regular payments are being made almost on a daily basis. Auto-resolution is a convenient method for keeping customers aware of account specific developments that might need their attention.  The combination of control and a solid understanding of the psychology of customer communications gives companies access to a powerful mechanism for communicating with their customers that is both effective and well received.”

A white paper entitled the “Psychology of Customer Communications”, which outlines the challenges and opportunities for optimising the communication experience between customers and financial institutions, is available upon request from [email protected]