Knowledge at the point of action (KAPA): The key to a consistently excellent customer experience
Knowledge at the point of action is at the heart of every great customer experience. The person who needs the knowledge may be a customer, a front line employee or an outsourcing partner. The knowledge may be about a specific order, your company's merchandise return policy, or a third-party product. And the point of action may be a phone call, your web site, or a visit to a local dealer. But if knowledge at the point of action happens, the experience will be a good one. If it doesn't, it won't.
| Situation | Without KAPA | With KAPA |
|---|---|---|
| Customer calls service department, impatient for a response after sending an email a few hours earlier. | Service rep has no idea customer has already sent an email. Customer has to explain the issue all over again. Result: Frustration and the sense that, at your company, the right hand doesn't know what the left hand is doing. | Service rep sees earlier email and informs customer of current email response times. Rep then proceeds to answer the question. Result: Customer is satisfied and impressed with your company's visibility into their communications. |
| Sales rep is ready to make a sales call on a customer who has an outstanding service issue. | Customer gripes about the service issue and gives sales rep a hard time. Result: No sale and a damaged relationship. | Sales rep proactively calls the customer to ask if he or she needs help getting the problem solved—and also asks if a discussion about some great new offers should be postponed until after the issue is resolved. Result: Relationship with the customer is preserved and sales rep gets the opportunity to pitch new offers. |
| Customer is about to make a purchase online, but has one small question about your warranty that needs to be answered first. | Customer can't quickly find the answer on your web site. Result: Purchase is abandoned and the customer tries a competitor's site. | Customer finds the answer with a couple of mouse-clicks while web session is still active. Result: Purchase is completed and customer will return to shop again. |
| Marketing sends out an email informing customers about an upcoming event | Customers who aren't near the event and aren't interested in the topic get the email. Result: They feel "spammed" and tune out future emails. | Only appropriate customers get the email. Result: Higher response rates and perception that company communications are well targeted. |
RightNow ensures your company's ability to achieve knowledge at the point of action through both a comprehensive, highly automated and intelligent knowledge foundation and a suite of action applications that facilitate knowledge delivery across all your company's channels and touch-points.
RightNow thus empowers your company to provide the consistently superb customer experiences that are absolutely essential for remaining competitive in today's hotly contested, fast-moving markets.
