MAGAZINE N.45 | Is AI (Artificial Intelligence) Threatening Low-Code/No-Code Application Development?

CASE 2 – Customer Request Management

Company areas involved: transversal to the areas

Organizational needs

We work in an accounting firm, and in this field, as in many other contexts, clients often have to submit numerous requests to consultants , from requests for documentation to the processing of various procedures. Some of these requests have specific processing times their processing is generally to a specific consultant , depending on the area or the client's expertise . 

Furthermore, some types of requests require the signing of a specific contract with the client, while others can be processed directly, based on a general contract already signed by the client. Even consultants, not being employees of the firm, may require a specific contract to be hired for a specific case. 

The most commonly used way to manage this process is highly unstructured and can be traced back to the following main activities: 

1. The client contacts the firm either by email or by telephone, formulating the request in his own language; 

1. Someone takes care of collecting the request , evaluating it and sending it via email to the consultant ; 

1. If necessary, someone takes care of: drafting and having the client sign a contract and/or drafting and having the consultant sign a contract. 

1. The hired consultant must respond to the request within certain indicated timeframes ; 

1. The customer should receive the outcome of his request only once the processing is complete.

Clients participate indirectly in the flow and have absolutely free to their engagement , just as consultants are engaged simply via email. The assignment of cases occurs without any organic vision . 

It is easy to see how unstructured management of this type of process can lead to various problems, negatively impacting overall efficiency and effectiveness, with direct repercussions on customer satisfaction : 

1. Disorganization and misunderstanding: Customer requests may be handled in a disorganized manner, making it difficult to interpret, track, and resolve them in a timely manner; 

1. Risks of loss: There is a risk that requests will be lost or overlooked, resulting in customer dissatisfaction and lost business opportunities; 

1. Ineffective resource allocation: It may be difficult to effectively allocate the human and time resources needed to handle customer requests, leading to delays and poor service quality; 

1. Difficulty finding and processing documents: It may be complicated or expensive to search for or share customer documents and data; 

1. Difficulty in monitoring: Lack of adequate tracking can complicate monitoring request status and overall process performance, making it difficult to identify areas requiring improvement.

    

The solution

process and document automation tool like Jamio, an organization can streamline the management of customer requests, increasing customer satisfaction and its reputation. 

The flow described above becomes the following.  

1. The client contacts the firm through a structured form that guides them through the request or by telephone by formulating the request in their own language and someone (even a bot) takes care of reporting the request in the form; 

1. The system automatically assigns the request to the appropriate consultant. Alternatively, if the request is of a specific nature, someone will evaluate it and forward it to the consultant via the system. 

1. The consultant receives an automatic email for the engagement , 

1. The customer receives an automatic email notification that the order has been accepted; 

1. Where necessary, the system automatically composes , sends and possibly also collects contracts for engagement with the client and/or the consultant and manages the processing only after the appropriate contractual documentation has been collected  ;

1. The hired consultant automatically receives information on processing times , indicates the actual times and always deposits the result of his work in the system; 

1. The customer receives the outcome of his request via an automatic notification email with a link to the system where he can always consult the results of his requests; 

1. Any intermediate discussions between the client and the consultant are always managed in a traceable manner. 
   
   

It is clear that all those human activities that involve a waste of time and margins of error delegated to an IT system , such as collecting requests, compiling contracts starting from predefined templates, sending emails, sorting activities based on a classification of requests or a client management consultant. 

Furthermore, the participation in the process by external actors, customers and consultants, becomes active , since the customer inputs his request in a guided manner, the consultant carries out the engagement in a guided manner through the system.
 

Below is a list of action points: 

1. Request Centralization: All customer requests are collected in a centralized system. Customers can enter requests directly through a guided system, or they can be entered by an operator or a bot following a phone call. This helps keep track of all requests in one place. 

1. Request Classification: Requests are classified based on the type of consultation requested. This facilitates the efficient distribution of requests to the most suitable consultants, avoiding wasted time. 

1. Automatic or manual assignment: The system can automatically assign requests to consultants based on their skills, or a manager can manually assign them. 

1. Status Tracking: Each request is automatically tracked, with the ability to monitor the fulfillment process. This helps keep customers informed about the status of their requests and significantly improves the organization's image. 

1. Request Priority: Requests can have different priority levels based on their nature and urgency. 

1. Customer communication: An automatic notification system keeps customers informed of the progress of their requests. 

1. Information Storage: All relevant information related to customer inquiries is stored so that it can be easily retrieved in the future for review, analysis, or to respond to similar inquiries. 

1. Security and confidentiality: The system guarantees the security and confidentiality of information starting from secure access. 

1. Reporting and Analytics: A reporting system could be implemented to analyze process performance, identify trends, and make informed decisions to improve overall efficiency. 

The advantages

• reduction of management times 
• error reduction 
• process control 
• elevation of the customer's branding reputation 
• Instant sharing of data and documents 
• Employment of operators in higher value-added activities  
• Organizational efficiency