The price of technical jargon
When a word contributes to 10% of customer service cases
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CONFIDENTIALITY & NDA
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While the essence of the project and its outcomes are accurately portrayed, some information has been intentionally withheld to preserve client privacy and maintain confidentiality agreements. Thank you for your understanding
CONTEXT & OBJECTIVES
Improving the customer service team performances.
We want to understand and analyse the root causes of these reopened cases to identify solutions and reduce the number of reopened cases to less than 10%.
DISCOVERY SUMMARY
THE DISCOVERY ABOUT REOPENED CUSTOMER CASES
63% of reopened customer cases relate to a recurring issue that requires independent resolution by customers.
These inquiries fall outside the control of the customer service team and arise from a limited technical knowledge on the part of the customers.
However, with the appropriate instructions and guidance, people can effectively address this issue on their own.
THE PROBLEM
The instructions intended to guide customers in resolving this issue are unclear.
While the English version of the standardised legal email provides clear and actionable guidance, its translation to French contains terminology that, although technically correct, is not commonly used by French speakers.
Confused by this technical jargon, customers reopen their cases seeking further assistance or expressing dissatisfaction with the perceived inaction of the customer service team.
THE OPPORTUNITY
The opportunity lies in refining the communication approach by addressing cultural language nuances:
Redesigning the standardised legal email content to align with language usage patterns and terminology commonly understood by French speakers.
The optimal communication tool for the customer service team to reduce confusion and therefore the need for further assistance.
Research strategy
Immersing in the customer service environment and uncovering team insights
WHAT WE AIM TO UNDERSTAND
. Trends and patterns in the types of cases reopening in the French Market
. The reasons for these cases to reopen
. How similar cases are resolved outside of the French market
. The internal processes and systems used to resolve these customer cases
. The challenges faced by the customer service team when handling these cases
DATA COLLECTION METHODS
Secondary research
. Statistics from the Quality Assurance team
Primary research
. Service Safaris / First-person insights
. Contextual inquiries / Shadowing
. Informal interviews with the customer service team
generated with AI
SECONDARY RESEARCH
Tools
. Statistics from the Quality Assurance team
Objectives
. to identify patterns and trends in the types of cases reopening
. to identify the types of cases reopening in the French Market
. to compare the resolution performance of similar cases across different markets
. to understand the criticality of the issue
Key insights
. Recurrence of reopenings: In the French market, cases reopened 2 to 3 times, whereas in other markets, cases typically reopen only once.
. Solved cases reopening: a significant volume of reopened cases are classified as “solved”, in opposition to “pending” or “declined” customer inquiries.
SERVICE SAFARIS / FIRST-PERSON INSIGHTS
OBJECTIVES
. To gain insights into the operational processes, policies, and workflows governing the resolution of customer cases.
. To document and analyse the contextual factors surrounding reopened customer cases.
. To identify underlying causes behind reopened cases.
. To understand customer-agent interactions and communication dynamics.
INSIGHTS
CONTEXTUAL INQUIRIES / SHADOWING
. 3 customer service team members
. In the French market
OBJECTIVES
. To identify team members’ methods in addressing reopened cases
. To gather insights from the customer service agents
. To understand agents’ processes to resolve customers inquiries
. To identify pain points in the processes, CRM and policies that prevent the resolution of customer cases.
INSIGHTS
. The mandatory use of standardised and legal templates restricting agents’ ability to directly address specific issues
. Team awareness of a specific issue impacting performance
. Various solutions attempted by team members to prevent cases from reopening due to this specific issue.
INFORMAL INTERVIEWS
OBJECTIVES
. To gain insights into the daily challenges faced by the customer service team.
. To identify the approaches taken by agents to address these challenges.
. To understand the perspectives of the agent team regarding reopened cases, processes and policies.
. To explore team concerns and solutions regarding performance.
INSIGHTS
. A limited ability to engage with customers due to legal requirements.
. Team’s feeling of frustration when handling reopened cases.
Research outcomes
Articulating findings and identifying solutions
ANALYSIS METHODS
. Root Cause Analysis
KEY FINDINGS
AN ISSUE BEYOND THE CUSTOMER SERVICE TEAM'S INFLUENCE
A limited technical knowledge on the part of the customers.
63% of customer case reopenings originate from an issue beyond the customer service team’s capabilities. This issue typically arises from the customers’ limited technical knowledge and needs resolution by the customers themselves.
However, with appropriate instructions and guidance from the customer service team, customers can effectively address this issue on their own.
THE PRICE OF TECHNICAL JARGON
Cultural language usage patterns are not addressed.
The instructions intended to guide French customers in resolving this specific issue are unclear. While the English version of the standardised and legal email provides clear and actionable guidance, its translation to French contains terminology that, although technically correct, is not commonly used by French speakers.
Confusion caused by this technical jargon leads customers to reopen their cases seeking further assistance or expressing dissatisfaction.
LEGAL CONSTRAINTS LIMITING THE CUSTOMER SERVICE TEAM'S ACTIONS
Limited communication tools.
Standardised legal emails govern interactions between customer service agents and customers.
The customer service team agents are aware of the recurring issue causing the majority of case reopenings. Despite the team’s attempts to address and prevent case reopenings, their actions are limited to the use of highly sensitive legal and standardised emails.
And the current legal and standardised email templates available to the team does not provide the tool to directly address this specific customer issue.
Identifying Opportunities
Enhancing the customer service team performances
Eliminating jargon and addressing cultural language nuances.
Redesigning the standardised legal email content to align with language usage patterns and terminology commonly understood by French speakers.
The optimal communication tool for the customer service team to reduce confusion and therefore the need for further assistance.
OUTCOMES
-10%
A reduction of 10% customer case reopenings in the French Market. Notable outcomes were observed post-implementation, including a 10% reduction in reopened customer cases within the French Market, decreasing from 16% to 6%.