MINI CASE :- Online customer service at Barclays

In 2005, Barclays deployed web self-service to answer customers’ question online and reduce the
100,000 monthly calls to its helpdesk. Accessible on every page, via ‘Ask a question’, the Barclays
solution allows customers to ask questions and receive meaningful, accurate answers on any subject
from credit card offers to information about how the company credit scores.

In the first 12 months, ‘Ask a question’ was used by 350,000 customers and answered more than
half a million questions. Only 8% of customers escalated through to the call centre, pointing to high
levels of customer satisfaction and resulting in improvements to call-centre efficiency and quality of
service. In 2007, more than 2 million customers used ‘Ask a question’ to find answers to their
questions.

‘Ask a question’ is providing invaluable insight at the critical decision-making process about what
con- cerns customers have and what products are of interest. For example, it identified a higher
demand from personal banking customers for making foreign currency payments than was
previously known to Barclays. This information is being used to inform the bank about customer
trends and requirements, and for creating customer-driven website content.

It was apparent that website visitors who ask questions through web self-service were more than
cas- ual browsers but customers with genuine buying requirements. There was potential to increase
sales con- version by putting the right information and product offer in front of these customers
based on what they were asking about. ‘Ask a question’ was enhanced to incorporate ad-serving,
which serves up targeted

In 2005, Barclays deployed web self-service to answer customers’ question online and reduce the
100,000 monthly calls to its helpdesk. Accessible on every page, via ‘Ask a question’, the Barclays
solution allows customers to ask questions and receive meaningful, accurate answers on any subject
from credit card offers to information about how the company credit scores. In the first 12 months,
‘Ask a question’ was used by 350,000 customers and answered more than half a million questions.
Only 8% of customers escalated through to the call centre, pointing to high levels of customer
satisfaction and resulting in improvements to call-centre efficiency and quality of service. In 2007,
more than 2 million customers used

‘Ask a question’ to find answers to their questions. ‘Ask a question’ is providing invaluable insight at
the critical decision-making process about what con- cerns customers have and what products are of
interest. For example, it identified a higher demand from personal banking customers for making
foreign currency payments than was previously known to Barclays.

This information is being used to inform the bank about customer trends and requirements, and for
creating customer-driven website content. It was apparent that website visitors who ask questions
through web self-service were more than cas- ual browsers but customers with genuine buying
requirements. There was potential to increase sales con- version by putting the right information
and product offer in front of these customers based on what they were asking about. ‘Ask a
question’ was enhanced to incorporate ad-serving, which serves up targeted