Company

OLX is one of the world's largest online marketplaces and No.1 in Ukraine. The service is owned by Naspers multinational holding and is being operated in 45 countries. 

The сompany places top priority on high-quality service and communication with customers. But as it gains traction and expands, new challenges arise. Luckily, Eve is always there to address some of the toughest ones.

Problem

OLX Ukraine was launching a new delivery method, and in situations like this, a hotline inevitably sees an increase in call volume. The company expected it to double, which meant the call center would be totally swamped with work. Urgent action had to be taken to minimize cases when an operator simply didn't have time to pick up incoming calls.

The company tried to streamline its workflow using Interactive Voice Response (IVR) a while back. It was supposed to not only pass on incoming calls to corresponding departments and operators but also help solve minor issues without their help.

But the plan didn't work out, as only 3% of callers could get an answer to their question without a manager, and a fair amount still spent much time roaming around the IVR menu before being transferred to an operator.

Request

Our task was to increase the proportion of customers who got their problems solved without an agent, improve customer satisfaction, and lower customer self-service costs.

We analyzed the company's current performance and jointly set a goal to automate 15% of incoming calls so that they could be handled without transferring to an operator. Moreover, we saw this figure could be pushed to 30% in the future.

Solution

We scheduled a 2-day pilot run. Eve was tasked with handling phone calls by identifying customer needs and finding solutions to their problems. And if the issue needed human touch, she had to pass a caller on to an agent.

Here is an example of how the voice robot has completely solved a customer problem without engaging a human manager:

Eve: Hi! I'm Eve, an OLX voice assistant. This phone call will be recorded. Would you like to continue our conversation in Ukrainian?

Customer: Hello!

E: Could you specify your request, please? In case your ad has been removed, say 'ad'. If you can't log in or confirm your registration, say "profile". If the issue is delivery-related, say "delivery". Would like to learn more about the differences between basic and business accounts? Say "business". If you have any problems with our app or website, say "app".

C: Delivery.

E: If you cannot cancel a delivery, please say "cancel". Want to know when the seller will receive the money? Say "crediting". If the goods have been delivered, but the funds still haven't reached your bank account, please say "payment". Would like to know when the funds will be returned in case the deal has been canceled? Say "cancellation". Say "number" if you'd like to know how to change a number in your ad.

C: Payment.

E: Your card may have expired or is blocked, so it cannot be credited. To change the credit card, please visit UA.pay website from your computer and add a new card to your account. Once the card is added, please come back to us and tell us the last four digits of your card number. We will quickly replace the card in the agreement.

C: Thank you!

We also suggested that we conduct a brief survey to measure Customer Effort Score (CES). We particularly asked customers to rate the voice assistant’s user-friendliness on a scale of 1 to 5 compared to the standard voice menu.

That's what it looked like:

EVE: Hi, my name is Olga, I’m from the OLX company. You contacted our support hotline today. Could please answer a few questions?

Customer: Oh, yeah.

E: Did you manage to get the information you needed on our hotline?

C: Yes, I received all the information in full.

E: Got it! Tell me please, did our specialist contact you today after you spoke to the voice assistant?

C: Yes, a manager called back.

E: Thank you. And one last question left. How would you rate the voice assistant’s ease of use from 1 to 5 compared to pushing buttons?

C: 5

Result

The results of the pilot project were measured by an automated system, using CES surveys, and exceeded expectations. Here are just some of the indicators:
-20% of those who communicated only with Eva solved their problem
-55% of customers rated the quality of the hotline and the responsiveness of the answers at 4 or 5 out of 5.
-Most customers emphasized the advantage of a voice assistant over a regular IVR
At the same time, Eva greatly simplified the work of call center employees and helped them process requests more quickly.

Recommendations

Our pilot launch has shown that OLX will be able to significantly scale up its customer service and improve the quality and speed of information provision with the help of a voice assistant.