April 17, 2021

Best post-pandemic CX strategy: the Grupo Petersen experience

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Grupo Petersen, a group of Argentine companies, was up to the challenges 2020 brought. In less than 15 days, they created a comprehensive CX strategy to face the pandemic, which is why they were featured in Aivo Awards for Best Redefinition of Strategy category during COVID-19.

For the award, Martín Frascaroli, CEO of Aivo, spoke with Luciana Della Croce (Chief Digital Officer), Leandro Gonzalez (Digital Portfolio Management), and Martín Nascimbene (Digital Marketing Manager) of Grupo Petersen.

Below are some key points from their conversation.

Grupo Petersen's new approach towards CX

Describe the Grupo Petersen customer.

In general, we have a lot of older and retired customers, with cultural habits from different provinces inside Argentina who prefer going to the bank's physical branches.

This is why COVID-19 had a double impact on our customers: on the one hand the banks were closed, and on the other, these customers weren't tech savvy. It was a big job to adopt and train those channels.

What were some decisions during the early days of the pandemic?

We didn't have much time to think, the focus was to solve problems.

The first thing we did was make sure the banks could operate. We had to ensure they continue online, so we created a digital channel called "My Solution" (Mi Solución) where customers could request cards, reset passwords, and carry out other personal procedures. Second, we created content and tutorial videos to accompany customers in their digitization process.

At the same time, in less than 15 days we implemented social media listening to understand what was happening with our customers and respond through that channel. We increased inquiry volume 20 times, with really good satisfaction results.

Finally, we enabled the bot and relaunched more than 200 intents that responded to the new problems.

Long story short, the main thing was to be empathetic, put ourselves in the customer's shoes, and problem-solve everything we did. We created a large answer system that continuously feeds back so all our customers can find the solution they're looking for.

Related article: Grupo Petersen increased inquiries on their bot by 500% during the pandemic

What are the bot's main functions today? What's the main focus?

During the pandemic, we focused on answering questions related to the pandemic itself, for example the issue of the IFE (a subsidy given by the Argentine government). In a day or two we had to add all these intents.

On the other hand, it answers inquiries about remotely using home banking or ATMs, explaining how to do each. It also answers questions specifically related to the user and our products, like changing a PIN number, applying for a loan, or requesting a credit/debit card.

But it also lets us have a process of constant listening. Through sessions users have with the bot, the training section, and the satisfaction survey, we can provide more answers plus improve on the existing ones.

You recently launched WhatsApp, do you think it will be the new king under these conditions?

I wouldn't dare say it'll be the top channel, but it will definitely be important. There's very sensitive information that I don't know people are going to be willing to share over WhatsApp, but this is more a question of sensitivity in the banking industry.

But something that we're evaluating for next year is implementing virtual voice assistants on WhatsApp. No doubt though, adoption of this channel will be growing. That's the way it's going. It'll be faster or slower depending on demographics, but it's there.

Is this here to stay, or will everyone go back to physical branches after the pandemic?

This is here to stay, there's no going back. At the end of the day, digitization is not a pain point for the customer, it's a solution that solves in the space and time the customer needs. Once you learn how to use it, it's much easier.

Do you know about our standout customers of 2020?

Check the complete list of Aivo Awards and learn the story behind their conversational bots. If you want to implement our technology into your customer service strategy, schedule a call with one of our representatives.

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