iQor Optimizes Digital Support Transition for US-Based Air Carrier

Strategic outsourcing minimizes escalations and maximizes high-touch digital interactions.

Why iQor?

This case study explores the latest evolution of the multi-year outsourcing partnership between iQor and a U.S.-based air carrier.  

In just three months, iQor led a transition to digital support for the air carrier. We achieved as much as a 3:1 chat concurrency rate that enables the airline to help more customers at once, all while maintaining exceptional KPIs. This demonstrates our unwavering commitment to delivering exceptional customer experiences for the millions of travelers the airline serves annually.

Achieving Digital Interaction Success in Airline Customer Support

iQor collaborated with the air carrier as a trusted advisor to plan and execute the transition to digital support. To ensure the program’s success, we reskilled iQor voice agents to excel in concurrent digital interactions for the airline’s customer support and began agent recruitment to maintain seamless high-touch customer support. 

Since 2020, the air carrier has relied on iQor’s CX optimization support. Our swift deployment to a secure work-at-home environment throughout the early disruptions of the COVID-19 pandemic ensured operational continuity and data security during a challenging time and earning the airline’s trust.

In an industry characterized by irregular operations (IROPs)—from extreme weather to other systems disruptions—the success of air carriers relies on agile, cost-effective solutions that keep customer satisfaction flying high. 

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Success Snapshot

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Background

The airline industry has experienced a notable shift in customer preferences from voice-based support to digital support. A survey from Airlines for America found that 80% of travelers check in electronically and use mobile devices to access quick, convenient support.  

Digital responses provide significant advantages to air carriers experiencing high interaction volumes every day of the year. Many customer inquiries, such as rebooking flights or checking baggage claim status, can be resolved through automated support without requiring customers to wait for a live agent.  

A trusted outsourcing partner like iQor possesses the accumulated process knowledge to launch a successful digital support strategy. This results in high customer satisfaction, a critical priority for air carriers committed to delivering amazing travel experiences. 

Business Opportunity

iQor collaborated with the air carrier to optimize digital support. The omnichannel digital support optimization model included these steps: 

1. Recruit, train, and optimize new agents ahead of schedule and at ideal training class capacity.  
2. Reskill iQor’s voice agents to become digital support specialists, ensuring a seamless transition for the air carrier. 
3. Rebuild our quality management framework to support the air carrier and equip supervisors to effectively coach agents. 
4. Revitalize performance targets to ensure high end customer satisfaction while optimizing processes and resources.

In line with their broader outsourcing strategy, the airline partnered with iQor to streamline the bot-to-agent escalation process and administer training and management for their chat support agents. The client’s priorities were to:

1. Connect customers to chatbots for data input and processing.  
2. Resolve simple inquiries and determine if escalations are needed. 
3. Free up live agents to resolve more complex inquiries. 
4. Maximize overall satisfaction and optimize cost management.

Solution

70% Digital Interaction Target Achieved 6 Months Ahead of Schedule

The air carrier successfully diverted 70% of interactions to digital support six months ahead of the program’s anticipated timeline. Previously, these routine interactions would have otherwise escalated to a live agent.

CX Insights Optimize Concurrency Targets, Customer Service Quality, Fill Rates, and Throughput to Production

Leveraging digital support’s concurrency advantage, we handled double the volume of interactions handled per agent following the transition to digital support. By optimizing occupancy, our high performing agents thrived in this highly engaged digital environment.  

iQor adapted swiftly to minimize wait times and maximize performance and improve customer satisfaction (CSAT) and net promoter scores (NPS). Our digital solution proactively manages volume peaks by adjusting concurrency targets to lower levels during steady state demand with the ability to flex up to higher concurrency as needed.

Seamless Monitoring, Reporting, and Forecasting Deliver Forward-Thinking Digital Support Solutions

By monitoring and auditing outcomes, iQor identified the optimal concurrency rates to most efficiently manage interactions during peak volume while delivering the best quality service, fastest response times, and quickest resolutions.  

As a result, iQor consistently meets or exceeds the air carrier’s SLA targets, providing consistently swift resolutions and excellent average answer speeds in digital support channels.

A 4-Step Framework for Airline Digital Support Optimization

1. AI-Augmented, Human-Powered Employee Lifecycle Support

iQor’s new program implementation model leverages one point of integration, enabling us to rapidly launch at any global site. Our recruitment and data science specialists work together to explore the art of the possible for swiftly onboarding new hires.  

iQor’s Symphony [AI]^TM streamlines speed to hire and accelerates time to proficiency, providing our clients access to a global talent pool of qualified agents who seamlessly integrate into the DNA of the travel sector. Our AI-enabled staffing solutions merge digital transformation with human expertise to cultivate a customer-centric culture and positive employee experience.

 2. Interaction Analytics for Employee Coaching Audits and High-Touch Customer Service 

iQor leverages VALDI, our proprietary interaction analytics platform, to analyze engagements and drive coaching, script, and process improvements for the air carrier’s employees. This data-driven approach ensures continuous improvement for employees to deliver exceptional customer experiences. 

Digital support transcripts ordinarily present a challenge for data analytics given the high volume of interactions airlines experience. However, VALDI’s fully scalable interaction analytics insights have the power to unlock digital transformation success for this air carrier’s customer support.

3. Scalable Staffing Ramps and Flexible Performance Targets

To accommodate the client’s increased interaction volume, we swiftly and effectively ramped up agent hiring to meet demand ahead of schedule and prepare for future growth. iQor’s well-established processes for rapid new hire onboarding, accelerated time to proficiency, and near perfect throughput rates consistently surpass BPO industry standards for agent hiring and training excellence in the airline industry. 

iQor achieves this flexibility through our ability to fill training classes ahead of schedule while consistently sustaining exceptional throughput or graduation rates. Our customer-centric, value-driven culture achieves successful staffing at scale for the air carrier. 

4. Process Management, Consultation, and Optimization for Travel CX

iQor leverages our decades of CX process knowledge and deep travel industry experience to efficiently manage customer service operations. We proactively identify potential support bottlenecks and collaborate with the airline to transform areas of improvement into growth drivers.

2 Key Areas to Master Customer-Centric Back Office Performance for Satisfied Airline Customers

iQor supports the air carrier with back office services spanning the full spectrum of the customer lifecycle. Our customer-centric approach is critical for streamlining digital support channels, simplifying processes, and expediting resolutions for both the airline and their end customer. We accomplish this in two key areas:

1. Customer Relations Minimizes Escalations

Escalations are a critical component of airline customer experience. For example, the air carrier identifies baggage claim interactions as a top priority for customer care optimization due to potential impacts on both customer satisfaction and the air carrier’s regulatory standing. Effective resolutions are integral to meeting SLAs and preventing escalations to the Department of Transportation. Here’s how that process breaks down:

• When a baggage claim is received, SLAs require a chat or email response within 24 hours to prevent escalations.  
• iQor agents consistently respond within 12-15 hours, helping maintain the client’s excellent regulatory standing.  
• For more complex inquiries, our dedicated customer relations agents provide resolutions within 30 minutes, achieving consistently excellent quality scores. 
• iQor monitors the customer relationship team’s performance data sitewide every two hours, supplying results in real time and generating graphs that display week on week trends to evaluate ongoing improvements and bridge any gaps.

For more complex inquiries, our dedicated customer relations agents provide resolutions within 30 minutes, achieving consistently excellent quality scores. 

2. Social Media Monitoring

Since launching in 2021, iQor’s successful social media support inspired the client to triple staffing volume and expand opportunities for improving online customer sentiment.  

iQor helps monitor the air carrier’s social media engagement in both English and Spanish. Agents provide 10 responses per hour with average response times below 11 minutes, exceeding performance targets.

iQor’s social media team achieves the air carrier’s highest quality score across all lines of business, inspiring positive word of mouth and brand advocacy in a critical customer engagement channel.

Future-Ready Solutions, Trusted Advisor Approach Fortifies Airline CX Outcomes

iQor’s process management expertise plays an integral role in resolving potential inconveniences for customers. The iQor team also advised the air carrier on best practices to maximize customer resolution times and net promoter scores (NPS).

Results

iQor’s digital support solutions deliver the agility to keep pace with airline customer support needs. Our efforts achieved:

At iQor, we’re confident that our swift deployment of the digital interactions program and our trusted advisor approach will continue to deliver superior customer experiences for the air carrier and their passengers in the years to come.