Water parks on hot, humid days. Taylor Swift tour dates. Food shopping on the eve of a long weekend. Excellent weather forecasted for a long July 4th weekend. What do these have in common? Volume surges, long wait times and consumer frustration. 

To combat volume surges, companies have a heavy reliance on digital services to best manage consumer expectations and create a positive experience. Branded and web-based apps are part of the norm – consumers expect to have a digital option to meet their desired outcome. 

Roadside during the summer months is no exception. Kids are out of school, beaches are humming, and road trips are in the air. While no one is anticipating a vehicle breakdown to be part of their summer plans, we know it will happen and you have an opportunity to reduce some of that friction for your customers.

Easy intake = enhanced customer experience

Providing easy access for roadside assistance can significantly enhance the customer experience.

• Give them convenience: Digital intake eliminates the wait time on a call queue. An integrated branded app or Agero’s mobile web app provides user-friendly interfaces where customers can easily access the necessary services with just a few taps, making the process more convenient and efficient. It’s easier to tap than to shout at the Taylor Swift concert.
  
  
• Give them faster response times: With digital intake, the request for assistance is received instantly, resulting in quicker dispatch times and shorter overall customer experience time. Get your customers back to the beach faster.
  
  
• Give them real-time updates and truck tracking: Whether through your branded app or our mobile web experience, customers can track the arrival time of the service provider, receive notifications about any delays or changes, and have visibility into the progress of their request. They can grab an ice cream while they wait.
  
  
• Give them quality information: With the use of GPS for pinpointing the location of the vehicle and simple customer look-up via vehicle identification number (VIN) or policy number, there is less room for human error. No added stress to take away from enjoying vacation.

Getting your customers to a digital channel fast is critical to a positive customer experience, and in turn, their perception of your brand. Reducing barriers and increasing accessibility to the easiest channel for intake is vital to safeguarding both.

Take a close look at your current digital customer experience

Consider the following:

• Do not treat click-to-call as a digital solution. If your customers are starting in a web experience to find a way to get help, they are likely looking to stay in that channel. 
  
  
• Make the web option the number one choice. Some programs remove the phone number altogether. It is not required to remove it but it is highly recommended that you bury it somewhere else on the landing page and make the link to the digital experience stand out.
  
  
• Do not force an app download. Yes, a branded app experience is ideal for that best-in-class brand experience, but if your customer is looking for roadside assistance, they shouldn’t have to take the extra time to download an app and set up an account to get help.
  
  
• Make access to mobile web easy. Place the link in a prominent area on your website for use. The Agero mobile web experience allows your customers to skip the time waiting for an agent, and it is intuitive enough to validate coverage with the VIN or policy number. 

Using digital channels for roadside assistance streamlines the process, enhances communication, and provides a more tailored and transparent experience for the customer, ultimately improving their overall satisfaction. Catering to a digital experience can have a significant impact on supporting your customers during the anticipated summer volume surge, and it will also keep your program well positioned for those less predictable scenarios of high volume, for example hurricanes and polar vortices. 

You know your customers, we know roadside. Together, we can build the best approach to getting your customers the best experience possible, all summer, and all year long.