AutoReturn cuts down on contact center costs while streamlining CX

Finding your car after it’s been towed can feel like finding your way through a labyrinth. The centerpiece of the problem is that the information you need is scattered across tow companies, parking enforcement, police departments, and more. 

AutoReturn is trying to make the path between you and your car less of a circuitous route and more of a straight shot. And, they’re doing the same for all parties involved, from tow companies to government agencies. 

Where organizations and information were once siloed, AutoReturn paves the way for information sharing and automation. Airkit is at the core of that effort. 

Using Airkit, AutoReturn was able to take control of their contact center and elevate the way they communicate with their customers in a triple-sided marketplace, while saving everyone involved a tremendous amount of time. 

The start 

AutoReturn manages the transportation, storage, and return of vehicles after local law enforcement orders a tow. They are the common thread between a diverse group of parties, streamlining the flow of information from the moment someone’s car is towed to the moment they get it back. 

Communication is core to AutoReturn’s business. So, when they found their contact center was hampering their ability to communicate with their customers, they started looking for a different solution. 

AutoReturn’s traditional contact center solution worked at one time, but as their needs developed and grew more complex the solution lagged behind. The legacy contact center software they were using simply wasn’t flexible enough to support the new features, customization, and workflows AutoReturn was building. 

“It was slow, expensive, and constantly needed updating,” said John Pendleton, CTO of AutoReturn. “We were fighting with telco providers to get anything done.”

To further complicate matters, the software was complex enough that it required AutoReturn to employ a third-party services firm to manage it. So, making small tweaks and additions to their IVR could take several calls, a few meetings, and weeks to finally ship. 

AutoReturn wanted to regain control of their contact center so they could elevate their customer experience while also running a more cost efficient operation. Airkit helped them do just that. 

The solution 

Using Airkit, AutoReturn can intelligently manage the flow of calls, getting customers the information they need faster by combining a flexible IVR platform with self-service experiences connected to their custom-built API. 

Here’s how it works. Let’s say you’ve just had your car towed. You can call AutoReturn and choose between talking to a customer support agent or opting for a self-service flow triggered via SMS or email. In the self-serve flow, you enter your car’s pertinent information to receive updates about your vehicle. Then, AutoReturn will update you once there’s any new information available. 

The success

Airkit gives AutoReturn the ability to finally control and connect customers’ IVR experience and ferries information entered as part of a self-serve experience to AutoReturn. From there, AutoReturn uses their own API to manage that user’s experience and give them the information they need, when they need it. 

After rolling out their Airkit-powered self-service experience, AutoReturn was able to deflect 38% of calls and drive their overall call volume down by over 20%. While those statistics represent a major success to AutoReturn, seeing and understanding the data behind that success is just as important. They want to continue iterating and delivering on customer experiences as they’re happening. 

“Airkit’s data has been wonderful. One of our biggest insights was seeing that 85% of callers contact AutoReturn via mobile device. That makes us more confident in our SMS and mobile-based services and features,” says John Pendleton.

Now, AutoReturn can fully understand how these stats map to customer experience. On Airkit’s platform, they have full visibility into the data that defines each customers’ interaction with AutoReturn, whether that’s over the phone or through their self-serve flow.

While their contact center costs are going down, AutoReturn sees their customer satisfaction going up. And, they’re happy they made the leap from a legacy system to a modern, low-code platform like Airkit’s that made that success possible.