by Mohammad Azmi Hamaydeh and Hardip Singh Rekhraj
Customer service management has always been a boon and a bane for enterprises of every scale. Entrepreneurs often lament on their struggles in finding the right frontliners for their business – passionate personnel who are knowledgeable on their company’s offerings, possess exceptional communication skills, multilingual would be a bonus, but above all, able to swiftly provide accurate and timely responses to discerning customers.
With an array of social media platforms available today, disgruntled customers often resort to expressing their grouses through publicly visible reviews, which can be downright damaging to an organisation’s reputation. Hence, entrepreneurs are mindful that customer-related disputes should be dealt with urgency and tactfully, but this comes at a hefty cost – hiring right, skills training, on-job performance monitoring, etc.
One Malaysian startup that is determined to surmount the pain points in customer service management is YesHello, though streamlining communications on an easy-to-use digital platform.
The man with a plan
“To be a successful entrepreneur, one must be obsessed with the problem that they are trying to solve”, said Carliff Rizal, founder of YesHello, who has the last six years of his career to solve of the most common problem in business – poor customer service. According to Carliff, more than USD$75 billion in revenue is lost annually due to poor customer service.
With a gap too critical to fill, YesHello was born in 2017 (formerly known as ChatBot Malaysia) – an SaaS (software-as-a-service) startup that has been determined to disrupt conventional customer service methods. By developing their own proprietary platform that integrates with the popular instant messaging service, Whatsapp, small and medium-sized enterprises are able to navigate their messages through an innovative dashboard that is optimised for multi-stakeholder communication.
The dashboard’s main objective is to streamline communications between consumers and organizations effectively and simply. Once the organisation accesses the dashboard, they will be able to view how many questions have come in, filter out the unanswered questions, close all resolved cases and will also be able to deliver and connect the customers to different people within their organisation directly. YesHello is a Whatsapp support dashboard that offers SMEs an automated response system.
consumers and organizations, and relevant analytics to ensure all enquiries are
attended to efficiently
Customers accessing the dashboard will be able to view how many questions have come in, categorically filter the unanswered queries, respond systematically and close all resolved cases. The platform can also be pre-configured to automate the delivery of messages to the right people within the organisation and externally. Additionally, an automated response system is also integrated in the platform, enabling customers to received personalised replies when they interact with the business.
True to YesHello’s promise of providing customers with successful and consistent engagement, SMEs have experienced many advantages of using the platform. These include faster response times, consistency in high customer satisfaction scores, increased customer confidence and motivation while providing absolute clarity, and an elevated service with a direct increase in retention and re-buy rates.
Struggles amid a promising future
Four years into operations, Carliff found himself on the doorstep of a worldwide pandemic. With a successful team, understanding members, and the continuous support of his wife, who has been a pillar in Carliff’s success and consistent rise in the industry, organizations like Land Rover, Jaguar, Yellow Pages, Volvo, Shell and Tealive, are just a fraction of some of the industry giants that rely on YesHello’s services and expertise.
With plans to expand its footprint beyond Malaysian shores, YesHello is on good stead to secure a larger pool of clientele and is hopeful to gain the attention of investors from around the region.
This article is contributed by Venturous PR, a student-led communications agency from Taylor’s University, School of Media & Communication (SOMAC). As an entrepreneurial sandbox for senior PR undergraduates, Venturous PR strives to make innovative communication solutions accessible to Startups and SMEs. The project is part of BusinessToday’s social engagement initiative with PR students to promote ethical journalism. This Startup is part of MDEC’s Malaysia Digital Hub Community, which provides impactful intervention to facilitate growth of local tech companies.
