Two new free online technical support options for customers of the Quicken® TurboTax® desktop software products are slashing the time customers spend on-hold, solving customer issues in one step and providing hassle-free support, anytime day or night. By introducing an enhanced online self-service website and a live one-on-one Web chat option, Intuit now provides convenient choices that simplify access to technical support answers, tips, and instructions. As a result of these new free support options, half of all issues are resolved the first time a customer contacts a TurboTax support agent, with the remainder escalated to priority support for resolution - a level of service that is two times better than the industry standard according to the Software Support Professionals Association. Furthermore, customers are voicing their satisfaction by selecting live chat over traditional telephone support by a margin of 3 to 1.
Bloody Monday Becomes Mellow Monday
Traditionally the busiest day for customer technical support, the first Monday in February, dubbed "Bloody Monday" by TurboTax technical support, has the highest call volumes of the tax season. Last year, Intuit's telephone support center received 19,000 contacts by phone on Bloody Monday creating extended hold times and prompting Intuit to implement new self-service and online options to improve the customer experience. This tax season, as a result of the free support options, "Bloody Monday" became "Mellow Monday." On that day, Intuit handled 21,000 customer contacts - via live chat, phone and its online self-service site (www.turbotaxsupport.com) - reducing the average phone wait time to only 90 seconds and improving the company's ability to quickly resolve customer issues.
"Offering choices that deliver fast and convenient answers is critical to customers during tax preparation," said Bob Meighan, vice president of Intuit's Consumer Tax Group. "Some customers prefer to go online for support, so we've introduced a simple step-by-step process to quickly define a search and find the right answer. Other customers, however, don't feel comfortable with self-service tools to find solutions. They want someone to get it for them and, most importantly, for the problem to go away. With our live chat technology, a customer can interact in real time with an expert support agent and can forward system information to help solve the problem as fast as possible. These new options give customers the convenience, simplicity and fast answers they expect."
For those customers who use live chat but still need additional help, TurboTax has created Express Phone Service. If a customer is unable to resolve their technical support issue via live chat, the agent automatically escalates the customer's case history to a phone representative for priority response. Since the phone agent receives detailed contact information and steps already taken to help the customer to that point, resolving the issue takes less time and eliminates the hassle-factor of having the customer repeat the same information to different support agents.
Real Input from Real Customers Drives Better Solutions
By analyzing the questions and issues that drive the majority of technical support contacts, Intuit is able to update the TurboTax online self-service site to provide even more timely solutions to the questions customers ask most. By creating a more streamlined support process, customers can now more actively engage in the resolution of their own support issues.
"Incorporating customer input into the TurboTax products is a key part of our continued success," said Meighan. "By listening to what our customers tell us, we're now offering more support options than ever at no cost to our customers while improving service levels and driving increased satisfaction."
About Quicken TurboTax
Quicken TurboTax was the No.1-selling tax preparation software program in 2001, with over 70 percent share of units sold at retail and more than 80 percent retail revenue share, up eight points over 2000, according to NPD Intelect. Its Web-based counterpart, TurboTax for the Web, is the most popular site for online tax preparation and filing services. With more than 17 years of personal finance expertise, the TurboTax family of products saves time and money for more than 14 million Americans each year.
