Creating Peace of Mind Around a Great Piece of Technology
The new dawn of emobility was full of anxiety. Anxiety about range, charger types and overall safety. To address these concerns, we didn’t just build a foolproof product. We also created a customer service platform that’s as dependable as our charging technology.
We get it. Any new technology comes with its fair share of doubts, worries and genuine concerns. And electric vehicles have always evoked questions and curiosity in equal measure. How far can it go? How long will it take to charge? Is my charger type AC or DC? Even though charging your vehicle has become as hassle-free as charging your phone, our aim is to make it equally carefree.
As the leading high-power charging network in Europe, it’s also our responsibility to address any customer queries in the quickest and simplest way possible. That’s why IONITY has invested heavily in creating a customer service that’s available 24/7 and in seven different languages. This assurance of always having a professional ear at your fingertips can go a long way in easing customers into the EV universe.
Help is just a call away
We’d love to guarantee that nothing ever goes wrong and we work round the clock to ensure just that. But sometimes, things may happen that should not and all the customer needs is someone who can address the problem immediately. Knowing that this dedicated assistant is just a phone call away gives drivers the added peace of mind that they can rely on IONITY for their long-distance adventures. To make our support truly useful, we had a simple three-point ambition. That we are there the moment our customers need us. That we have the knowledge to help them, and that we are able to communicate effectively.
We hate to wait, as well. That’s why our protocol insists that customer care phone calls are responded to in 30 seconds or less. In the second quarter of 2020, we made this happen with 94% of calls.
So how do we do this? Our customised customer service desk system allows the operators to effectively respond to any query. Given that they are fluent in seven languages means customers in our biggest markets won't be fumbling to explain their queries.
Of course, the phone is not the only way to reach us – we’ve introduced email and social media support which is a great way of addressing non-urgent and general questions about our charging network. We also added a comprehensive FAQ section to our website where customers can find answers to the most common charging challenges.
We hate to wait, as well. That’s why our protocol insists that customer care phone calls are responded to in 30 seconds or less. In the second quarter of 2020, we made this happen with 94% of calls.
The knowledge centre
To ensure that no question remains unanswered and no customer is left without help, we knew we needed a comprehensive knowledge base that includes everything about charging stations, charging and EVs.
As we went about shopping for the perfect customer support system, we quickly realised there was nothing on the market to fulfil our unique needs. So we created our own state-of-the-art system. Built from the ground up, this “one-stop-shop” includes all the data we can gather and allows our team members to give useful advice tailored to the individual customer.
It also contains a unique wealth of information about all common (and less-common) electric vehicles on the market and their charging specifications. The compatibility with our chargers, the supported speeds of charging, or the common problems that a customer can encounter at the station – it’s all in there, right at the fingertips of the operators. This means we can offer more effective help and advice, eliminating room for guesswork.
Besides the comprehensive knowledge base about our chargers and all the electric cars on the market, it also includes and presents a wealth of real-time data. For example, the specialists can see all the info available about the charging station in question. With just two clicks, they can find its location, the number of chargers, their availability status, and compatibility with the customer’s vehicle. The system even offers the most likely answer to the customer’s problem.
With this powerful tool, the operators can be much more effective in our goal to never leave a customer stranded, to always do our best to enable them to continue on their journey. It also allows us to work with feedback from customers and share that knowledge across the company. This way, we can use it to constantly improve our services.
Our effort has paid off, as illustrated by the results of a vital test conducted by the German online magazine Connect 07/2020. The magazine teamed up with Umlaut, a company specialised in benchmarking the tech industry. The purpose of this test was to compare how different high-power charging networks perform in the categories: location, chargers, service/hotline and payment options. IONITY was appraised as “outstanding” in the service category and won the challenge beating five other competitors.
Worry-free travel across Europe
With our Europe-wide network that is rapidly increasing its coverage, and knowing that knowledgeable help is always on hand, our customers can travel with peace of mind. They can plan their journey using the IONITY chargers as waypoints, safe with the assurance that they can expect full support whenever they visit one.