With a focus on the customer, Odontoprev partners with Twilio to become omnichannel
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Challenge
Make communications more customer-centric and offer omnichannel capabilities, starting with WhatsApp, which has proven to be a desirable channel.
Solution
Odontoprev implements Twilio's WhatsApp solution as part of its omnichannel strategy to improve the customer experience.
Odontoprev is an industry-leading dental insurance company in Latin America, and has always been committed to providing excellent customer service. In healthcare, it is essential to be efficient, effective, and customer-focused. When it comes to healthcare, providing a high standard of care is essential to the business and user satisfaction.
Around 2016, Odontoprev began to grow more rapidly, expanding its focus on mass market segments (individual plans and small businesses), with even greater expectations for the future. However, growth alone was not enough; staying focused on the customer throughout the process was crucial. That was when the company began to seek new ways to unify and manage all its communications more efficiently.
Initially, the company used its own system for customer service traffic. As customer service demands grew and looking to improve communication and unify information, the company started a process to restructure its customer service and systems. As early as 2016, the company had already been considering implementing an omnichannel model. With this in mind, they began searching for solutions that could be integrated and were scalable, covering different parts of the entire communication process, without losing sight of the data and, above all, the customer.
The company began this restructuring by implementing a CRM system, Microsoft Dynamics, which became the backbone of its customer service and management strategy. Until about six years ago, the company only used phone calls and online forms for communication, but with the implementation of CRM and a Relationship Entity Model (REM) for its database, they were ready to connect all service channels, gaining a 360º view of their customers and understanding each one’s profile and particularities.
"We actively engage with our customers, striving to increase customer satisfaction and retention."
In light of CX trends, studies, and internal evaluations conducted with its customers, Odontoprev concluded that the next step was to implement WhatsApp, a long-standing request from customers. Another reason for choosing WhatsApp was the conclusion that customers were not willing to install another app on their smartphones, making it more convenient to use an app that is already commonplace in everyday life.
Thus, messaging became the next step to be implemented, with communication taking place via WhatsApp, combined with chatbots that enabled efficient self-service, improving response time, providing autonomy, and using a means of communication that was preferred by the customer.
To assist them in this task, Odontoprev relied on Twilio. After conducting market research on what solutions were available, the company approached Twilio with the challenge of implementing something that was customizable, quickly scalable, and easy to integrate, in addition to being available in multiple chatbot technologies for future developments. Twilio’s WhatsApp Business API proved to be the perfect solution.
Rollout began with a POC in 2022, with one active channel and one passive channel, and once it proved successful, they moved on to full implementation.
"The partnership with Twilio played a key role in the entire process, and the ease of use of APIs ensured that we were up and running smoothly in no time. We have had WhatsApp fully operational since June 2023, after initially offering our IVR services via WhatsApp in March 2023."
Odontoprev’s strategy is to have automations within WhatsApp, enabling efficient and fast responses and, if necessary, carrying out the transfer.
The customer service team often receives and responds to questions from patients who need help with billing, service delays, or finding a dentist in the area.
Resolving these customer issues satisfactorily is a top priority for the company, as it can help reconnect with patients who may not currently be active.
These customers can now chat with Odontoprev’s customer service team via WhatsApp. All they need to do is provide their WhatsApp number when filling out a contact request form on the Odontoprev website, select WhatsApp as their contact option when calling the automated customer support line, or send a message to Odontoprev directly on WhatsApp.
“We believe it is important to clearly define and customize the experiences of each type of customer or partner who uses the WhatsApp communication channel, because in addition to our customer-centric approach, our goal was to find a solution that would prevent WhatsApp from becoming a ‘dead end,’ enabling us to resolve any situation through the communication channel,” explains Gabriela Zeronian, Strategic Customer Service Management.
After a patient provides their WhatsApp contact information, Odontoprev will respond using WhatsApp chat to help provide quick support.
Companies use service messages on WhatsApp to efficiently provide relevant account or order information, updates, and reminders to customers during and after the purchases. Patients who initiate contact directly on WhatsApp go through an automated conversation experience to get help.
All patients have the option to send a message to a customer service agent on WhatsApp, if necessary. Odontoprev’s customer service team uses Twilio’s communication platform to receive and respond to every message.
To ensure customer evaluation, Odontoprev used an NPS at the end of customer service interactions, receiving a lot of positive feedback in the first month of implementation.
"We got compliments on how fast we responded, the options the chatbot offered, and how we troubleshot in three to four minutes."
Results
Over a three-month period (January 1 to March 31, 2024), Odontoprev reported more than 97,000 re-engagement interactions with patients on WhatsApp.
In addition, it found that WhatsApp helped it reach its patients more quickly, which resulted in increased patient satisfaction compared to phone calls during the same period. These were the results obtained:
- 44% less time spent reconnecting with patients compared to phone calls*
- 5% higher Net Promoter Score compared to phone calls*
Today, the company can say that it started its digitizing and has now undergone a true digital transformation with the help of Twilio.
“The partnership with Twilio was really the right move, and we can see that in the customer’s feedback,” adds Leila Santos.
The future of omnichannel capabilities at Odontoprev
Going forward, in addition to expanding the audiences served by the WhatsApp solution, Odontoprev is exploring solutions to advance the use of generative AI in its customer service, as well as enabling customers to switch between service channels during the same interaction. Twilio is already supporting the company in this endeavor.
Odontoprev has a continuous customer service project pipeline, striving to improve the service it provides to its various audiences and interaction channels.
"We intensively invest in better service channels, focusing on the ability to omnichannel, resolutive interactions, process evolution and the most welcoming tone, and we count on the partnership with Twilio to keep pleasing our customers."
*The results were released by the company. It may not be possible to achieve identical results. Individual results are usually expected to be different.
