The Foundation for Student Housing in the Helsinki Region (HOAS) is a non-profit which was founded to relieve the shortage of student housing in the capital area. The HOAS foundation is directed by and operated with governing bodies that include, for example, executive board, board of directors, managing director, and tenants’ co-operation body.
HOAS is an example of what the student community can do together. It all began when 16 student organizations in the Helsinki area put their heads together, gathered a small amount of capital and took out a hefty bank loan. Those were the humble beginnings of the Foundation for Student Housing in the Helsinki Region, which has worked since 1969 to provide affordable rental housing for students. In just 50 years, that small amount of start-up capital has turned into a business with a turnover of 70 million euros and 9 400 student apartments.
Starting point before chatbot Helmi joined the team
HOAS customer service team had been using live chat (giosg – customer service chat) to provide answers to their website visitors already for some years. Due to the popularity of their online service and chat as a customer service channel, HOAS had started to face challenges in placing enough team members to handle the increasing number of incoming chat conversations. The customer service team was also looking for ways to provide customer service in times especially suitable for their largest stakeholder group – students.
“HOAS successfully included new Helmi chatbot in their communication strategy as GetJenny team was taking care of the technical setup“
Additionally, the customer service team had noticed that there were already answers on their website to many of the incoming questions. Website visitors couldn’t find the answers in spite of the investments in website design and clear navigation in HOAS’s online service. Therefore, a new way to encourage clients to self-service through website content was sought after.
HOAS Helmi chatbot was created and implemented as a solution
HOAS and GetJenny started the cooperation in Q1 2018 with the target of introducing a Finnish speaking chatbot in Q2 2018. HOAS successfully included new Helmi chatbot in their communication strategy as GetJenny team was taking care of the technical setup of the chatbot within HOAS’s existing customer service chat. After a few tests, Helmi chatbot started working independently with HOAS’s clients in April 2018.
Helmi chatbot contributed to the improved overall customer service satisfaction
Already during the first few months, HOAS achieved the set goals for the Helmi chatbot implementation project. Additionally, HOAS improved its overall customer service satisfaction score from 4.11 to 4.26 (scale 1-5, the questionnaire was run in December 2018).
Widening the scope
The success of Helmi chatbot as a customer service team member encouraged HOAS to train and introduce an English-speaking colleague to Helmi. In the beginning there were only a few customer service representatives working actively with Helmi’s training. Over time, more and more customer service team members have shown interest in working with Helmi chatbot. This changed attitude towards chatbot cooperation creates space for upcoming innovations in customer experience management.
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