The constant advancement in technology asks for quick up-gradation of all systems that are dependent on some form of technology for its optimal function. In this era, the businesses that fully know their customers and cater to their needs and lifestyles accordingly, come out on top. In fact, one of the best online business ideas was the idea of automated customer service. The big tech giants are using all of their resources to gather every possible bit of data about their customers to fully grasp their customers’ wants and needs to satisfy them in the most personalized way possible. Companies can leverage higher customer satisfaction with virtual agents to improve internal business processes. Whether it’s a tech giant like IBM or any other organization, 100% customer satisfaction is at the top of the list of every successful business nowadays!
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What is Automation & Automated Customer Service?
Automation means employing technology and minimizing human input to perform a task. Basic automation takes simple, rudimentary tasks and automates them. This level of automation is about digitizing work by using tools to streamline and centralize routine tasks, such as using a shared messaging intricately connected system. Automation is a customer service method that utilizes more advanced algorithms and technology to not only maximize the customer service process but also be cost-effective and error-free usually in a snap of your fingers!
The Truth About Customer Service In 2021 and beyond:
In the era of online business, the importance of customer satisfaction and Customer Experience CX has doubled during the Covid-19 pandemic. A study shows that Millennials prefer texting and emailing over phone calls. To satisfy each texting customer and solve his/her queries immediately is becoming challenging day by day as millions of customers are texting daily. For customers what matters most is the speed and convenience, knowledgeable help, and friendly service for a positive calling or texting interaction.
It is a high time in history that humans and machines should work together as a team. Keep in mind that Artificial Intelligence or automated customer service tools are here to enhance the experience, not replace human employees. It works as a tool for your service agents to get as much value and support out of the carefully integrated automation tools as your customers do.
The number of companies who actively utilize Artificial Intelligence (“AI”) in customer service is still relatively small, although a large number of service decision-makers say their organizations are actively looking for ways to use AI and AI adoption in near future. The rise of automated customer service is going to skyrocket as it is the need of the hour.
What kind of customer service matters
The major aim of all customer service operators is to deliver a consistently positive customer experience. Reasonable goals would be an improvement in customer satisfaction, loyalty, and retention. We would also want to see a reduction in costs with faster first-time call resolution, and more effective use of virtual agents for both text and voice conversations.
Nowadays it’s all about how the customer wants to communicate and business needs to adapt to the new method of communicating with their customers and solving their problems.
The key advantages that make automated customer service tools the best if you want to scale your business exponentially:
➡️ Resolving Customer Service Issues before they arise could significantly lower customer abandonment rates
➡️ Solving Users’ Most Frequent Questions by making a list of customers’ most commonly asked questions and forming a ready-made response that addresses them.
➡️ Learning Customer Behavior Patterns patterns of customer behavior (like purchasing cycles on a credit card, retail spending, or travel) and then forecast behavior accordingly.
➡️ Speeding Up Response Times enables the agent to respond to queries on spot without any hindrance.
➡️ Utilizing Natural Language Understanding ways to improve the customer experience via understanding the customer’s level of frustration, the need for escalation, and quicker resolution of problems.
➡️ Anticipating Trends, Sentiment, Events through the massive data produced globally that helps in anticipating and preparing for solutions proactively.
➡️ Enhancing Human Interaction and decreasing the friction in the customer experience CE.
➡️ Suggesting Action For Agents can be more effective in customer interactions with the help of AI, a recommendation system using ticket and remediation history, interactions, etc., that proactively suggests the next actions for agents.
➡️ Managing A High Volume Of Queries Many organizations find that bots can be an effective way to manage a high volume of customer inquiries.
What is the trend of Customer service automation?
Companies like IBM integrated into their business special teams that apply artificial intelligence (AI) to all of the component technologies in an intelligent automation transformation of customer service operations to support the exchange of accurate information between all systems in the workflow.
The advanced analysis is essential to help determine how to apply technology effectively to the automation of the processes. Effective implementation support will shorten customer time with agents and help enable faster resolution of queries — thanks to a streamlining and reduction in back-office processing.
Technology is integral to the intelligent automation of customer service operations, but it cannot be the starting point. The first step is to define the strategy that can help deliver the radical transformation of a company’s operating model. The second step is to help design and implement the appropriate technology to help enable an integrated intelligent automation solution.
6 Ways to Automate Customer Service.
#1. Innovative & Cost-Effective
In contrast to conventional customer service which was slow and deliberate, full of errors, the new and innovative technologies can deliver advanced levels of service at a fraction of the cost. Call computerization solutions is a perfect example, which combines machine learning and advanced speech recognition to improve conventional interactive voice response systems, whilst delivering a 60% – 80% cost saving over outsourced call centers powered by humans.
#2. Scalability & speed
Even with limited resources, these new tools and technologies give businesses the power to scale their customer service at an unprecedented speed. Businesses can solve problems beforehand and even upon launching a new product, businesses can release interactive FAQs, which resolves thousands of customer queries without the need for human interaction. Chatbots empower businesses to respond instantaneously to a surge in customer inquiries, simply by switching on another server.
The best thing about chatbots is that they continuously learn from every interaction. So, brands can rapidly transition into new geographic markets free from the limitation of employing and training staff that speak the local language.
#3. 24/7 Customer Service
Use AI to respond to the repeatable, and costly, issues that consumers ask about frequently such as return/exchange policies and processes. AI can also educate customers about complex services or products, like applying for a mortgage or comparing credit cards. Unconstrained by time zones or public holidays, automated customer service gives organizations the ability to deliver always-on customer service to resolve issues as soon as they arise. The 24/7 availability ensures that the customers don’t have to wait hours or even days for a response. This can greatly influence customer satisfaction. It also shows that a brand is fully committed to supporting customers – which is valuable for brand reputation and trust.
#4. Unmatched & Reliable Service
Customer service powered by AI technology provides a level of reliability that cannot be matched by its human counterparts. Chatbots are free from many afflictions and biases that can negatively impact customer interaction. The Best AI Chatbots do not turn up to work late with a hangover. They can be designed to not get angry and argue with a customer. They are programmed to escalate calls to a manager if they cannot solve a customer query. All this helps improve customer service interactions, which can have a huge influence on repeat business anytime, anywhere.
#5. The rise of messaging applications
A study shows that millennials prefer texting over calling someone up and asking for help. Beyond communicating with friends and work colleagues, individuals are increasingly using messaging apps to interact with brands. Messaging services are a brand new space for organizations to connect with existing and future customers. Companies now have the opportunity to create new revenue streams using real-time, customized customer service bots within messaging applications.
#6. Proactive Action
Automating adds to your overall support strategy. With the help of the massive data produced globally that assists in anticipating trends and customer preferences and preparing for solutions proactively. Systems with AI embedded can monitor a nearly infinite amount of website and in-app activity for distress indicators, identifying customers experiencing issues and what those issues are. The system can respond in real-time offering support through FAQs or virtual service agents across platforms and devices.
Conclusion:
We can say that the post-pandemic world is going to be shaped by Artificial Intelligence and virtual Agents using complex algorithms to perform large-scale tasks that are humanly impossible with added efficiency and quickness that is fascinating. These technological forces are already helping in transforming the future utilization of technology to further advance customer service and human evolution.