Automated Customer Service – When too much mechanisation backfires?

Direct automation to empower your manpower!

Humans have been progressing continuously right from the cave days to the invention of IoT (Internet Of Things). The man is the maker of technology. And now technology itself seems to take over men in many sectors! Automation has invaded every nook and corner of the world. The power of automated technology influences many aspects of our life. While the industries look forward to the automation era, there has to be a clear understanding about it.

Automation is beneficial – No doubt in that! But, the point is how to utilise it, where to put it in action, and what all things should be automated? There are many factors to be considered while automation has to be embraced, especially, for the customer service and support operations. The fact that machines can never replace a real human certainly holds true here. The ultimate aim is to win customers and save costs but not at the cost of wrong decisions!

95% of companies fail to exceed the expectations of their customers.

73% of customers opine that friendly customer service representatives can make them stick to and fall in love with a particular brand.

Customer service has been a crucial success determinant for any business. Commercial leaders have been experimenting with various techniques to hit the ball in the right direction to win their customers. Automation is one of the most sought-after strategies of the recent times. The availability of CRM software for automated customer service has accounted well to serve the purpose.

Using CRM software automation offers a wide array of benefits and it is highly recommended to streamline the processes like data analysis, report generation, linking relevant information, synchronising multiple platforms, timely alerts, notifications, knowledge base, self-service apps, etc. But, one cannot overlook the influence of “human touch”. We mean to say that, human element should not be replaced with technology; rather, automation should empower the employees and increase their efficiency.

Your customers are quite smart to understand the difference between bots, virtual agents and real executives answering their calls and communicating with them. The machine-human interaction compared to human-human interaction proves to be less significant even today!

Let us have a look at few of the areas that should not come under automated customer service for better results:

Customer Calls

Imagine a frustrated customer calling you for assistance over a product or an issue. What will be more effective? A machine that asks him to choose certain options or a person greeting with a smile and a tone that helps to calm him down! The latter option seems to be worthy if you put yourself in his shoes. Having a human representative empowered with a robust CRM system will give you the benefit to solving customer issues quickly as well as form an emotional bond.

Live Chat

Chatbots are not a new thing for customer service. A number of websites have these automated bots configured to serve their visitors & users. This may seem economical, but a virtual agent will simply be able to begin the conversation and not utilise the opportunity to up-sell or cross-sell your products effectively. Also, a level of trust is established when you know there is a live person on the other end who is able to understand your requirements exactly & not suggesting something randomly!

Personalisation

In the game of personalisation versus automation, the former wins! The importance and preference of personalisation have increased in this modern era. It is recommended to make use of a platform that offers easy-to-use features to personalise your things as per your target audience – forms, designing, look and feel, email templates, responses, etc. rather than leaving everything to a system and facing the consequences of losing your customers.

Automated customer service cannot be error-free and as intuitive as a human brain. Ensure that the benefits of an automated software solution are leveraged in the most resourceful manner by your employees instead of substituting them. Technology should be absorbed to reduce the repetitive and cumbersome work efforts and thereby enable the employees to perform in the best possible way with the help of collaborative tools and foster customer culture across the organisation.

Without automation, it’s not going to be easy for any business to survive. But, with extreme automation too, it will be hard for a business to generate those revenues and establish customer relationships over a long run. Depending upon the type of organisation, strength and competition in the market and respecting customer sentiments, an amalgamation of technology and human element can fetch the desired results. Connect to iTouchVision’s team of professionals for more information.

Make your move now!

iTouchVision is one of the world’s leading cloud-based service provider with innovation & excellence at its base. The company has made its presence in all business verticals with its technical & operational capabilities to enhance the working of private & public sector organisations. Our products, ranging from Web-based software to Mobile applications have made their mark globally to transform the way work is completed.