4 Things to Automate In 2020 for Better Customer Relationships

When people think of how to automate customer service, they usually jump straight to chatbots. Chatbots are the most externally evident manifestation of automated support. However, there are many more automated customer service tools that can be overlooked.

But not all customer service automation is created equal, and not every kind of customer belongs in an automated customer service flow. That’s why we’ve rounded up the dos and don’ts of automated customer service, as well as some companies who are doing it right. You can save time on redundant tasks by automating your team’s customer service tasks and rep responsibilities. And then refocus saved time on the customers who need more hands-on assistance.

On top of that, automation frees up your support staff time so they can pay more attention to customers who really need human assistance. Automation can route customer requests to qualified individuals automated services customer relationship or relevant departments that are trained to address them. Customer service automation is the process of supporting customers by maintaining the right balance between machine and human intelligence.

A knowledge base speeds up knowledge creation

Automating customer service processes comes with a host of benefits. Besides lower costs, let’s dive in to learn why more businesses are automating their customer service. Some companies are still reluctant to engage with customer service automation because they fear robots will make their brand sound, well, robotic. But those who invest in automated solutions are in a better position to succeed. The best customer service automation solutions include Tidio, Zendesk, Intercom, HubSpot, and Salesforce.

While this seems obvious, many businesses overlook this method of contact. When customers call, they’ll appreciate that you’re actively working on their problem. A proactive notification on your phone system can do wonders for your customer experience.

Needs significant resources to deploy customer service AI

Most of the time, these folks are more than willing to wait for a person to talk to if they know they’ll get the help they need. Once you set up an automation, it’s easy to fall into the “set it and forget it” mentality, thinking that the process can be left to run on its own. That’s definitely a bad idea though – when automation is left to run unattended, it only takes one second of delay or an unexpected error for everything to go awry. Having a searchable database, like a searchable FAQ page or FAQ chatbot, cuts out the middleman and directs customers immediately to problem-solve on their own.

Simply put, automated customer service is the use of technology, instead of a human, to deliver support to your customers. Automation and bots work together to route, assign, and respond to tickets for reps. Then, reports are automatically created so support teams can iterate as needed to improve the customer experience. Teams using automated customer service empower themselves by integrating automation tools into their workflows. These tools simplify or complete a rep’s role responsibilities, saving them time and improving customer service. Automated customer service tools save your reps time and make them more efficient, ultimately helping you improve the customer experience.

The wow: Improving data-driven insights with customer service automation

By embracing automation, your business will be equipped to build long-term bonds with its customer base. But, if you’re not sure where to start, here are four tools you can automate this year. They can also refer to customers by name and keep track of information the customers provide, so they won’t ask for them again later.

For instance, to avoid a ticket from falling through the cracks, automation can flag a ticket for review if it doesn’t change after a week. Underpinning the vision is an API-driven tech stack, which in the future may also include edge technologies like next-best-action solutions and behavioral analytics. Even before customers get in touch, an AI-supported system can anticipate their likely needs and generate prompts for the agent.

Minimizes human error

Today’s chatbots and IVR tools can handle on average 80% of routine tasks and customer questions without involving an agent. Moreover, 23% of clients prefer interacting through chat, IVR, or direct messages when asking quick questions. We can always switch to another brand if the current one doesn’t meet our expectations. In fact, 61% of consumers have changed brands after a poor service experience. That’s why improving customer service should be a priority for all businesses.

• Learn all about how these integrations can help out your sales and support teams.
• No one likes getting bounced around from one support agent to another, regardless of how friendly the support team is.
• Reps will need to become less reliant on scripts and provide more personalized support.This presents an excellent opportunity for customer service agents to elevate their business value.
• Unfortunately, that same level of concern is rarely shown to existing customers.

When we talk about chatbots at Groove, we’re again talking about the opportunity to automate interactions, so that the humans can focus on higher-value chats. If you can anticipate customer concerns before they occur, you can provide proactive support to make the process easier. For example, send tracking numbers and updates when the product ships or delays happen.

Knowledge base articles boost KCS work

Over the last decade, live chat has become the standard for companies wanting to offer top-tier support. Chat is faster than email, more personal than traditional knowledge bases, and way less frustrating than shouting into an automated phone system. It’s essential to keep in mind, though, that automation tools are just helpers. In the end, it is your employees who are the most important part of your customer support team – automation just helps them become more efficient. Customer service automation involves various tools and systems that help support teams solve clients’ requests faster.

For example, a chatbot allows for online assistance without any human interaction. For certain workflows, chatbots can notify on-call staff regarding a service interruption. Yet financial institutions have often struggled to secure the deep consumer engagement typical in other mobile app–intermediated services. The average visit to a bank app lasts only half as long as a visit to an online shopping app, and only one-quarter as long as a visit to a gaming app.

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Once you install the platform, your customer service reps will be able to have a preview of your website visitors, your customer’s data, and order history. And representatives who have more insights about the client can provide better support. ” question, but won’t be able to tell the user how to deal with their more specific issue. When that happens, it’s useful for the chatbot to redirect your shopper to the live chat agent for help.

Reps can easily access previous customer conversations, so they don’t have to waste time searching for information about the customer. While your team’s responses are automated and will be sent out faster, quicker options are available for customers who need more immediate solutions. With service-focused workflows, you can automate processes to ensure no tasks fall through the cracks — for example, set criteria to enroll records and take action on contacts, tickets, and more. For instance, when a customer interacts with your business (e.g. submits a form, reaches out via live chat, or sends you an email), HubSpot automatically creates a ticket. The ticket includes details about who it’s from, the source of the message, and the right person on your team (if there is one) that the ticket should be directed to. Customer service automation involves resolving customer queries with limited or no interaction with human customer service reps.

• And while it empowers your customers it also helps your business by lightening its operational costs.
• It should be the result of careful planning and based on customer service needs and expectations.
• Your team might rather save some time by using a canned response for social media complaints.
• When your customers have a question or problem they need solved, the biggest factor at play here is speed.

Naturally, this means (and I probably should have warned you sooner) that I’m going to use Groove as my primary example. What’s more, the individual articles also include explainer videos, images, and easy-to-read subheadings… precisely the kind of user experience the internet has conditioned us for. It’s pages also include a bread-crumb navigational element to help users back-track when needed. Unfortunately, that same level of concern is rarely shown to existing customers.

A while back, we reached out to our current users to ask them about our knowledge base software. We identified and tagged users which fell within the three categories (Promoter, Passive, Detractor). If you’re not familiar with it, Zapier lets you connect two or more apps to automate repetitive tasks without coding or relying on developers. When a customer reaches out to you during offline hours, they still expect a timely response. This means implementing workflows and automations to send questions to the right person at the right time.

It’s best to start using automation in customer service when the inquiries are growing quickly, and you can’t handle the tasks manually anymore. It’s also good to implement automation for your customer service team to speed up their processes and enable your agents to focus on tasks related to business growth. At the start, human-to-human interactions are vital so try to be personal with your shoppers to gain their trust and loyalty.