The world today is experiencing the magic of artificial intelligence and the customer service industry is no different. AI in customer service has been seen in the form of chatbots that are well equipped with conversational software to help navigate customer queries and has evolved to do so much more in recent years.
Halloween is just around the corner and in the spirit of the spookiest time of the year, we’ve compiled a list of the five scariest customer experience (CX) nightmares. In 2020, CX is undoubtedly, your biggest competitive differentiator when it comes to retaining customers and driving revenue. However, thanks to the pandemic, most contact centers are operating with limited resources under tighter budget constraints. But should this influence the quality of your customer interactions? Absolutely not.
Despite resource limitations, CX leaders can build a terrific customer service function by following established best practices and implementing some smart technology.
The California Consumer Protect Act (CCPA) went into effect earlier this year, compelling organizations that have operations or customers in the state to comply with certain data privacy and security mandates. For contact centers however, CCPA compliance might not be optional as California accounts for nearly 12% of the U.S. population. So, there’s a good chance your customer service team processes California citizen data.
"If you want to WIN, do the ordinary things BETTER than anyone else does them day in and day out."
~ Chuck Noll, Pittsburgh Steelers
For many, our favorite time of the year has arrived! The National Football League (NFL) season is in full swing — our fantasy team has been drafted, and our favorite team jersey is ready. Six weeks in and some are already looking forward to next year, while others are pleasantly surprised. This year is different than any other — no preseason games and limited practices, a rash of early season injuries testing the depth chart and requiring rookies to step up and tired veterans to show the way. COVID-19 testing unexpectedly closes practice facilities and has postponed games.
In today’s NFL it’s all about the quarterbacks and receivers, the productivity of the offense, the most dominant defense, and the team that can sustain the injuries that can stifle a team and still come out on top. Year over year the most consistent teams are those that adhere to the same systems and process over and over - they employ a plan for success.
As fans we see 60 minutes of football, players and coaches endure daily meetings, training, practice, and video study. Because of this, players don’t win or lose games, teams do. Preparation prevents surprises and ensures the desired outcome.
From a customer’s perspective, customer service is an experiential process, and so, it’s difficult to quantify. It can be either good or bad, fast or slow, helpful or unhelpful, among other factors.
However, for organizations, it’s a different game all together. With the availability of sophisticated customer service analytics and reporting tools, Contact Centers can track and measure just about every metric that impacts the quality of their customer service. Measuring the key performance indicators (KPIs) helps Contact Centers improve the overall customer experience (CX), lower customer churn, and boost brand loyalty. However, the abundance of customer data can entice CX leaders to track everything, which leads to information overload and analysis paralysis.
Are chatbots better than people at scaled communication?
This question has a myriad of objective truths hidden behind it. We’re all witnessing the wave of automation in customer service. Industry leaders are now forecasting advanced AI-powered responsive chatbots to take over at scale like never before. Gartner suggests that 47% of organizations will use chatbots for customer care and 40% will deploy virtual customer assistants(VCAs).
Good customer service is what differentiates a company from its rivals.
Anyone working in customer service would understand that no matter how much time you spend in delivering good customer service, you can’t please everyone every time. Sooner or later, support agents will have to deal with difficult customers. Whether it’s a customer with some outlandish demand or an otherwise rational customer who happens to be having a bad day, your skills are put to test. And it’s time to pass the test with flying colors.
Ensuring a seamless customer experience is the ultimate goal of any consumer-facing brand.
Customers usually get frustrated with broken lines of communication, or a generic Interactive Voice Response(IVR) messages. That’s why brands are investing in better artificial intelligence(AI) and natural language processing(NLP) capabilities to ensure that customers feel like their issues are being understood.
At a time when customer experience (CX) is the single most exciting opportunity for brands globally, contact centers and agents, particularly will play a vital role in helping organizations unleash the true promise of CX.
