Blog Summary: To establish a streamlined process in service centers, Technology always takes the upper hand! This article discusses the modus operandi of service companies and how they can leverage AI-powered Helpdesk Software to build a robust customer support ecosystem and also ensure 360-degree engagement.
Imagine you have a quality product in place at a competitive price. But you fall flat to deliver the desired service to your customers. Do you think they will stick to your brand? Most likely, they will leave sooner or later.
Quite alarming! Isn’t it?
In a competitive market, customers measure a company's performance with each interaction. They tend to move away with one bad experience. But, at the same time, a remarkable service can transform these customers into loyal brand advocates.
It's important to mention that simply building an excellent customer support team is not enough. You still need an intelligent mechanism that acts as a catalyst. Essentially, it’s even more critical for service companies.
The reason being: For a manual process, an agent can’t repeat the same task with 100% accuracy. Subtle variations will be inevitable in every step of the service.
That’s why companies prefer a standardized approach. And thereby service providers resort to AI helpdesk software.
84% of enterprise brands report that modern technologies uplift service agent efficiency and productivity, resulting in holistic improvement of customer support operations.
Now, let’s understand the relevance of helpdesk software in a service ecosystem:
— How a service-oriented business functions
— How it differentiates from product companies
— How an intelligent tool streamlines customer support operations
Functional and Operational Aspects of Service Companies
Although every business has its respective departments, service companies are essentially focused on building processes that cater to delivering value to their customers. Their prime objective is to sell services rather than products.
Examples of such businesses include — training services, software services, consultation services, financial services, travel and tourism, healthcare, marketing services, distribution and supply chain, construction, etc.
Unlike products, services are intangible. Here, the trait that matters most is effective brand interaction that delivers an enduring experience.
In the 21st century, companies that will focus more on customer experience are most likely to become more profitable. Aligned with this notion, 78% of leading brands substantially prioritize customer service to outplay their rivals.
1. Case Management in a Fast-Paced Environment: Automating Customer Service with AI
Take a glance at these three scenarios. Perhaps you can relate:
Case Escalation: Customer query or customer complaint keeps pouring in. If you’re already in a service business, then you’re aware of this fact. Unfortunately, dealing with the efficiency of case management often proves challenging. Escalating multiple cases at a go becomes a nightmare for service agents.
Case Priority: Contact centers find ways to categorize each case depending upon its level of urgency. Here, a question might arise: who’s going to do that? Manually it's nearly impossible due to the high volume of customer queries or complaints. Also, there are time constraints.
A surge in Cases: A sudden surge in customer requests is a common phenomenon in a contact center. Being unprepared to tackle the situation leads to disruption. In a way, it takes a toll on the agents as they remain occupied and cannot extend hands going beyond their working capacity.
So, what are the best ways to resolve these concerns?
Ideally, a company’s internal process must be adequately prepared to address any customer concern. For that, they surely need the assistance of automation tools!
You need the help of cloud-based AI helpdesk software backed by robust omnichannel capability, to resolve the service center pain points. Implementing this smart mechanism seems crucial to automate cases ensuring an efficient ticket escalation process.
Also, modern contact centers are using an automation assistance framework at every touchpoint. The latest one being Chatbots.
With Chatbots, most cases can reach a quick and satisfactory resolution as it answers the common customer questions real fast. The same applies to email automation that reviews and categorizes every incoming customer message.
Simply put, here is how you can improve customer service standards:
— Implement smart automation that prioritizes cases according to their level of urgency
— Provide customers with an intelligent tool that accelerates the resolution process
— Categorize and route customer queries to specialists (service agents)
— Evaluate client lifetime value and prioritize cases accordingly
— Continue optimizing the process by measuring case metrics or KPIs
— Introduce an omnichannel customer touchpoint for better engagement
2. Empowering Service Desk Agents to Maximize Efficiency: A Cost-Effective Approach
Customer support incurs a reasonable cost. Therefore, service companies try to bring more out of their current resources — a way to make the service team productive. At the same time, overloading service desk agents are not ideal.
As the trend suggests, an average agent needs two to five weeks of training to reach optimum productivity. But what if you could reduce the training time, keeping the productivity intact?
Well, it's doable if the agents are supported with the right tool — Knowledge Management System
A built-in knowledge module within a case management software means agents do not have to spend extra time to extract information related to the product or company.
The answers will be readily available and can be accessed with a mouse click. Moreover, the knowledge management module will be loaded on cloud architecture, enabling agents to access it regardless of their location. Even the newest agents can deliver personalized service with this resourceful knowledge base, getting away from canned responses.
3. Introducing Customer Self Service System: Saves Operation Time
Customer self-service interface is standard nowadays. Implementing this tool renders a momentary relief from successive calls and emails! And this is what the customers also prefer – finding their answers instead of calling or emailing service agents.
The benefits of customer self-service interface:
– Reduces the incoming calls and emails by 25%
– Saves time for agents enabling them to work upon other tasks
– Relief from managing mundane stuff day in and day out
Running a thriving contact center is not an easy feat. Service companies meet with a gamut of challenges. Some struggle to overcome; however, others get stronger with time. The ones that succeed often implement the right technology – Helpdesk Software powered by AI.
You might be a budding entrepreneur planning to start a service business. Or you are already heading a customer service team and willing to revamp the process. Or you have an existing solution that fails to do the job.
Whatever the scenario, Al Helpdesk works like magic, offering an exceptional customer experience.
Should you wish to elevate customer experience, feel free to opt for a 30 days free trial of ThinkOwl.