Last updated: How customer service powers the intelligent enterprise

How customer service powers the intelligent enterprise

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With eyes on screens 24/7 around the world, one can only imagine the immense wealth of data being produced at every interaction, at any given moment. And beyond screen time, engagement has been taken to an entirely different level with voice-activated assistants and conversational chatbots.

With so much information, how do companies even begin to fathom a way to take advantage of this knowledge and apply it towards their business?

By taking a customer service perspective, companies can identify ways to elevate engagements with their customer base. Through this empathic lens they can determine priorities on how to better serve people. If this still seems like a monumental task, there are a couple of ways to start:

When it comes to the bottom line, “X” marks the spot

For years, companies have always looked at the numbers, operational data, P&I, overhead, etc. to sway their reasoning when it came to making decisions about the business. While this might be what’s best for the company, they may ultimately lose sight of what’s best for the customer.

With today’s experience management solutions, insights are derived from every meaningful touchpoint with the customer, when it matters most. Customers take advantage of tools that allow them to give direct feedback when the need arises, or if they have a question or concern. Meanwhile companies are able to engage the customer in the moment instead of after the interaction is complete and they’ve moved on with their next task.

The valuable insight keeps perspectives and information fresh and resolutions current. This sows the seeds for a better relationship between the business and the consumer, nurturing loyalty for the long term. And with today’s fierce competition, building strong connections are key to customer retention and advocacy, better brand perception, and ultimately profitability.

Cover all your bases with the right tools, the right channels, and data analytics

Customer service agents are the unsung heroes of a business. They are there, ready to help when customers have issues or questions. But in order to maintain a level of excellence that keeps customers satisfied at scale, they need a lot of help.

Well-designed self-service platforms and conversational chatbots are a step in the right direction. If these layers help answer basic questions prior to reaching a live agent, not only does that give back time to the customer, but also frees up time for the agent as well.

In an intelligent enterprise, machine learning powered ticketing solutions can also boost contact center agent productivity by determining ticket priority based on historical data and patterns. Plus, it helps inform service agents better, giving them the best opportunity to provide the highest level of service to the customer.

In parallel, all these channels generate data on the customer further informs the business of their transaction journey, giving the business a deeper look into where to improve and what to maintain. Such rich insight can turn a company from a reactive state of service into one that gets ahead of the problem and anticipates need, thus furthering a business’s reliability and expertise, and in turn, winning loyalty.

Break down silos without breaking connections

An interaction-to-resolution success story is not impossible if you can do away with siloed engagements. Customers abandon transactions in frustration when too much time and effort is wasted repeating their concerns to various channels in what should have been one seamless interaction.

Service excellence should permeate every step of the customer journey and it should be consistent—from the self-service platform experience, to the transfer to a chatbot, and finally to a live agent – this entire interaction should be seamless and ideally, unbroken. This can only be achieved if everything is integrated and unified.

We live in an age where we have all the tools and data at our disposal to make our business successful. But having the solutions is no longer enough – knowing how to use them and having the right drive to do so is key.

96% of consumers have more trust in brands when they make it easy to do business with them.
Are you delivering what customers want? Get ‘The State of Customer Service’ report HERE.

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