In today’s busy, crowded world, good experiences drive loyalty. And with an endless variety of choices and never enough time, consumers will quickly move on if a business doesn’t provide frictionless, memorable, respectful, and — above all — human-centered customer service experiences.
Yet, it’s easy to negatively impact CX with technology solutions that promise good service for lower costs, but end up falling short. We’ve all experienced chatbots that mostly regurgitate self-service links and automated call systems that rely on clunky menus or that don’t understand conversational language. Even worse is when these systems fail to help customers, who must then wait in a long queue only to have to start their request over from scratch. In fact, according to Interactions research, nearly half of consumers say that speaking with customer service is frustrating (47%) and said they’ve become angry while speaking to customer service in the past 12 months (48%).
It doesn’t have to be this way. Many companies have learned how to have it all: technology that elevates customer experiences and drives loyalty and brings cost-savings and better efficiency to the business.
It turns out that the key to infusing every interaction with excellent experiences is a blend of automation and the irreplaceable human touch. Below, we look at five ways you can turn customer service interactions into moments that matter, while still gaining the efficiency and benefits of innovative technology.
1: Every interaction should resonate authentically. When a customer calls a business and is greeted by a generic, off-the-shelf automated voice, it feels off-putting, unwelcoming, and like customer service is an afterthought. That customer could be calling any business.
Every customer interaction is an extension of your brand, and it’s critical to invest the time and effort to ensure your intelligent virtual assistants (IVA) properly reflect your brand in tone, word choice, cadence, and even timbre. The voice you select should not just complement your brand; it should reflect the nature and needs of your customer base. Who will they feel comfortable speaking with? That’s the IVA voice you need.
2: Every interaction leaves callers feeling valued and heard. When a customer calls a service line and has to repeat their issue multiple times, simplifying it until they frustratedly shout “talk to agent!”, they are neither being valued nor heard. Suffering through a long menu that doesn’t quite fit their issue — and angrily pressing pound, star or zero to hopefully reach a live person — has the same effect.
Today, we have the technology that allows IVAs to really understand what callers are saying – no simplified “robot-friendly” language necessary. Advanced Conversational AI and human-in-the-loop technology lets callers talk to an IVA just like they would a human. If there is background noise or a poor connection or the caller mumbles or has an accent, a human behind the scenes can quickly help the IVA understand the request. The caller is left feeling heard, understood, and a lot less frustrated, while the business is able to solve more complex problems without escalating to a live agent.
3: Every interaction treats customers like a unique person, not a number. In our survey, a majority of consumers said they’d be more loyal to a company that provides excellent customer service — which also makes them feel valued customers. A key way to make customers feel like they are valued is through personalization. When an IVA recognizes a caller based on their phone number and can personalize the script by asking about a recent order or upcoming appointment, it shows the customer that your company is investing in technology that saves them time and effort.
In fact, every step you take to minimize frustration and minimize call length shows respect for your customers’ busy lives. More intelligent IVAs that help customers avoid live agent queues and seamless experiences where customers don’t have to repeat context (such as the issue or their account number) with each channel interaction provides quick efficient service that helps both your customers and your business.
4: Every interaction should have a human touch. Whether or not customers know a human is behind the scenes, every IVA should be infused with a human touch, from the prompts that you write to the voice recording to behind-the-scenes comprehension assistance on live calls. This personal touch that is informed by your team is what differentiates a generic voice assistant from an IVA that sounds and feels like a human.
For example, are you using an AI-generated “bot” voice or an IVA that was recorded by a voice actor or actress trained to infuse your prompts with warmth, brand cohesion, and unmistakable humanity? Your callers will hear and know the difference.
How human do IVAs sound? So human that customers often tell them to have a nice day. Learn more about real IVA interactions – and listen to them – here.
5: Every interaction strengthens the bond between your brand and your customers. Finally, when customers know they can get their issues resolved efficiently with customer-centric service that doesn’t leave them cursing, wasting time, or hanging up in frustration, they’ll be more willing to do business with you in the future. In fact, 87% of consumers said they love when they can quickly resolve their questions and concerns using CX technology.
When your CX interactions offer efficient automation, intelligent Conversational AI, and human warmth, your customer will remember — and return. To learn more about how to infuse experience in your interactions, read our latest report.
