Did you know that 86% of consumers would pay more for a better customer experience (CX)? And according to our recent global survey of 5,000 consumers, the top factors people associate with an excellent CX are:
- Speed of response – it’s aggravating if customer service agents take too long to respond.
- Willingness to help – customers value helpfulness and positivity.
- Convenience – a range of ways to contact customer support is much appreciated.
- Quick resolution – in addition to a speedy response, customers also value efficiency.
- Round-the-clock support availability – organisations with the best customer service and experience can help, even outside of business hours.
Is your business equipped to provide this level of customer care even during peak seasons? Rather than expanding your customer service team, the answer lies in automation.
Examples of automation
- Notifications to customers (e.g. a back in stock alert)
- Automated SMS and chatbots
- Product recommendations based on individual customer data (e.g. ‘customers similar to you also bought…’ or ‘your order would go well with…’)
- Offers based on individual customer data (e.g. birthday offer)
- System integration (e.g. if your CRM and SMS messaging platforms are integrated, data can easily flow between the two)
- Ticketing system (e.g. automated workflows can determine the priority level of tickets raised by customers and assign them to the appropriate agent)
How automation helps to improve customer experience
Faster case resolution
Automation is perfect for handling repetitive, more menial tasks. For example, your customers may be asking the same kind of questions over and over. Or, there may be a particular issue that customers commonly struggle with that they can resolve by themselves – they just don’t know how.
For cases like this, a chatbot could help point customers in the right direction. In fact, nearly 90% of queries are resolved in 10 messages or less – thanks to chatbots! Chatbots can also be available 24/7 and reply quickly, both of which are factors consumers deem to be important when it comes to excellent CX.
Better resource allocation
If automation can handle large volumes of repetitive tasks, that leaves your human agents with more time to spend on more complex issues and higher-value projects.
For example, personalised offers could be automatically sent to customers based on specific triggers (e.g. if it’s their birthday, anniversary, time to restock an item etc). This leaves your customer service agents with more time to spend on analysing data, getting to know individual customers and building relationships.
Omnichannel experience
It’s one thing to offer a range of channels for customers to reach you on. It’s another to bring these channels together to create a seamless, integrated brand experience. For example, a customer might start their journey by messaging you on social media. They then move over to WhatsApp when they realise you’re available on WhatsApp Business Platform.
Whichever channel they migrate to, their experience should stay consistent and your customer service agents should recognise that this is the same customer. Customers find it aggravating when they have to repeat themselves to different people.
Integrating your solutions and ensuring workflows are set up to automatically transfer data to a centralised location are key here. Your team should be able to easily find the information they need to provide excellent service and experience.
Automation: Essential for business success
Automation is a critical ingredient for business success, especially when customer expectations are at an all-time high. Not only does it give businesses the power to respond to and resolve customer issues quickly, but it also helps them better understand customer needs.
And with that knowledge, you can have more meaningful engagements across all touchpoints, thus delivering the experience your customers expect.
Want to learn more about the steps you can take to win the brand and loyalty battle in the face of an economic downturn? Download our eBook below.
Mayzin Han
Marketing strategist with 8 years of experience, 5+ of which in B2B tech. Currently the Senior Marketing Program Manager at Commify, I work closely with field marketing teams who sit across EMEA and APAC to strategise and create campaigns that meet customer and prospect needs. My background in content marketing means that I'm passionate about all things words, grammar and punctuation. In my free time, I like to run, box and torture myself at spin class because lots of cardio means you can eat what you want!
