When designing great customer experiences, every brand should think about its self-service. As much as customers appreciate agents who help solve their problems, many prefer to resolve simple issues themselves. Gartner states that 81% of customers attempt to find solutions on their own before contacting an agent. Here are five rules for creating self-service options that truly benefit your customers.
You may already have an IVR system in place, but how user-friendly is it? When customers use an IVR menu, they need to hear or see options relevant to their situation. In addition, they should also be able to skip ahead quickly if they need to or connect to an agent if they really cannot find the answer they need. By offering menu options that apply to common situations—checking an account balance or order status, for example—you will certainly save customers time.
Yes, chatbots can grow smarter with use, but they need “training” just as your agents do. Keep them updated with current brand information such as sales pricing, new products, and delivery options. They should also have access to real-time customer data that enables them to give accurate assistance. Lastly, analyzing your customers’ conversational patterns can allow chatbots to develop a tone with a similar speech pattern for more natural conversations.
Self-service usually indicates the absence of human agents, but there are times when human intervention may be necessary. While chatbot design continues to grow more sophisticated each day, the truth remains that most brands can benefit from a combined approach of automation and human support. Agents should be available for more complex cases that chatbots cannot handle. Similarly, customers should always have the option to speak to a person quickly if an IVR menu does not provide the support they need.
Maintaining a thorough list of frequently asked questions on your website is an excellent way to keep customers informed. Analyze customer feedback and service transcripts to determine recurring questions. Once you have this information, you can update your list regularly and invite customers to contribute answers in a discussion forum as well.
Visual content appeals to many customers and can be ideal for both marketing and self-service purposes. Help customers find the answers they need by offering video tutorials on your website and even your social media channels. You may demonstrate how products and services work, featuring either real company employees or fun animation. Be sure to offer subtitles for customers who wish to see text as well, and use a voiceover that is easy to understand.Self-service options empower customers and show them that you care about their time. By combining automated service with the dedicated support of your agents, customers can find quick answers with the comfort of the human touch. To deliver the very best customer experiences, learn about Vocalcom, a global leader in AI-powered contact center software solutions and premium omnichannel customer interaction platform.
