In our digital age, great customer service often means giving customers quick and easy options on the go. While some may argue that customer experiences have become more impersonal as a result, brands may add a personal touch to their service by maintaining a conversational approach and treating each customer as an individual. Here are six ways to give digital customer service an authentic human touch.
The human touch begins with simple communication. Using complex language on brand websites, during service interactions, or in marketing campaigns can confuse and isolate customers. By adopting a professional but friendly tone with vocabulary people can understand easily, brands can connect emotionally to their customers.
While many brands address customers by name in communications, treating them as individuals requires a stronger effort. First, brands must treat their own employees as individuals with personal skills and ideas to offer. For example, customer service agents should be matched with roles that fit their personalities, and they should be allowed to add a personal touch to their call scripts. During service interactions, agents may then make references to customers’ purchase history or previous cases to foster a more personalized relationship. Recognizing the individual value of both employees and customers is essential to delivering an authentic human touch.
Customers may be happy to use self-service or communicate with chat bots, but many prefer to know that human support is still available. For this reason, brands must make agents accessible on digital channels. For example, IVR menus should offer an option to connect quickly to an agent, while messaging should also offer human assistance when chat bots are used.
Showing customers that their opinions matter is essential to maintaining a dialogue with them. After each service interaction, be sure to ask for feedback by sending surveys on the same channel. Give customers the option to give free-response answers as well, as this ensures that every comment is expressed.
When a brand offers customers personalized recommendations, it shows that it is paying attention to their preferences. Such recommendations address customers as individuals with personal tastes, saving them time and giving a personal touch to marketing practices. This shows a dedication to helping customers find what they want without aggressively marketing all the products or services a brand has to offer.
One of the best ways to show a human touch is by striking up a conversation. Brands should not wait for customers to contact them. Instead, they should take a proactive approach and begin dialogues with customers on channels such as social media, asking them for their input and getting them involved in campaigns. Brands should get to know their customers in creative ways, such as offering fan competitions and simply reaching out to them periodically for their comments and participation. As technology streamlines customer service practices, the human role continues to shift. However, if brands make an effort to listen to customers and take a conversational approach along the customer journey, the human touch can complement technology for long-term customer satisfaction.
