The companies, nowadays, they have clients who are looking for, increasingly, quick solutions, easy and reliable. However, many self-service channels provided by organizations do not meet these expectations. A survey conducted by theGartnerpointed out that, although 70% of customers use self-service channels at some point in their service journey, only 9% manage to completely solve their problems through these options. This, many times, it leads you to contact an agent, thus nullifying the purpose of the self-service experience
This gap between customer expectations and the actual experience with self-service channels can significantly harm an organization's reputation and customer retention rates. Effective self-service models not only enhance customer experience and satisfaction, but also lead to significant cost savings and operational efficiencies, by drastically reducing the volume of calls to customer service centers, increase the diversion rates and improve self-service containment, and increase resolution times on the first contact, helping organizations solve problems quickly. Furthermore, provide customers with autonomy, speed and customization they want for quick and effective solutions, adapted to your needs
It doesn't matter how successful a company may be, she must continue to innovate, adapt and listen to your customers, in order to improve and personalize the customer experience. While 81% of brands believe they deeply understand their customers, only 46% of global customers agree with this, highlighting the need to improve customer experiences. Furthermore, 64% of consumers say they would abandon a brand if their experience was not personalizedCustomer Engagement Report 2024).
In a competitive scenario, reducing the gap between customer expectations and reality when it comes to self-service channels is important for the success of companies. The failure to meet customer expectations can have terrible consequences. That's why, numerous companies are giving high priority to eliminating friction points and proactively addressing customer concerns – and artificial intelligence (AI), combined with real-time customer data, it could be the key to your success
According to arecent BBC research, business leaders around the world recognize the benefits of AI, but they admit that their organizations are not prepared to adopt it because they have not yet defined a strategy with which they feel comfortable or that they understand well
IncorporateAI tools in customer service strategiesit has become essential for companies looking to improve customer experience. AI can analyze large volumes of customer data in real time, what helps customer service agents personalize interactions without being overwhelmed with information. AI-powered self-service resources, like chatbots and virtual assistants, can handle routine inquiries, giving human agents more time to solve complex problems
Furthermore, AI can provide agents with summaries of previous interactions with customers, allowing them to understand and quickly solve the problem at hand, reducing the need for repetition and improving the customer experience. This not only improves the speed and accuracy of the service, but also ensures that the engagement is relevant and individualized
When developing a software strategy for an AI-accelerated interactive voice response (IVR) system, companies can also improve the efficiency of the contact center, automating queries and common tasks, in addition to forwarding more complex conversations to the appropriate agent skill set. In fact, improving the containment rates of IVR by 5 to 20 percent and improving authentication rates by 15 to 25 percent can reduce total call center costs by 10 to 30 percent in just three to six months, according to theMcKinsey.
It can also lead to an increase in operational efficiency. With a better understanding of the customer using conversational AI and natural language understanding (NLU), customers can enjoy human-like conversations with virtual agents, reducing resolution time by understanding the customer's intent
AI-based self-service can also help improve agents' bandwidth, automating common frequently asked questions from customers that often clog the contact center queues. It can also lead to the continuous improvement of the agents, gathering proprietary call data, using historical actions to predict customer needs and improving the IVR journey iteratively
It is of utmost importance to transform modern customer service strategies, providing an integrated set of solutions that orchestrate seamless interactions across all channels. Companies can improve the customer experience by designing customer journeys that start with intuitive self-service and scale up to resolving complex issues with active agents. Agents gain access to data and context in real time, allowing them to provide a service that is not only efficient, but also customer-focused
Thus, it is possible to optimize AI for companies, taking advantage of its advantages. This helps companies become not only customer-aware, but also focused on them, leading to better engagement and ROI
