5 Ways Technology Will Affect the Future of Customer Service
Technology is a big part of today’s world, so it makes sense that it would affect how companies handle customer service. Customer service is the most critical aspect of a business.
Customers expect a great experience from brands and are willing to pay more for that. The only way to ensure that is by offering good customer service.
Artificial Intelligence
One of the most important ways technology will affect customer service is through Artificial Intelligence. It can be used to proactively identify and solve customer issues before they become problems, which will save customers time and money.
Companies like Airbnb, Spotify, and Starbucks have already incorporated AI to provide personalized product recommendations, improve in-app search functionality, and keep customers engaged.
Another area that’s becoming increasingly popular is using AI to help agents during calls. This is a challenging application for AI as it requires real-time feedback, data analysis, and predictions to increase agent productivity.
However, it can also be a powerful tool for helping agents respond to customer inquiries quickly and efficiently. This is especially helpful for businesses that need to field a high volume of support requests.
Machine Learning
Machine Learning is a powerful technology that will enable businesses to make data-driven decisions more efficiently. It will help them predict customer behavior and provide more personalized marketing campaigns to boost sales.
Machine learning is a form of artificial intelligence that uses algorithms to learn from large amounts of data, allowing it to perform tasks that human experts would be unable to do. For example, if a customer service agent receives an email that asks about delivery dates, balance owed, or order status, an AI-powered bot can automatically scan the message and tag it for the agent.
Machine learning has also made it easier for brands to harmonize their customer interaction and experience management strategy across all digital channels. This results in a more customized online experience for customers, which can positively impact customer loyalty.
Chatbots
In the age of digital transformation, chatbots are becoming an essential part of any business communication strategy. They help improve the customer experience and boost satisfaction levels.
The best customer service bots answer 80% of routine queries in seconds, saving your team time and resources to handle the remaining 20%. This helps reduce wait times and increase agent productivity, enabling better customer service.
These intelligent AI-powered bots can deliver round-the-clock service and improve customer experience through proactive outreach, personalized experiences, and more. Businesses can also use these bots to enhance customer engagement and streamline marketing and sales processes.
Virtual Agents
Virtual agents can be used for several customer service tasks, from answering routine questions about a product to helping users sign up for events or newsletters. They can also be used to collect information before connecting callers with live customer support agents, freeing up the time of human agents to focus on more complicated inquiries.
Research on VAs have found that their perceived effort in service encounters positively correlates with customer satisfaction (e.g., Mohr and Bitner 1995; Soderlund and Sagfossen 2017). However, the existing literature on VAs and human employees has focused mainly on the latter’s behaviors in these service encounters.
Analytics
Analytics is a powerful tool for businesses, providing a wealth of data about customers and their experiences with a brand. These insights help companies make better product decisions and boost sales.
Customer service analytics will improve your support team’s efficiency and ensure that they address issues quickly. These tools also allow you to uncover the root causes of problems and develop strategies to solve them.
Predictive analytics will predict how future events could affect your business, while diagnostics will give you insight into why things have occurred in the past.
For example, you can use predictive analytics to anticipate maintenance or operational issues that might lead to downtime. This will save you money and keep assets working at optimal performance levels.