Business technology today is not what we are used to anymore. Social networking and online interactions have seeped into our professional lives and are clearly here to stay. Despite building all kinds of online connect though, we still yearn for that human interaction (evident in the last few months of the pandemic). This is where the online-offline balance comes into play—businesses need to focus on driving customer care and engagement with the same energy as they do with implementing technology into the system.
The resulting customer support tools when designed for the future, enable swift business in just a few minutes, improve brand reputation, increase agent productivity, and help build stronger relations with customers. It is imperative for businesses now, to think beyond basic chatbots. They need to cater to current and potential customers with programs that simplify the customer journey, guide them through the process, and keep them engaged with real people at the end of the video platform. They need to focus on the future of customer care. This will involve:
Understanding that human interaction has never been more essential
Imagine your customer running into a technical problem or not comprehending a certain instruction and then being caught in the endless vortex of chatting with a bot, receiving auto-responses, but no human assistance. Needless to say, they’d get annoyed and drop off instantly, unlikely to return. The need for human assistance has been aggravated by COVID-19, especially in sectors like insurance and banking that encourage online business.
Through our own experience we noticed that when Video KYC was introduced in the banking and insurance sectors, along with the increased demand for the tool, there was also an increased demand for virtual assistance by real agents. Customers might begin by engaging with a chatbot, but eventually they will want some kind of a video interaction or an offline phone call with the agents. At the end of the day, chatbots cannot process empathy and react accordingly. That’s something unique to human beings.
Providing a more personalized and interactive voice response
The last thing customers want is to hear an annoying tune or the phone ringing incessantly during the wait time. Customer service providers (like us and many others) should incorporate an IVR system that keeps the caller engaged while the agent is away. This IVR system would introduce the caller to the various services the company offers or all the necessary details that they can demand from the tool they are using. Allowing callers to interact in their local language and adding a personalized touch with additional options and a welcome message are just some of the features this virtual assistant would offer.
Ensuring skill-based routing for agents
With modern technology enabled Video KYC for Banks and other customer service tools, calls coming through needn’t just go to any agent available but can be transferred to the one best suited for assistance. This feature, known as skill-based routing, categorizes agents based on their demographics like language, locations, area of expertise and more. After the IVR has interacted with the customer, the line is routed to the agent most qualified to resolve the issue. Needless to say, this elevates customer satisfaction.
Offering CRM integration
When your online service tool is integrated with a CRM software, agents have a 360-degree-view of all caller details, so that no matter who answers, customizing the experience for the caller gets easier once the details are right on the screen. Besides personal client information and call logs, agents also have access to previous tickets, cases, chat transcripts and other data, which offer a comprehensive view to make client interactions more efficient and effective.
Offering new services like instant onboarding, video KYC and others certainly require new technology that’ll help businesses improve completion rate, conversion rate, overall customer satisfaction and agent productivity.
As we progress into the ‘new normal’ business, we need to ensure that these tools and technologies are implemented in our customer care software to achieve speedy business and maximum ROI.