The Importance of Leveraging Technology for Your Customer Experience Plan
When it comes to running a business, one of the most essential components is ensuring that your customers feel valued and taken care of. To achieve this, companies have been utilizing technology to identify issues, buying habits, and other patterns that could potentially improve the overall customer experience. Through various tools and software, organizations are now able to utilize data to make sure every step of the customer process is positive. In this blog post, we will discuss the different methods in which technology can be used to improve your customer experience, and why it is so important.
The Role of Artificial Intelligence
One incredible asset that companies have been utilizing in their customer experience plan is artificial intelligence (AI) technology. AI programs can be utilized through various channels such as phone systems, computers, and even through texting. With a robust AI system, staff can easily navigate and resolve simple issues, and for more complex ones, AI can be used to connect them to a real person through chat or phone. While nothing can replace the human touch in customer experiences, AI technology allows for more efficient and effective resolution of customer issues.
The Benefits of Utilizing Remote Phone Staff
Having your phone staff located in different time zones can be absolutely crucial to expanding your business hours. By having your team on the East Coast start at 7 a.m. and new people pick up the phones in each time zone until you hit Pacific time, you’ll be able to gain hours’ worth of phone time. Unlike outsourcing your phone team to another country where language barriers may cause frustration for many customers, remote phone staff who are native to the majority of your customers’ language can be a much better use of your resources. With reliable and advanced VoIP and computer systems, you can ensure an exceptional customer service experience that’s available virtually 24/7.
Using Live Chat to Improve the Customer Experience
For customers who cannot wait on a phone call, live chat is a perfect addition to any business’ customer experience plan. Offering them the opportunity to chat with a real person in real-time to get their needs met is a simple yet effective solution. Whether they are trying to resolve a billing issue, change something on their account, or something completely different, live chat provides a quick and easy way for customers to receive assistance. It also offers an excellent option for those with social anxiety or who prefer not to be on the phone.
The Power of Web Returns
For customers who need to return products purchased online, the process can feel like a nightmare. Often, companies have a convoluted process where the customer waits on the phone for a long time, only to hear that the item they want to send back cannot be returned. To remedy this, implementing web-based returns is a perfect solution that empowers the customer to initiate the return process without needing to wait on anyone else. Web returns can be completed through easy-to-use web portals, requiring only a few pieces of customer data, providing them with a seamless and hassle-free returns process.
How Empowered Employees Can Improve the Customer Experience
While it may not be strictly related to technology, empowering every employee to make the customer experience the best possible is an excellent way to take your customer service experience to the next level. Providing employees with the freedom to make things right without needing to go up the chain of command only requires the customer to interface with one person who has the authority to help them. This approach allows for a much more swift resolution of customer issues, which is crucial in today’s on-demand world.
Creating Easy-to-Access How-To Content
Sometimes, customers need help with tasks that are not directly related to their usage of a product or service. This is where having simple how-to videos and documents on your website can be absolutely invaluable. Providing informative guides and video explainers can go a long way in improving the customer experience. If customers need to learn a new software, they are much more likely to spend time on your website if you offer informative guides for common tasks they need to complete.
Leveraging Help Kiosks
For in-person experiences, strategically placed help kiosks can be an excellent tech-based solution to alleviate customer stress. Whether they are looking for a particular product or need to know where something is, help kiosks provide an easy and accessible solution. A good user interface with easy-to-follow prompts can help improve the customer experience by providing immediate assistance. Moreover, this eliminates the need to track down an employee or wait for a manager, allowing your customers to get answers to their pressing questions faster.
Using Social Media Channels to Improve Customer Experience
Social media is another excellent way to utilize technology to improve the customer experience as it allows businesses to connect with customers in real-time in the spaces where they need you the most. Having a presence on multiple platforms helps customers to connect with your brand wherever they are, and in return, you make a significant impact on them. The better the experience, the better the response from the customer.
Conclusion
In conclusion, employing technology in your customer experience plan is essential for savvy businesses in today’s competitive landscape. Always ask yourself the question “How do I want the customer to feel after they interact with our team?” and build a plan from there, keeping in mind the different opportunities and channels you have at your disposal to connect positively with your customers. A robust plan will give you happy customers who will tell their friends – and in today’s world of online reviews and ratings, that’s an incredibly valuable commodity for any business.
