Many organisations have turned to quick fixes in order to attempt to address the deficit in resources in their businesses and to avoid having to take the call of at all possible.
Primarily this is because they do not have the personnel available due to Covid restrictions, and technology shortfalls – Shortfalls in that their technology was designed for a traditional office Contact Centre with office based workers, and not for a dispersed homeworker, workforce. Some might hand out criticisms of short sightedness, but let’s be fair – how many of you predicted the Covid crisis and it’s impact accurately?? Thought not.
Increasingly we are, as consumers, looking for flexible ways to connect with our suppliers, but to avoid the often lengthy queues that drive us potty. We are also seeking simplicity – for transactional interactions, we don’t always want or need to speak with a human, and we might also just need something text based, such as a balance check on our bank account, or checking a booking, ordering a ticket, making an appointment, etc,….
Often seen as the quick fix, business may turn to adding a webchat capability, or a chatbot capability, and more often than not, they are another silo in the communications morass, that simply pushes customers away.
Most chat technologies offer a synchronous engagement only, and very often these services are manned by social media teams, who are probably not well versed in the issues customers want resolving. This often leads to added frustrations for the consumer, as they are still not getting their questions answered, and may well STILL end up having to break off and make that call, joining the queue they were trying to avoid, and having to explain the whole thing again – It’s simply not very customer-centred is it?
Automation has been on offer for years, including IVR, and yet the way we, as consumers want to engage has changed. Yes we do still want to talk to a human being where appropriate, but by no means always.
Artificial intelligence is bringing a new paradigm into play, enabling intelligent automation, where consumers can share the intention of their inquiry using natural language, and receive a higher quality engagement, and satisfactory outcomes.
Well thought out solutions also allow for a joined up and customer centred journey. Meaning that we reduce friction with a single persistent conversation, that captures the discussion and passes it all to an agent, if required, avoiding repetitive questioning. Resulting in a well prepared agent, and a really satisfying customer experience.
Is this were possible, without the need to replace existing platform technology, wouldn’t that be of enormous value?
Ask me how Graham@koopid.ai
Graham Bunting -The Partner Catalyst 