Everybody hates dealing with artificial intelligence, right? As AI becomes commonplace, so does the impulse to publicly pine for the “good old days” when one could just talk to a human. In reality, there are plenty of situations where people prefer to interact with AI over human agents.
An article by Tara Wildt shines a light on some of these scenarios. Some of the examples of the reasons people might prefer AI over humans could be faster interactions, more personalized experiences (based on caller history), and general mood and convenience factors. To read about this in more detail, please read Wildt’s article here.
Yes, you read that header correctly. We may be in the contact center outsourcing industry, but we also understand customer service trends. Many people, especially those under 40, are conditioned to seek out answers for themselves and often feel inconvenienced when they need to contact a company for support. Does this mean you should ditch your contact center altogether? Absolutely not. This simply means you should set up your web presence and contact center to offer self-help options as the first line of customer service for those who desire it.
There are many ways to provide customer experience geared toward the self-help crowd. When it comes to optimizing your website and overall web presence, you need to think in terms of community. A great way to set up an online community is to build a forum or message board, then use your contact center agents as moderators on the board. This enables customers to interact with each other to discuss products and services in a casual, down-to-earth environment. It also lets your representatives chime in and offer real assistance when users request it.
If an online community isn’t a viable option, there are ways of optimizing your website to assist people who aren’t interested in calling you. One tried and true method is to create FAQ pages and archives of past customer issues with resolutions. This provides help for customers in an easy and convenient package and saves the hassle of having to contact support. Another feature to offer on your website is chat support, be it in bot form or human agents. Many customers may not feel comfortable calling your company, but they might be more inclined to discuss their issue via chat.
We’re in an age where everyone’s a sleuth and likes to discover their own answers. Whether you want to create an online community or you choose to build up your website with helpful features and pages, it’s important to offer self-help solutions as your first line of customer service. These options utilize contact centers in a unique way and can help set your company up for an agreeable customer experience.
Need an omnichannel contact center to provide your customer service? We can help!
Outsource Consultants are call center experts with over 25 years of outsourcing industry experience who have spent thousands of hours vetting and analyzing the strengths and specializations of the industry-leading outsource call center vendors. If you’re considering call center outsourcing, simply call 888-766-4482 or request a free call center cost proposal today and we’ll help you find the solution that best fits your exact requirements.
