Combining human and virtual for a successful customer experience
All aspects of our lives are becoming increasingly digital. Automation is also becoming a norm for a number of our daily interactions. As computers and machine learning improve, it becomes more and more expensive for “human beings” to meet customer demands. New technologies sometimes do it very well…
On the other hand, new technologies have also changed the definition of a good customer experience. After all, there is a certain satisfaction in interacting with chatbots: things happen quickly, the bots are never in a bad mood and the exchange is efficient and fast. On the other hand, there are some issues that really require a human touch (sensitive data, comprehension issues, etc.).
A study carried out by digitalmarketingmagazine with 1000 British consumers sought to analyze the importance of the role of human interaction in the customer experience. The results show that customers are not ready to say goodbye to human interactions. In fact, almost nine in ten respondents (87%) say that the ability to contact a live agent increases their loyalty and leads them to want to buy more or more frequently. This should be a strong incentive for companies to move away from systems that replace humans with full automation of their customer service. Especially since more than two-thirds (69%) of respondents said they would leave any company that offered no human touch as part of the customer experience.
However, customers appreciate the availability of multiple contact channels. Eight in ten customers (84%) said the ability to choose a channel to contact a service – whether via chat, phone, email or other means – was likely to increase their purchases from them. of the company. Additionally, 81% of respondents said their requests should be handled quickly and efficiently – if not, they would leave to the competition.
One conclusion that can be drawn from these results is that investing in customer experience is not just about investing in automating the whole thing. Indeed, it is a question of combining interactions with agents and the availability of numerous channels throughout the customer journey.
While the customer journey today can be achieved entirely using automated features and digital tools, there comes a time when artificial intelligence is no longer enough for consumers. It is therefore in the interest of companies to invest in customer service by offering competent agents who can accompany customers throughout their journey.
“The Human Touch” remains the key to excellent customer service
Almost a third of consumers in the UK say they would abandon a business or brand that failed to provide good customer service over the phone. Despite the growing adoption of email and even social media as customer service tools, a study by Echo Managed Services showed that companies that neglect the importance of human contact risk damaging their reputation.
In fact, good customer service over the phone is such a valuable commodity to consumers that 29% of them would go to the competition if they had a bad experience when dealing with a company over the phone. Also, unsurprisingly, poor customer service leaves more than one in ten people feeling angry at the company they do business with. Some consumers would not recommend the company without good telephone customer service (8%) and others (4%) would even go so far as to actively discourage their friends and family from buying from them.
Some of the biggest issues consumers face are dealing with answering machines or having to deal with overseas call centers. These two examples are great sources of frustration.
In the end, “the human” must be offered to customers when they need it, at any stage of the purchase journey. The myth that the customer experience can be entirely managed through automation technologies should not be taken seriously. Technologies must be used in addition to humans, in order to offer a greater number of channels to get in touch with the company.
The companies that will succeed in the future will be those that manage to combine the undeniable power of technology with competent and informed agents. Thus, they will be able to make the difference compared to the competition and impose themselves on the market. Offering a hybrid customer experience that combines a set of channels and touchpoints (automated + human) in an appropriate way is already a real competitive advantage!
