If your company has been looking to boost its customer experience program in the last few years, you’ve most likely considered (or, at least, heard of) Virtual Assistants. The thought of using a Virtual Assistant solution might seem intimidating to people at first, but many recognize its potential and would like to explore the options and how learn how it can benefit them and their customers. If you’re considering utilizing artificial intelligence (AI) in your strategy, a recent article by Tara Wildt points out that Virtual Assistants could benefit your company and give it an advantage over your competitors. For those who are currently using AI in their customer experience or considering implementing it soon, the article provides the following four tips to successfully use virtual assistants in 2017.
1) Leverage the latest in AI, while still harnessing human intelligence
AI can certainly help automate elements of customer service to lower costs, but Wildt suggests that Virtual Assistants should be integrated with human agents for the best overall experience. AI can assist human agents by handling simple, menial tasks while saving the more challenging customer calls for the agents. This not only helps create efficiency in the contact center, it also keeps crucial factors of a successful customer experience in the mix like empathy and concern from human agents.
2) Provide a seamless, multichannel customer care experience
The top preferred method of customer-to-company communication is still through phone call, but omnichannel is growing fast, specifically in areas such as social media, live chat, and a variety of others. Consistency across all customer service channels is the key to customer experience success, and Wildt recommends utilizing a technology stack to help your Virtual Assistant provide fluid service on every channel.
3) Enable secure customer interactions
The growth of the internet within customer interactions has led to security concerns over data breaches, identity theft, and other potential issues. In order to maintain authentication and security, Wildt states that companies are starting to integrate their Virtual Assistants with voice biometrics. Biometrics ensures customer authenticity by verifying the identity through voice recognition. This can also help verify a caller’s identification quickly and increase customer satisfaction.
4) Adapt to changing expectations in customer care
Evolution is a part of every aspect of every industry, especially in customer service. With the rapid growth of technology in the customer experience, customers are now expecting fast, nearly instantaneous, response times and consistency in service and information they receive from companies. AI solutions like Virtual Assistants and Interactive Voice Response (IVR) need to evolve with customer expectations and be utilized as a piece of the bigger picture and not as the main customer service outlet. As mentioned in the first tip, it’s important to integrate AI and every other form of technology with live, human agents in an effort to provide the most fluid and satisfying customer experience possible.
This blog post is based on an article from CustomerThink. To read the original article, please click the link below:
4 Things to Expect from Virtual Assistants in 2017 – Tara Wildt
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