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The latest UK Customer Service Index (UKCSI) scores are out and it ends up customer satisfaction is at its highest in three years, with retailers including Amazon, Wilko and John Lewis all scoring tremendously.
And while a number of improvements in customer support in recent years may be put down in engineering, of what makes good service only the factor can’t be discounted.
Indeed, the top four differentiators of all organisations in the UKSCI report were associated staff doing what they say they will do, having attitudes, and understanding client difficulties.
Innovation isn’t mutually exclusive
For businesses and brands, the program of technology has helped to evolve their sectors and present opportunities that might not have happened before in regards to communicating with customers.
However, while technology does work well in certain circumstances, it’s easy to understand why clients could become frustrated about being subjected to artificial procedures of communicating, when they’re trying to have a intricate problem solved, or even a sensitive enquiry replied, for example.
It’s easy to see why companies could become reliant on technologies, such as business process management (BPM) and autonomous procedure automation (RPA) tools, where communicating with clients is concerned.
It works quickly saves resources and costs, and responds to enquiries well. It’s the complicated or sensitive enquiries and it’s companies and the brands that apply the perfect combination of both which will come out on top.
What clients really want
Despite evolutions in technology, research earlier this year, we undertook found that customers still prefer human contact when liaising with businesses questioned saying they favor phone or face to face contact.
Social networking was preferred by only three percent of those we talked to, while text messages and automatic telephone were favored by just 1% of respondents each.
Machines are great, but sometimes us humans simply need other people to Speak to
If the above tells us anything, it’s that it’s crucial that companies get to know their customers, so they could comprehend what value distinct communication channels attract to them and when best to employ each.
Additionally, it is important to understand that a client could be presented with methods of communicating with a business, but may consistently prefer the human touch. Fading out all human interaction in favour of technologies will not do, clients need to be given the choice of how they Want to interact with a Small Business
Why manufacturers mustn’t rely on technician
As technology continues to evolve and RPA gathers pace companies communicate with customers is very likely to become increasingly concentrated upon technologies in years to come.
But companies would be smart to correctly assess in which the human touch would do the job, and which type of communication technology is best suited to.
Simple enquiries and ones where clients need a response are satisfactory dealt with through self explanatory and technological routes, whereas those that require a deal of understanding and empathy and enquiries are retained for the human touch.
But there are lots of cases where a mix of technology and individual interaction could offer an ideal mix.
Savvy social
Social networking has long been viewed as one of the most significant communication channels out there for businesses. And it is on this stage in which the human touch is crucial, it is just funneled via a digital station.
A good means of solving problems, channels such as Twitter and Facebook and answering customer queries can provide a platform for businesses — if used properly.
However, social accounts have to be monitored constantly, sometimes to ensure customer enquiries are resolved promptly and effectively. Advisors must be given the essential autonomy to achieve this, but with governance — there are many cases of where things have gone wrong, often with disastrous consequences.
It’s important to keep in mind not everybody will be comfortable dealing with businesses through platforms that are social, so businesses should continue to give a variety of contact channels to clients, which means they are in a position to pick the one most suitable to them.
The future of customer communication
Technology really brings about benefits for organisations – resource and cost savings, better consumer insights through convenience and data, being only a number of those.
There’s also a level of compassion and understanding connected to the human touch, which at the moment can never be substituted by technology alone.
It’s businesses that apply a mix of both that will be supplied a key differentiator in an client service landscape and have an ever increasing desire for a more lively experience.
Machines are great, but sometimes us people need humans to talk to.
