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Humans, as a species, have a natural inclination for self-improvement and pushing beyond their boundaries. They also have high expectations of themselves and others. In business, this means that despite a company’s best efforts to excel, errors or negative experiences may occur, resulting in customer complaints. As user expectations rise to a new high, it becomes increasingly crucial for businesses to adapt and meet their customers’ changing needs.
According to pwc research,
- 86% of customers are willing to pay more for a better customer experience.
- One in three consumers (32%) say they will leave a brand they love after just one bad experience.
- Speed, convenience, helpful employees and friendly service matter most, each hitting over 70% in importance to consumers.
- 54% of U.S. consumers say customer experience at most companies needs improvement.
With such a sharp rise in customer expectations, businesses should push themselves to fare well. But how to do it? This blog can be an answer in that direction. To help companies cope with the changing times and rising user expectations, we have covered customer service automation and how it can help small and mid-sized businesses operate efficiently.
What is customer service automation?
Customer service automation refers to tools and systems that resolve customer issues and questions without requiring direct human intervention. Businesses use automated customer service to strengthen capacity, cut costs, and boost customer satisfaction.
Customer service automation frees up manual labor by resolving common issues and answering the most frequently asked questions. This reduces manual labor and allows them to focus on more critical tasks.
Customer service automation frees up manual labor by resolving common issues and answering most frequently asked questions. This not only reduces manual labor but also allows them to focus on more critical tasks.
Chatbots are one of the efficient tools to automate customer support interactions today. According to Business Insider, 48% of users are interested in interacting with a chatbot that solves their problems. Consider chatbots to be digital assistants that can communicate directly with your customers via chat (and sometimes voice) to answer most common questions quickly and route complex questions to the best available agent.
9 use cases of customer service chatbots
1.Website Support
Websites serve as a brand’s public face. A website contains all the information a person needs about a company. When customer service is automated on a website, bots can provide 24/7 support. Chatbots can help to learn more about products and services, as well as provide technical assistance with billing, pricing, and other functionalities. Chatbots can also be programmed to offer promotions based on the customer’s previous interactions and purchase history. They can also improve the overall customer experience by eliminating the need for customers to navigate complex menus.68% of consumers interact with chatbots because they can provide answers very quickly.
2.Appointment Scheduling
According to Zippia, 40% of appointments are scheduled outside regular business hours. This can include appointments for healthcare visits or installations of electronic devices at your home. Calling the company, checking for availability, and then scheduling an appointment can now be a straightforward process. Appointment scheduling bots eliminate the stress that this process causes. It not only facilitates appointment scheduling, but it also sends reminders, notifications, and confirmations.
3.Mobile App Support
Chatbots can be an effective tool for providing customer service and support for businesses that offer mobile apps. Chatbots can be integrated into the mobile app to provide instant customer assistance with queries, concerns, or problems. Customers can get help from a chatbot embedded in the mobile app instead of scrolling through each FAQ document. It answers the questions and suggests additional questions related to the user’s topic. Customers may return if they receive responses with a shorter turnaround time. It provides users with on-the-go support without requiring them to use other channels. It improves user engagement by responding to queries and assists users by sending notifications. The brand’s visibility is increased by personalizing chatbot conversations via mobile apps.
According to eMarketer, 43% of mobile/digital banking users in the US prefer to use a live chat or chatbot to address issues.
4.Tracking Orders & Deliveries
According to Gartner, Inc., conversational artificial intelligence (AI) deployments will save $80 billion by reducing agent labor costs by 2026. Chatbots can distribute shipping and delivery information in a very rapid manner. Bots can immerse themselves in tracking the status of an order, providing delivery information, and sending notifications to users about delivery schedule changes in advance. They aid in automating the invoice process and provide information on the package’s location.
5.Refund Processing
Online shopping has expanded the options for shopaholics in a variety of ways. They can now obtain delivery information and request a refund or exchange if they are unhappy with their package. Bots employed for refunds can further reduce the time involved in this process and help the parties involved.
According to Gartner, Inc, by 2027, chatbots will become the primary customer service channel for roughly a quarter of organizations.
Few circumstances in which bots issue refund:
- Late delivery
- Incorrect item delivery
- Missing or incomplete order
Bots can automate this process by issuing a refund on a returned item, updating the refund status proactively, and confirming receipt with the customer. Working around the clock results in customer convenience and service efficiency.
6.Answering FAQ’s
FAQ chatbots, also known as Frequently Asked Questions chatbots, are designed to answer frequently asked questions about a product or service. These chatbots can be integrated with various communication channels, including text, voice, and messaging apps. They may also be accessible through multiple social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and WhatsApp. The primary goal of FAQ chatbots is to automate repetitive tasks such as answering commonly asked questions. Businesses can significantly reduce manual effort by automating repetitive tasks with FAQ chatbots, allowing employees to focus on more critical tasks.
7.Payments Processing
The global transactional value of mobile payments is expected to exceed $12,407.5 billion by the end of 2025, with a CAGR of 23.8% between 2020 and 2025. Chatbots are now being used extensively in financial services. They are quick, inexpensive, and, most importantly, available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. AI Chatbot integration in the financial sector is expected to save USD 7.3 billion by 2023.
Chatbots help the finance industry in payments processing by allowing customers to make payments and check the status of their transactions through natural language conversation. This can be done by integrating the chatbot with a payments processing system, such as a bank’s online banking platform or a third-party payment processor. The chatbot can then use natural language understanding (NLU) and natural language generation (NLG) technologies to understand and respond to customer requests in a conversational manner. This can include things like initiating a payment, checking the status of a transaction, or providing information about account balances and recent transactions. By using chatbots for payments processing, financial institutions can provide their customers with a more convenient and user-friendly way to manage their finances.
Late payment is also an important issue financial sectors face. According to a recent Sage study, late payments cost small and medium-sized businesses up to $3 trillion globally each year. The customer may require frequent assistance, which may require significant time and effort. It is difficult to devote so much time and attention to each customer monthly. The manpower and operational costs will be exorbitant. Chatbots can send payment reminders at any time of day or night. If they need to escalate a collections issue, the bot can transfer control to a human agent. They can also persuade customers by showing credit scores often and highlight the effect of late payment and can end the cycle with thank you messages for paying the money on time.
8.User Onboarding Process
Installing a new banking app or a shopping app is always a unique experience for the user. During the user onboarding process, a chatbot can come to your rescue. They can be programmed to provide new users with step-by-step guidance through the onboarding process. This can include instructions for setting up an account, configuring settings, and learning how to use the product or service. In addition, the bot can send follow-up actions and reminders, notify relevant stakeholders, and track progress and electronic documents. During the onboarding process, chatbots can also collect feedback from new users. This can help businesses to identify any pain points or areas of confusion during the onboarding process and make improvements accordingly.
Chatbots can handle an unlimited number of user conversations at the same time. They can provide all basic onboarding information and answer up to 80% of routine questions, relieving your human customer service team of all that work.
9.Providing recommendations to users
Chatbots have the critical advantage of real-time responses, adaptability, and the added convenience of a conversational format. They eliminate the need for shoppers to scroll down an endless product page to find what they need regarding product recommendations. Instead, utilize the conversation to bring the product to the customer. Furthermore, chatbots can be programmed to recall previous interactions and purchase history to provide personalized recommendations based on the buyer’s preferences.
Customers may not like sharing data, but providing a name or preferences feels much less interfering during a conversation. More importantly, it allows businesses to see in real-time which parts of the conversation users are losing interest in and adjust the flow of the conversation accordingly.
Advantages of using customer service chatbots
- Reduces customer service costs immensely
- Eliminates manual errors
- Improves response time
- Enhances customer experience
- Provides 24/7 support without any disruption
- Helps to have a consistent tone and improves branding
- Provides services across multiple channels
- Helps in centralizing information
- Aligns with preferences of young users
Major Industries that use customer service chatbots
- Banking and Financial services
- e-Commerce
- Healthcare
- Hospitality
- Real estate
- Telecom
- Travel
- Transportation & Logistics
- Food tech
- Entertainment
- EdTech
- Automobile
- Legal services
Think before you leap!
Bots can be continuously trained to perform tasks with the help of AI and can save a lot of energy for your employees by freeing them up from repetitive tasks. This can improve employee morale and increase workplace productivity. Success in the implementation of automation in customer service depends on a few factors:
- The quality of the automation technology
- Continuous improvement
- Scalability
- Cost-effectiveness
- Data security
To check the above boxes, you must choose the right automation partner. Worry not! With numerous years of experience in this domain, vChat can help you accomplish your goals.
Reach out and embark on a successful customer service journey!
