How Automation Improves the Customer Experience

Customer experience (CX) automation is any technology that supports customers with basic processes, replacing human engagement, to improve and streamline customer interactions. CX refers to the touchpoints that individuals use to interact with a brand, such as social media, a company website, or customer support channels. CX automation employs tech solutions to enhance aspects of customer service, such as faster response times, increased efficiency, and the introduction of value-added services. It can be implemented, at any stage of the customer journey, to raise engagement, retention, and overall CX.

Conventional Automated Customer Service Processes Are Being Redesigned

Approximately 72% of clients only respond to company messaging tailored to them. Furthermore, 91% of customers will not return to a brand that makes them feel undervalued and overlooked. Clients must believe they are being catered to, cared for, and respected. They crave content that is personalised and meets their specific needs. While automation is typically thought of as mass communication, the truth is that automated responses for email and chat can build a better CX. These automated, real-time interactions assist users and resolve their issues, allowing brand representatives to monitor incoming enquiries rather than respond to individual complaints.

Abandoned cart messages, social media updates, promotions, and product launches are examples of customer contact that can be automated. It is vital to remain engaged with the market since it develops trust, customer retention, and brand consistency. Organisations can even connect social media sites to their dashboard to better manage relationships and boost the success of posts. Email automation technologies enable organisations to send emails to clients automatically based on their activities. For example, a business might design a template that includes the prevalent information if clients frequently send customer service emails concerning shipping. When a new customer emails customer support about this query, the system can automatically deliver the templated response.

Chatbots vs Live Chat

It's no secret that today's customers expect instant feedback, and around 73% of customers find live chat the most satisfactory form of business communication. Customers choose brands that provide proactive live chat assistance for this reason. Brands can even make meaningful suggestions as automation leverages artificial intelligence and machine learning. AI evaluates the customer's query to ensure they are referred to the appropriate specialist. Because a company might get thousands of live chat discussions in a single day, efficiency is critical when managing incoming messaging. CRM integration allows brands to effortlessly automate operations such as gathering and saving new information.

An automated chatbot is an AI-powered program that can imitate human-like discussions with clients. Similar to a Live Chat, bots provide the appropriate suggestions depending on the customer's enquiry. Their sole distinction is that chatbots guide users to online resources that provide solutions to their inquiries. Responses are customisable, and the chatbot will utilise them to communicate with prospects across numerous platforms. Brands may therefore automate the process of verifying incoming leads and assigning them to the appropriate sales representative. These bots can learn customer behaviours and apply them to solve complex problems. Every year, chatbots get more sophisticated. According to studies chatbots handled 68.9% of interactions from start to finish in 2020. This indicates a 260% improvement in end-to-end resolution compared to 2017 when just 20% of conversations could be handled without the assistance of an agent.

Developing The Ideal Omnichannel Experience

The days of simply providing a tracking number to clients once an order is shipped are long gone. Customers want to know how their orders are progressing, therefore automating product inventory management is critical. Tracking consumer interactions across different channels manually is complex and time-consuming. Automation can make things easier while still providing the same vital information. Usually, automating the CX necessitates a lot of effort and bespoke code. However, with today's technology, everyone from small businesses to multinational corporations has access to a wide range of solutions. Sophisticated technology conducts targeted campaigns, collects data, and delivers follow-up communications automatically. The omnichannel CX includes consistent messages across platforms, which makes marketing a critical role, but relationship development is perhaps even more important. Personalisation and data collecting are successful methods, but if brands do not take the time to learn about the client and their problems, they will be unable to provide appropriate solutions — and their bottom line will suffer as a result.

Accounting, inventory management, and analytics reporting are just a few of the tasks that retailers may automate. By allowing technology to manage data, more hours in the day are available to design a seamless CX across all channels. Businesses can employ automation in every facet of their inventory and order tracking process. This approach is beneficial to forecasting, sales, and data analysis. It's also useful to businesses who want to see how seasonal or promotional goods affect their profitability. Order tracking and inventory automation can inform customers about an order's estimated shipping date, which carrier is delivering it, when an order is en route, if there are any delays, and when an item the customer previously purchased is on sale. Communicating order details is an excellent approach to keeping clients informed and engaged with a brand.

Integrated Content Operations Adds Significant Value

Content operations is a system of procedures, people, and technology that enables teams to plan, develop, manage, and analyse an array of content for all channels. Every business unit is affected by content operations. The content ecosystem includes marketing, sales, HR, R&D, and executives. Companies that are unwilling to invest in content operations solutions frequently fail to provide the tailored content experiences that customers increasingly demand. According to the State of Personalisation Report, 49% of shoppers made impulse purchases after receiving a more tailored experience. Companies that understand content as a system find it easier to make appropriate content decisions, subsequently allowing them to be adaptive to changing conditions and developing trends.

Cross-enterprise content operations offer several advantages. They bring fragmented initiatives together, tear down data silos, and unite departments. A lot of effort is wasted on developing duplicate and unneeded material when it is unclear who is responsible for crafting it. In contrast, brands could not have the required content when assignments are handed from team to team. Inefficient content operations result in a siloed workplace, in which material is developed and managed independently, with no clear understanding of the content needed. Companies must invest in content operations to save time and money, resulting in scalable and repeatable procedures that allow teams to accomplish more with less. Today's most successful businesses are putting the CX at the intersection of content and data.

Receiving Customer Feedback Is Essential And Can Boost Automation’s Efficacy

Too often, brands do not solicit customer feedback until after the sale. While evaluations and Net Promoter Score surveys can help improve existing products and services, they fall short in identifying the needs of prospective customers. Organisations may address these difficulties from a client-centric standpoint with a little design thinking, beginning with a fundamental inquiry about what clients truly desire. Speaking with customers takes the guesswork out of the equation. One of the most important aspects of expanding a business is lead generation. Many brands fall short by not asking leads what they hope to gain from a service or why they are interested in a product. Even if they do not become a client, organisations can leverage their input to find common tendencies that can help make future decisions.

Welcoming new users is an approach customers value. By creating an onboarding experience for new customers, brands can ensure they're getting the most out of their service and win their trust and loyalty — the first step to continued customer engagement. Sales and solid reviews aren't the only indicators of happy customers. Brand trust keeps customers coming back, and this can grow through ongoing engagement. One important group of people to ask for feedback are those who choose not to become a customer, particularly if they choose to end a relationship with a company. Sending a survey is a low-effort way to learn about the things that didn't work for someone, especially if an organisation is willing to take that feedback and put it to use.

The Revolution Will Be Automated

The action that creates a circular model, no matter how a brand collects data, is putting it into practice. Establishing an internal process for assessing, evaluating, and planning is essential and should be based on what they learn from leads and existing or former customers and clients. Automation can assist you in employing all of the resources at your disposal to initiate engagement with customers. A customer-focused business begins with listening.