Customer service can be improved using a variety of methods and tools but as a business communications provider, in this article, we’re going to look at how tools such as omnichannel contact centre solutions, intelligent VoIP, and AI chatbots help.
Improving Customer Service Through Communications
Some of the most common customer complaints are around communication so if you are looking to improve your customer service levels, taking a good look at the communication process is key to delivering better service.
Whilst most frustrations communicating with a business come from long wait times, customers also hate inefficient call handling – being passed from one person to another and not being able to contact a business using their preferred method. There are smaller frustrations too, such as customers having to repeat themselves.
Read on for three ways you can deliver a better customer experience using solutions from Daktela.
- Provide more ways to get in touch
Back in ye olden days, the only way to speak to customers would have been via letter, a phone call or face-to-face. These days, we are spoilt for choice when it comes to different ways customers and businesses can communicate with each other.
Phone calls are still the preferred method for most customer communications, but customer service departments are increasingly responding to social media messages and even WhatsApp and Instagram messages. Many websites now also have instant chat options, whether manned by a real person or an AI chatbot.
Customers now expect to be able to contact your business in a way that feels convenient to them and limiting your contact options could be harming customer relations. Some customers will always prefer to speak over the phone, some prefer email, and many, including younger people, expect to be able to communicate through your social media channels.
Providing a range of ways for customers to talk to you is great, but only if communications are managed effectively at your end. One of the most obvious issues with a wide range of contact options is that your customer service representatives may struggle to balance disparate communications.
An omnichannel contact centre can improve customer service by unifying all the ways your customers get in touch, in one place. In addition to improving the experience for customers, communications become more efficient for your team.
- Improve the inbound call experience
Despite businesses needing to be more adaptable and adopt different communication methods, voice does remain the most popular way for customers to get in touch so this channel must be effective, and easy to use.
One of the most common complaints customers have, other than wait times, is inefficiency when it comes to call handling. The process for your customers to get to speak to the right people needs to be fast and accurate. There is nothing more frustrating than waiting on hold, only to find you aren’t speaking to the right person and need to wait again.
An intelligent voice solution can help your customers get what they need, faster. Features such as Interactive Voice Response (IVR), call routing, and Voice Recognition speed up the inbound call process and give customers better results.
When using a cloud contact centre solution like ours, this powerful technology can be paired with a CRM solution that logs all customer activity and relevant details. This means that the first call handler to receive a customer’s call has all relevant data and communications to hand. This helps your team provide a personalised service, which in turn, makes customers feel more valued and improves overall customer service levels.
That said, you shouldn’t just rely on an improved inbound call process to improve customer service – proactive customer service is set to be a huge trend this year. Being proactive means contacting your customers before they need to contact you – for example, alerting customers of issues, such as shipping delays and service interruptions or introducing customers to new services or products that they may like.
- Make use of new AI technology and chatbots
Chatbots sometimes get a bit of a bad reputation but advances in AI mean customer chatbots are extremely accurate and effective these days, with significant advances made to AI technology in recent years.
Adding AI chatbot software to your website can speed up interactions, getting your customers the answers they want, quickly. Chatbots aren’t limited to live chats either, they can be utilised to work through SMS and even Facebook Messenger. Voice chatbots can interact with customers over the phone too – there is now a wide range of AI solutions to help improve customer service.
AI solutions are so sophisticated now that most customers won’t even realise they are speaking to a robot and in most cases, won’t care – so long as their query is resolved. Older chatbots worked on rule-based systems, programmed to answer certain questions with standard responses. Advanced AI learns as it goes, understands intent and can quickly help customers, in a human way.
Daktela Solutions
Are you ready to improve customer service and win people over with Daktela solutions? Why not book a demo today?
Our business phone, AI, and cloud contact centre solutions are already helping thousands of businesses deliver five-star customer service.
