Automated customer support: How to support customers at scale

Automated customer support isn't new. We have all used automated phone menus and interacted with support robots to get help.

However, much has changed in terms of usability and customer perception. The quality of voice recognition technology has improved, and AI solutions can interpret customer feedback. Chatbots can now answer customers' questions, not just pass them on to a person. This increased functionality has led to a shift in customer perceptions of automation. They now see it as less of a nuisance and more a legitimate, personal option for helping them with their problems.

This is an inside look at Industrialax's automated, personalized customer service implementation. It also includes ideas for implementing automation in your support services.

What is automated customer support?

Automated customer support is a form of customer service performed by chatbots powered by AI and not humans. Customers who need help finding a particular resource, status updates, or answers to simple questions are best served by automated customer support.

Automation: How to Support Your Customers

Over the past decade, live chat has been the standard for top-quality conversational support. Chat is quicker than email, more straightforward than traditional knowledge bases, and far less frustrating than shouting into an automated telephone system.

However, live chat may not be the best option for busy customers or support representatives with limited time. For example, customers might be multitasking or working from home. Chatbots and automated support options are just as important for customers who don't have the time or patience to talk with support representatives in depth.

Your support team will also benefit from these advantages. It frees your support team to focus on more difficult queries and tasks, which allows them to devote their time and expertise to solving complex questions.

These are the advantages of automated support we have found particularly beneficial here at Intercom.

1. Customers can multitask

Chatbots can answer questions for customers and provide information between meetings. Customers may also get a link to helpful articles and read them when they have the time. There is no pressure to act immediately.

2. Customers have the freedom to choose the option that best suits their needs

Automated support does not mean sending customers to endless loops of scripted answers. While some customers enjoy digging in to help center articles and others don't care about the details, others are more interested in a glance. It is essential to serve both.

3. Reduce labor costs

Automation benefits both your customers as well as your company. Automation allows you to reduce the number of support staff, save time, and lower labor costs.

4. There is less room for human error

Automated rules enable customers to ask questions that cannot be answered by chatbots to be instantly routed to the right person or team. This ensures no confusion about who answers what questions and who has already answered them.

5. Increased efficiency

Automated customer service can be an excellent way for businesses to reach more customers quickly and efficiently without increasing their staff. Automated customer service can free up your support staff to handle more complex VIP queries and emotionally charged complaints. Your business can make a big difference in speed, cost, and time savings. But only if you carefully implement these solutions.

Automated customer service that feels human

Smart Insights recently conducted a study that found 63% of customers would not buy from brands with poor personalization strategies. Unfortunately, this means that you cannot fully automate customer service.

Automating must feel personal. This requires patience and thoughtfulness. To avoid making your personalization seem too creepy, you need to find the right balance. Websites can suggest articles to help you before you contact support. Chatbots can also offer resources based on the page you are viewing. If this is the first time they visit your site, a chatbot that uses data enrichment tools to address customers by name is not a good idea.

Intercom focuses on customer service and balancing automation and personalization. We do this in two key areas: customer routing and issue resolution.

Quickly solve customer problems (sometimes instantaneously).

We respect customers' time and respond as soon as possible when they write us. The chatbot can answer customers' questions immediately. In some cases, even before they have finished typing.

Customers can choose the suggestion closest to their problem and then solve their problems. Customers can also choose to be routed to support specialists if they cannot find the answer to their problem.

A Task Bot can also be used to look at customer messages and suggest articles. However, it only works if the user has not visited the Help Center within the last 15 minutes. The articles probably didn't answer the question if they had. Redirecting them to an existing resource is more frustrating than it is helpful in this case.

A chatbot will always verify that a customer has received the information they need, even if it can answer their question. If the answer is no, the customer can speak to a human.

Access to a person is how we keep things personal while avoiding the "I can't answer that" chatbot loop. This happens when a customer asks questions to an ineffective chatbot but can't find an escape hatch to speak to a real person.

Contextual customer routing

Customer routing is another area in which we use automation. Our assignment rules handle conversations that are not managed by a bot. The rest of the conversations are routed to an inbox for human review.

The definition of "right place" can vary, so our assignment rules consider the customer's past with us (if any) to decide where they should go for the help they need. We keep routing personal because we consider multiple factors to determine where our customers should go. These factors include:

• Keywords for message

• Products for use

• Type of company

• Page URL

• Customer tenure

Machine learning can improve your productivity OCR automation The automation revolution is not slowing down. Customers and businesses see the benefits of customer service automation every day. Customers benefit by getting their queries answered faster, and for companies, it helps reduce the workload.

If you are thinking to automate your business processes and want to know more about web and software development options - contact us at anytime with any questions. It is our first priority to assist you!✌️