The automated chaos
10 Jun, 2021
Call handling is too costly? Let's automate it! The ordering process is stalled? Automation helps! Customers complain about our availability? We automate that! But automation is not an end in itself and does not automatically lead to a better customer experience. Customers who don't complain are not necessarily happy, but perhaps simply no longer there.
Automation can do nothing if fundamental processes are not organised, if chaos reigns. It is not uncommon for multichannel management and intelligent routing to fail. Rigid forwarding after hours does not fall under this term. So the first thing to do is to do your homework!
Begin at the base
Analyses of customer needs before, during and after the contact are also helpful. Such insights reveal the actual potential for automation. After all, using a bot instead of manual processing is not always the best idea. Automating chaos does not end chaos, as we all know! Instead, it can be worthwhile to invest in mixed solutions that are highly efficient in processing complex concerns, among other things.
AI-based assistants provide information, take over the transcription of the spoken word, recognise concerns and start downstream process steps. Intelligent, mood- and intent-dependent routing can distinguish, for example, simple, repetitive requests from complex concerns or well-tempered customers from angry terminators and thus does considerably more than the simple routing decision between office hours and the period afterwards. The use of such a solution alone makes many things easier and, above all, more efficient. Processes supported in this way demonstrably bring more to the customer experience than a bot that understands the word but not the customer!
Conclusion: Automation through AI is of course primarily used to better organise customer service and align it more closely with the customer. But a bot needs the properly prepared soil in order to take root and bear fruit. So: roll up your sleeves and work the ground!
