Watch Out !  Customer Service is Changing

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A company’s vision must remain current with the times and ensure it is applicable to its targeted demographic.

More and more, customers are spending their dollars with businesses that know how to treat them well, anticipate their needs, and promptly deliver on promises.  They want companies to provide support that is easy and convenient.  Customers expect businesses to be current on state-of-the art trends, especially when it comes to servicing them using Artificial Intelligence (AI):

• Artificial Intelligence (AI) – AI’s use is being expanded to support the customer service representative as well as the customer.  The bot “listens” to the conversation between the rep and the customer and instantly gives the rep the information needed to answer the customer’s questions.
• AI will continue to expand.  That which is considered “lower-level” questions are being managed by computers (chatbots).  As a result, some companies are changing employee assignments from spending hours answering basic questions to being “live” to help customers solve complex issues.

Also, self-service will play a larger role for businesses to accommodate the consumer.  Surveys show that customers go to the company’s website first to find answers to their questions.  When they do, they discover that video has become a powerful way to answer FAQs as well as illustrate how to properly use the company’s products.

Lastly, a major competition differentiator is convenience.  One only need look at how Amazon, Lyft and Airbnb have changed the concept of retail shopping, taxis and vacation rental industries to understand the consumer’s desires and demands for convenience.

Author Wilfred Peterson said, “Big thinking precedes great achievement.” The best way to demonstrate that you care about the customer and to achieve greatness is to make their personal experience spectacular.  If you are not currently using up-to-the-minute technology and providing state-of-the art convenience in your customer experience arsenal, now is the time to do so, otherwise you stand a good chance of being left behind.

Are you ready to stack the odds in your favor over the competition?  Create the plan then execute it.  Let me know how it’s going.