The first week of October marked National Customer Service Week (#NCSW13) and a quick Twitter search showed lots of organisations recognising their service teams and sharing their top tips for providing the best service possible. It’s no secret that the service and support you provide can make or break your customer experience. Hiring the right people for your contact centre is key when it comes to providing superior service, but just like any other profession, your team can’t be successful without the correct tools for the job.
Customers today are demanding and not particularly forgiving if they feel like you’re wasting their time. They expect quick, complete and correct help the first time they contact you. If your agents don’t have the tools and information readily available to provide the expected level of support, then you are doing them and your business a great disservice. You may be forcing them to work like a dog to provide the best service.
With the growing demand for self-service, more and more enterprises are looking to intelligent virtual assistants as an option on their websites. However, the power of that technology within contact centres is still often overlooked. These systems make the ideal tool for your support agents by providing benefits such as:
- Goodbye keyword searches – Because virtual agents use natural language technology, your representatives don’t need to perform tedious keyword searches to find an answer. They can simply ask in the same natural way your customer is asking them.
- I see what you see – Often it’s helpful for live agents to know exactly what information a customer may have already seen on the website. With virtual agent technology you can provide them with that information side-by-side with more detailed information to further assist the customer with one quick search.
- Everything in one place – These systems are not only a means for service agents to better help the customer, but also a way for agents to better help themselves. Virtual agents can be used to guide employees through training materials and can be an easy way to access internal guides, manuals and checklists.
Take a good look at the tools you’ve given your customer service team. Are they truly allowing your agents to get their job done right? If not, then you can read more here about how an intelligent virtual assistant can make a world of difference for your agents.
