How To Enhance Customer Satisfaction Using Self-Service Technology?

The fundamental to succeed in an economic world is by pleasing your customer. With the increase in competitiveness, product uniqueness is also reducing, bringing everything down to the service you provide. Believe it or not, self-service is one of the most preferred forms of customer service technologies out there. Customers love to feel self-sufficient and empowered. Above all, when a customer independently solves their product-based issues, they feel more in control. This cultivates confidence in the brand.

A recent Microsoft report has revealed that around 77% of customers have used self-support portals whenever necessary. It is even more evident now that customers enjoy self-service channels over traditional ones. Customers find it convenient, giving them control to avail of this service any time of the day. 

Imagine it's 3 AM, and you can't figure out a feature on your phone. You can call the support as it is available around the clock. However, it is late, and you are too lazy to have a conversation, share details, and all that jazz! With self-support, you can just interact with the bot or find a relevant answer in the FAQ section. It's that easy!  

Around 73% of customers want to solve their issues by themselves, as per Business Insider. Obviously, complicated services will require expert help, but self-help can elevate your customer service quality with little aid and the right technology. There is no doubt that customers always expect an extraordinary level of support. However, when market studies show an inclination towards self-service, it is definitely worth looking for all businesses out there. There is a vast effect of self-service technology on customer satisfaction. But before dwelling on that, let's discuss the available self-service technologies in the market. 

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When we think of self-service, the first thing that comes to mind is AI. There is no denying that AI is rapidly changing the customer support industry. Equipping your messaging ports with chatbots can change your game. 

Chatbots are a popularly used AI-solution in businesses around the world. If you are still not deploying chatbots in 2021, then you are way behind! These bots are well-trained with pre-fed information, and they can prompt appropriate responses or product pages to help a customer troubleshoot their problems. 

According to Acquire, 1.4 billion people use messaging apps and are willing to talk to chatbots. It only makes sense to meet customers where they are. 

 

Customers will always choose efficient and faster solutions. Let's be honest, nobody enjoys talking to customer support unless it is an absolute necessity. So it is better to engage customers via text-based services. 

Text-based services are nothing but a conversational AI solution where the customer messages the brand through their preferred channel. The customer can just message their query, and the AI will automatically scout the correct response and update the customer. This is an excellent solution for e-commerce or any delivery-based service that needs to showcase in-transit updates. There is no longer any need to call the agent to get an update on your much-awaited deliveries. 

 

The current generation of customers considers telephony to be the last resort. However, speaking to an agent cannot be eradicated as it is the only way the conversation is human-to-human. But to encourage customers to utilize it, embracing automation can do the trick. An automated-menu system that doesn't require an agent but offers the option to reach one is perfect. Conversational IVRs can imitate an agent-like conversation that is to-the-point and enables the customer to resolve issues alone. 

 

The last way to help your customer is by creating a well-segmented knowledge base—a proper index of your products with FAQs. Any customer at any point can go through these to find an answer to their problems. 

These are some popular forms of self-service technology that are available in the current industry. However, anybody can forecast that more automated solutions will take over customer service's self-service segment in a few years. 

At the end of any investment, the goal is customer satisfaction to reap revenue. Let's find out how self-service technology is impacting customer satisfaction. 

Convenience:

The entire conversation on self-service revolves around convenience. Convenience is the primary outcome of self-service. Customers want convenient access to service without much hassle, a less intrusive service, less tiring, and just aims to resolve the issue. Self-service technology has the potential to deliver this level of comfort to all the customers in every industry. 

When we say convenience, we are focused on the flexibility and mobility of the service. It must be available around the clock for every location, with equal accessibility to every customer. Customers are more on their phones now than on their systems. Curating a self-service system around their preferred channel/device will potentially make a difference in the quality of your service. 

Time Efficient As No Queue Time:

Traditional support channels are less efficient. From telephony to chat support, most services are manually managed. Therefore, there is a limit to how many customers can be served at a time. This results in the queue time for customers. In this digital age, where everything is fast-paced, longer queue times are a big no-no. 

With automation, or self-service portals, queue time is a zilch, and agents can be assigned to complicated cases where human support is needed. This also boosts customer's morale as they are swiftly able to resolve their issues, relieving their frustration. 

Increase in FCR:

With an increase in self-service portals, customers will resolve their issues by themselves even before they feel the need to call the agent. This, in return, generates positive metrics and reviews for the brand. The business will witness higher First Call Resolution rates, as most customers will find a solution in the first interaction with the self-service tools.

In the bigger picture, this frees up your agents to provide better resolution who need telephony / live chat support or prefer it. In other words, your FCR rates also improve on the front, which relies on human-support.

Richer Experience = More Revenue

Lastly, it is all about offering an experience. More users prefer a DIY system which they can operate. So, with self-service, the customers get what they are looking for. Helpful experiences generate customer loyalty and retain most customers. These customers become brand advocates who bring in more customers through suggestions or online reviews. And there is no downside to more customers. With more permanent sources of revenue, brands can scale faster and stay ahead of competitors consistently.