Automation is one of the key components of technological progress. An automated system is one that has the ability to self-regulate, usually for an indefinite amount of time. The more such systems you have in a technical device, an industrial procedure, or a business process, the more time and energy you will free up for other activities that do require direct supervision. However, while automation seemingly has little downsides from a technical perspective, when you add the social factor to the equation, things are bound to change.
While we can all agree that automating some aspects of our daily lives is desirable, deciding which ones to automate is another matter entirely. This issue is especially pertinent in the field of customer service. The increasing availability of commercial-grade, AI-powered, automation software suites has had a significant impact on the customer service landscape. Tasks which used to be reserved for humans can now be performed by complex software algorithms. But it is not immediately apparent whether such a substitution is inherently desirable. Customer service automation can improve the workflow of a business, but it can also lead to serious issues.
In this article, we’ll examine a number of such problems, to give customer service managers a heads-up on what to avoid when it comes to automation.
Being Too Invasive With Preemptive Support
One of the most touted features of modern automated customer service systems, is their ability to sense customer intent, and offer assistance before explicitly being asked anything. While this approach makes sense from a strictly rational point of view — after all, who wouldn’t want to have their problems nipped right in the bud? — upon further inspection, issues start to arise. For one, this kind of approach to customer service is fairly invasive. In order to figure out potential problems before they happen, automated systems need to have data which users might not be willing to share. There is also the issue of false-positives. Something that appears as a problem to an automated system might not be perceived as one by the end-user, in which case offering a solution might be seen as needless pestering.
For these reasons, preemptive support should be offered only if customers choose to opt in. Additionally, preemptive support algorithms have to be optimized and updated on a regular basis in order to be able to differentiate between false positives and real problems.
Being Unaware of the Limitations Of Text-based Communication
Automated customer support systems are predominantly using messaging clients as a primary means of communication, partially because so many people are using them, and partially because it is more economical to produce text-based customer support content. However, using only text severely limits the expressive power of communication. It’s the difference between reading an instruction manual, and having an instructor explain how something works — the former requires much more work and concentration on your part to find the solution for your problem. While there are some voice-based customer support systems available on the market, they are still far from being able to hold a conversation like a human would. This might change in the future, but for now, this is a significant stumbling block for automated customer service systems. Therefore, text-based support should only be offered in cases where both problems and solutions can be expressed in simple language. For instances, providing step-by-step instructions on how to use a device or a piece of software would be within the system’s capabilities.
Train your team to not be immediately reactive. Instead, listen, follow through and then take a proactive stance by asking the following questions:
• What can we do in the future?
• How can we prevent this from happening again?
• How can we evolve to fit your (the customer’s) needs?
Using the Wrong Kind of Bots
So far we haven’t talked about specific automation solutions that companies are employing. One of the more widespread ones is the chatbot, a piece of software that can mimic a human in conversation to a limited degree. Chatbots are often used in customer service to provide round the clock support to individuals around the globe. Chatbot providers usually have multiple kinds of bot on offer, depending on the task they are supposed to perform. While this is a good thing in general, it can also lead to problems when someone ends up picking the wrong bot for the task they had in mind. Customer service departments often run into this problem, either due to technically incompetent managers, misleading bot providers, or some combination of both.
This issue can simply be solved by having trained automation specialists as a part of customer service departments. Such a person would also need to have enough customer support experience to know in what instances a chatbot might be the best solution, and where only live support reps would suffice.
Having No Backup for Unexpected Situations
Another feature of automated customer services systems that is talked about a lot is their fire-and-forget nature. The idea is that once you’ve set up the system, you can leave it to do its own thing without further input or supervision on your part. In contrast, training a customer support rep takes time, and you will likely need to do it from scratch for each new employee. However, as anyone who has worked in customer support will tell you, unexpected situations arise all the time, which pushes people to adapt on the fly. And since automated systems are very difficult to modify in real-time, this makes them unsuitable for work where unexpected outcomes are the norm.
As a result, whenever an automated solution is offered to customers, the option should also exist to contact a live service agent. The service doesn’t have to be offered 24/7 necessarily, but it should at least be available at certain times.
Making Customers Jump through Hoops
The majority of commercially-available customer service automation systems rely on algorithms for processing customer feedback. Each algorithm has a minimum number of steps it needs to take in order to provide a solution to a particular problem. In practice, this usually involves asking questions in a descending order of generality. For example, a chatbot would first ask whether the problem is product related, followed by a question about the specific product line, followed by one about a particular model. Going through a list like this is both time-consuming and annoying to customers, especially if you take into account that a live customer support rep would be able to narrow down the problem in seconds by using mental shortcuts.
To avoid outcomes like these, automated support systems should be constantly updated to cover pertinent customer issues. Furthermore, solutions to these issues should be provided as soon as the customer types in a keyword that might be used to describe them, instead of choosing their problem from a proverbial list.
• Your customer service team, while implementing automation, needs to be clear on the resolution that the customer is looking for and repeat it back to them at specific points in time.
• It should verify customer requests and demands.
• If applicable, conclude with a confirmation or reference number to be used if the customer has additional questions.
• Have a solid closure to the conversation. Make sure that the customer realizes the call has ended and, when possible, wait for them to disconnect.
Failing To Address Emotional Needs
While all of the aforementioned disadvantages might get addressed as automation technology develops, there is one area where machines are not likely to substitute humans any time soon, and that is emotional intelligence. Customer support is not entirely a rational affair. In addition to having their issues addressed, customers are also often looking for a sympathetic ear to voice their grievances to, which is something an automated system will never be able to provide. Customers will judge your company based on how they experienced the entire interaction, and if an emotional component is lacking, they are not likely to walk away satisfied.
There is little indication that automated support systems will have the ability to mimic human emotions any time soon. However, there is an alternative that is uniquely suited to their limited emotional vocabulary, namely emojis. While it might seem silly to use emojis in this context, it has been shown that these little symbols can work as a substitute for body language in chat-like environments.
Robotic technology has evolved to the point that it can answer customers’ questions most of the time. This type of automation is for your bottom line, but it isn’t what your customers are seeking. Neither is a rehearsed list of scripted responses.
When communicating with a customer via chat or automation or bots, make sure your customer care remembers to be personable.
• Be empathetic
• Be warm and kind
• Exude a sense of “we’re in this together”
• Convey authority on the subject
• Be optimistic about the resolution
Conclusion
Software automation has the potential to improve many aspects of customer service, but there are some areas that still require a human touch. Trying to automate the latter can lead to numerous negative consequences, which is why customer services departments should exercise a lot of caution when attempting to do so.
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