{"id":491076,"date":"2023-09-10T22:21:45","date_gmt":"2023-09-11T05:21:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.genesys.com\/?post_type=blog&p=491076"},"modified":"2023-09-10T22:21:45","modified_gmt":"2023-09-11T05:21:45","slug":"when-you-should-be-anti-self-service-in-customer-service","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/www.genesys.com\/en-sg\/blog\/post\/when-you-should-be-anti-self-service-in-customer-service","title":{"rendered":"When You Should Be Anti-Self-Service in Customer Service"},"content":{"rendered":"

[vc_section full_width=”stretch_row”][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]With the rapid growth in AI and bots, self-service applications are improving a company\u2019s ability to understand and classify customer intent. That sounds great but might not always be the case.<\/p>\n

During a recent online panel discussion about customer experience, technologies, and \u2014 of course \u2014 the use of generative AI<\/a>, bots and other emerging tech, a participant asked, \u201cWhat is the impact of generative AI on self-service?\u201d Some panel members explained that with greater understanding of intent comes a greater ability to service and deliver successful results. We discussed the power of AI<\/a> in the employee experience \u2014 and a bot\u2019s ability to surface knowledge in real-time as a customer\/employee conversation is unfolding.<\/p>\n

Then, I introduced this thought.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith all this advanced technology and understanding, it certainly will be easier to provide self-service. But we need to keep in mind that sometimes the worst thing you could do is actually allow someone to self-serve.\u201d<\/p>\n

Knowing the Right Time to Be Anti-<\/em>Self-Service<\/h2>\n

Self-service can be great \u2014 for both customers and businesses. But it\u2019s a component of a much broader customer experience strategy and design. Knowing the right time to surface and guide users to self-service is the key.<\/p>\n

Imagine this: A top-tier customer is out surfing your digital property or entering your voice system. You\u2019ve been sending this person offers and identifying cross-sell and up-sell opportunities<\/a> to expand their products and services with you; now they\u2019re on your doorstep. Would you really want them to just serve themselves and go away?<\/p>\n

Consider another scenario: You\u2019ve been trying to reach a customer for information on an issue, application or maybe late payment \u2014 and now they\u2019re on your website or in your IVR. Do you want to let that person self-serve and go?<\/p>\n

There are opportunities that we might let slip through our fingertips across all touchpoints. For the right opportunity, it makes better business sense to spend a little more time and effort to engage this person with a human resource to differentiate the brand, generate revenue, or drive retention and customer loyalty.<\/p>\n

According to the recent Genesys report, \u201cThe State of Customer Experience<\/a>,\u201d 86% of consumers say that a company is only as good as its service; one-third of customers said they switched brands in the past year over a negative interaction. These are moments of truth that should be evaluated and designed with the same due diligence as the mission, the logo and the next campaign messaging.<\/p>\n

I love a good self-service experience. I analyse company experience designs and performance every day. I\u2019ve experienced very very<\/em> good applications that get me the answer I need quickly and get me back to the thing that\u2019s really important to me \u2014 my life.<\/p>\n

But I\u2019ve also had experiences where I\u2019ve struggled to find answers; didn\u2019t have time to research the answers; or was contacted by the company for an offer, an issue or an alert only to find that they don\u2019t know who I am or what I\u2019m responding to when I reach out to them. During these times, I really appreciate when an informed company engages me with a specialist \u2014 and that specialist (because of the value of the relationship) understands the friction I\u2019ve experienced.<\/p>\n

When I connect with a specialist of a company that knows how to differentiate the brand, they know who I am, where I\u2019ve been in my journey, and the relationship [or lack thereof] I\u2019ve with the company. As I participate in this type of conversation, I don\u2019t have to put forth a lot of effort to explain myself. I feel known, heard and understood.<\/p>\n

This type of experience and this type of understanding at scale requires orchestration \u2014 having the ability to visualize journeys and identify the points of friction and the paths for success across all your customer experiences. Experience orchestration uses AI to stitch together identities across touchpoints into a unified customer profile that\u2019s always learning and adapting. With this unified identity, you can now stitch together events from across experiences \u2014 digital, contact centre, back-office<\/a>, even IoT events \u2014 across the customer lifecycle [marketing, sales, service, fulfillment].<\/p>\n

Armed with this information, you can target and prioritise change and improvement that delivers the biggest customer and business impacts.<\/p>\n

Delivering End-to-End Orchestrated Experiences at Scale<\/h2>\n

When a brand can\u2019t deliver orchestrated experiences, even a human-assisted interaction could feel as impersonal and disjointed as a bad self-service experience.<\/p>\n

To deliver these end-to-end orchestrated experiences at scale<\/a>, contact centres need to connect channels, data and knowledge to guide users to the right resources that deliver successful outcomes for them and the business. Leveraging AI to monitor activity and predict moments where the experience or relationship is stalled or regressing. In those moments, companies must engage customers proactively in real-time to address challenges as well as discover and define intent or opportunities.<\/p>\n

As you engage, it\u2019s about connecting each user with the right resource: bots, knowledge, content, and\/or the right human resource \u2014 and then providing that resource with the context to enter the conversation from a place of understanding. It isn\u2019t asking the customer to repeat information they\u2019ve already given, either in their profile, their input or their activity history.<\/p>\n

And part of experience orchestration is also about assessing, evaluating and improving all your resources. This means understanding where your knowledge content<\/a> is working \u2014 and where it\u2019s not. You need to tune your bots to better understand intent and guide users to content and representatives.<\/p>\n

Finally, you can\u2019t forget one of your biggest brand differentiators: your brand ambassador and the voice and persona of your brand in that moment \u2013 your human representatives. Experience orchestration includes understanding their strengths and weaknesses, keeping your workforce engaged<\/a> and involved in the business and the mission, and providing them with coaching and information at their fingertips to reduce the cognitive load. This enables them to focus on customer needs, build relationships and positive customer experiences, and create successful outcomes.<\/p>\n

Designing the Best Experience for Each Customer<\/h2>\n

The promise of AI and technology is a big and beautiful thing. The sophistication of self-service will continue to improve as we scale better understanding and our ability to surface answers and solutions through technological advances. But there\u2019s still a bigger picture to consider. And this picture needs to capture your customers, too.<\/p>\n

Customers don\u2019t think they\u2019re experiencing a marketing motion or technology A or B. They experience your brand.<\/p>\n

Delivering on the promise of tomorrow requires us to be experience designers \u2014 connecting the dots and unifying the data and technology to deliver seamless experiences for customers and employees as well as real business value to the company.<\/p>\n

When do bots make sense? When should customers self-serve? When should a contact centre agent step in? The answer to all those questions is, \u201cIt depends.\u201d<\/p>\n

It depends on who the customer is, where they\u2019ve been, what are they trying to accomplish \u2014 or what is the company wants to accomplish. Technology allows us to evaluate those variables in real-time and take the right actions that benefit everyone.<\/p>\n

See what Experience Orchestration can do for your organization. Watch the Experience Orchestration demo<\/a> today.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][\/vc_section]<\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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