Self-service is often the first step of the customer service journey. It is at this time that the solution can either enhance brand perception or hurt brand perception, so the importance of self-service cannot be over emphasized. Factors driving organizations to invest in self-service include:
Cost efficiency and competitive advantage. Self-service is clearly more cost advantageous. With increasing commoditization of products and services, and the potential for disruption occurring at any time (What will you do when Amazon gets into your business domain?), it is imperative to drive down cost in order to maintain competitive advantage.
Customer preference. With 91% of consumers wanting to engage via self-service it clearly demonstrates the demand is strong. Even amongst those who do not necessarily want to engage via self-service, it is often the first step in the journey. Taken together, the percentage of customers who will be exposed to your self-service solutions will be high.
Customer Effort and brand perception. Various studies show that Customer Effort Scores of self-service are typically 100% greater than the Customer Effort Scores of traditional assisted service (higher score is better). With more investment going into customer brand, Net Promoter Score and lowering customer effort, it is imperative to have a sound self-service strategy.
Technology advancement. There has probably been no greater interest in, and advancement of, both automation and Artificial Intelligence technology. And with these being fundamental components of self-service, it is only natural that the self-service solutions of today are far outpacing yesterday’s solutions. Today’s virtual customer assistant can engage in natural dialog, is fully transactional, and even knows when to engage a human to complete or salvage an interaction!
About Uniphore
Uniphore’s automation expertise and IP within customer service operations continues to deliver end-to-end customer service automation solutions to global enterprises helping them move further down an autonomous CX path. From guiding the contact center agents and automating their manual tasks to fully automated customer self-service solutions, Uniphore automates interactions while improving customer experience.
Supporting all channels and systems deployed in high volume contact centers to low volume call centers, Uniphore customer service automation solutions are designed to improve customer self-service and agent-assisted service. Each solution can be deployed as a standalone or incorporated as part of a suite through the Robotic Automation & AI Hub we refer to as “Interact.”
As a leader in customer service and contact center solutions, Uniphore’s award winning solutions enable organizations, all around the world, to provide the absolute highest quality of service for their customers.
Decision Guide for Intelligent Self-Service
This guide aims to help with formulating your self-service plan and to understand the state of the industry, navigate pitfalls and show how to roll out self-service projects while also minimizing risk.
[About the author]
Dylon Mills is the Director of Marketing Content Strategy & Development at Uniphore. As such, Dylon’s main responsibilities are to strategize, create and deliver content for Uniphore’s product portfolio that align with the global Go-To-Market strategy, corporate positioning, and marketing campaigns. Dylon’s prior work experience includes Product Management at one of the top Fortune 500 Technology companies, Symantec Corporation. Outside of work, Dylon enjoys problem-solving and any project that includes building/tinkering with tools. Dylon holds a BS Consumer Economics from the University of Georgia.