Unleashing value throughout the digital agent journey
Author: Shaun Edsall
Engaging with customers in meaningful and effective ways to achieve optimum customer experience is critical to business success. It impacts repeat business, brand loyalty, and word of mouth recommendations which are increasingly important in people’s buying decisions. Today’s consumer also expects 24/7 service, available anytime, anywhere.
Unleashing value throughout the digital agent journey
Addressing the evolving ‘always on’ service needs of customers
If I want to buy anything today, my first port of call is online. Whether I make a purchase or simply conduct research, I expect immediate answers. I don’t want to scour a website; and I’m less likely to pick up the phone and talk to someone than I would have been say five years ago. I’m probably also doing my purchasing / researching at odd hours – when it suits me on my chosen device.
However, it’s not just about the service received during the transaction. It’s the entire customer journey and is made up of many different touch points. Achieving those moments of impact and keeping customers at the core of what you do can make or break a business. So how do businesses respond to this?
The need for 'always on' service
One way many organisations are addressing the evolving ‘always on’ service need is with digital agents (also known as chatbots, automated agents, virtual assistants, online chats, brand agents, or digital assistants). Your customer service team is core to driving optimum customer experience, which is why launching an automated digital agent can seem daunting. However, this approach can significantly reduce customer service cost, increase first contact resolution, and improve customer experience with real time results.
So what is a digital agent exactly? It’s a platform for engagement where an individual interacts with a conversational digital channel instead of chatting to a human (either online or via the phone). With the ability to process natural language, and in many cases the addition of an avatar or character to ‘brand’ it, digital agents can truly become an extension of a human-focused customer service team, providing customers tailored and specific help when and where they need it.
The benefits of implementing a digital agent include extending the service windows for customers without increasing staff, delivering consistent and high quality answers at all times, and allowing existing customer service agents to focus on more complex and valued customer queries.