Training Keeps Customer Service Staff Relevant in the Face of Technological Advances

This week (October 7 – 11), is Customer Service Appreciation Week and it’s time to throw out kudos to the men and women who work hard making sure all our transactions go smoothly. However, as consumers, we find ourselves dealing with customer service chatbots and other forms of artificial intelligence (AI) more often these days. With some companies, finding an actual human in the customer service process is harder than finding Bigfoot in the middle of Manhattan, so some people believe that AI might completely replace human employees at some point.

Recently, I wrote a white paper about today’s customer service department that disagrees with that thought. I believe that today, human contact providing great customer service can be a huge differentiator in a world where most customers have dozens, if not hundreds, of options for goods and services.

Part of the white paper is excerpted below, but you can download the whole report for free by clicking here.

Data proves how essential great customer service is to a company’s bottom line

As consumers, we all know that a million aggravations can happen with even the simplest of transactions, no matter if it’s online or a brick-and-mortar store. And honestly, one bad customer service experience can destroy the goodwill banked over the 20 previous experiences which were all perfect. Therefore, CS reps have to be “on” every time.

Having great customer service is not just an image thing. According to a recent American Express Customer Service Barometer study, seven out of 10 customers spent more money with companies that provide exceptional customer service. Throw in building customer loyalty, brand image, fixing problems for customers effectively and efficiently, and there are millions of reasons to invest heavily in your company’s customer service people and processes.

Raymond Joabar, Executive Vice President of American Express' servicing organization said, "Service is an increasingly important competitive advantage for companies, both large and small, that make doing business easy and put their customers' needs first."

Many companies are investing in artificial intelligence (AI) to help their customer service capabilities

If you’re a business owner or C-suite executive, you know that adopting technological advances like artificial intelligence often comes at a human cost. Currently, this is most evident in the customer service industry where AI chatbots are automating many tasks previously done by human employees. Unfortunately for many industries, employees have become expendable and are terminated in cost-cutting moves.

Today’s consumers are demanding. Not only do they want satisfactory solutions to their questions and problems, but they want them immediately. As little as seven years ago, studies showed that 60 percent of consumers believed one minute was too long to be on hold, and 33 percent believed customer service should pick up the call immediately with no hold time. Since then, customers have become more impatient and even less forgiving.

The rise of automation, chatbots and AI in customer service

Customer attitude is a reason for the popularity of chatbots. They’re available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year and can handle many tasks, including account inquiries, order statuses, bill payments and more. For the company, AI is fantastic because it doesn’t take sick days, need vacations or have bad days at work. But today, it’s not enough to answer uncomplicated questions or carry out easy transactions.

As we cover in the white paper, customers still value human interaction for many things. They want well-trained representatives who can provide answers, compassion and understanding at the speed of AI. What they don’t want are ill-trained, uncertain and unconfident customer service representatives without sympathy for the customer’s problems.

Your company needs to take the next step toward the future of customer service

Successful companies realize that the next chapter is being written in the customer service industry. Instead of looking at their employees as unnecessary overhead easily replaced by AI, organizations are investing in employee training that reskills their people to thrive today. Training engages employees, and it boosts morale and company culture. Instead of fighting technology, employees embrace it as an invaluable tool and not as the enemy that replaces them.

In return for your training investment, you’ll recover it tenfold in customer satisfaction, loyalty and powerfully positive word of mouth on social media. Money can’t buy this level of satisfaction. When you are a destination company for customers, it’s easy to become a destination employer for top talent in your industry.   

Maintaining composure and calmly handling all customers—even the most emotional and negative ones—is what will turn an irate customer into your brand’s biggest advocate. Most times, that treatment will come from a trained human and not a bot. 

To download our FREE report on how employee training will turn your customer service department into your biggest brand advocate, click here.