With the growth of customer expectations, businesses need to rethink how they provide a smooth customer experience. The competition now is not local but global, and in this, technology is playing quite a crucial role.

Connecting with the customers worldwide, offering a quick resolution of the problems, assisting 24/7 for the best results, streamlining the processes to reduce time, and overall improving customer experience makes automation in customer service the next big thing.

The most important thing that businesses need to adopt is automation and artificial intelligence to revolutionise customer support. It can be using omnichannel, AI-based chatbots, workflow simplification, and many technological upgrades.

Salesforce in one report predicts that by the end of 2021, the global business from the AI-powered CRM activities will reach $1.1 trillion and expects to create 8,00,000 new job opportunities. But the question that emerges here is why is automation the next big thing in customer service?

Reasons to consider automation as the future of customer support

Automation is the future of customer support. It leverages the power of AI to deliver exceptional service.

In sectors such as banking, automation can help businesses to save up to USD 8 billion annually by 2022. Such savings can help businesses divert the funds in the areas with more demand and even support the customer better.

The top reasons for making automation the next big thing in customer support are:

Reliable service is all the customer need

All the customers expect reliability in the service. It means customers prefer to have a service that can assist them at any time without break or delays.

While businesses can employ humans for the same, there is a constraint linked to time. The AI-based automation allows customers to avail service at any time. Also, the solutions offered by them are reliable and based on the keywords.

For example, this can be achieved through conversational chatbots or automating proactive messages to keep customers informed about issues.

Reliability in customer service makes automation the future of customer service. 

A Zendesk study shows that 42% of the customers prefer to purchase frequently from good and reliable customer support, while 52% stop if the same is lacking.

Messaging and chats are preferred

Customers prefer to connect with the business on their preferred channels since they save time and is convenient to use.

The omnichannel presence allows customers to use multiple communication platforms in an integrated manner. Automation is surely the next big thing in customer support as it allows your business to integrate all platforms and tools in one place.

Conversational AI and automation make it possible for customers to use messaging and chat platforms for smoother and quicker communication. 

A report of Forbes says that for reliable customer service, 57% of customers prefer to get a response in 30 minutes irrespective of the time of the day; this is possible by using chatbots.

Self-help is the customer’s new choice

With the changing time, the customers are now more inclined towards self-help. Most customers prefer to look for the solution on their own, and this is easily achievable with automated chatbots.

Automation offers a mix of solutions that serves customers with a quick solution making them satisfied and content.

Self-help is rising in demand making it the next big thing in customer service. 

According to the Salesforce report, 59% of the customers and 71% of buyers suggest that self-service availability impacts customers’ loyalty.

Personalisation allows making a quicker decision

The demand and needs of the customer vary. To offer hassle-free and frictionless service, it is important to offer personalised services to the customer.

Making personalised and custom suggestions to the customers makes them feel listened to and cared for.

The automated AI-powered chatbots can offer unique and timely help to the customers making it easier for them to make the decision and choice. 

Facebook suggests that millennials are twice as likely to use the personal shopper chatbot compared to age groups older than them.

Suggested Reading: Why You Should Focus on Automating your Business Process

Quick query resolution leads to satisfaction

Quick query resolution allows the business to build a satisfied base of customers. The future of customer service lies in the fact that customers prefer a company capable of solving customer queries and questions quickly.

Using AI-based chatbots, canned response and showing agents customer’s data and chat history, a business can ensure that the questions are resolved in no time. 

Automation allows businesses to set processes that ensure precision with speed. Customers get quick and accurate answers.

IBM, in its report, suggested that 80% of the routine questions can be easily tackled by automated chatbots ensuring quicker resolution. 

Smooth workflow and communication reduce lapses

Automating the business process is truly the future of customer support. By automating the workflow and most of the processes, a business can ensure smooth communication between the various stakeholders and reduce lapses.

Automation of workflow in education, healthcare, medicine, and various sectors can save time and offer systematic and progressive support to customers.

GlobeNewswire suggested that during 2017-2026, small and medium enterprises adopting workflow automation can create an incremental opportunity of around USD 1600 million.

Cost management helps the business perform better

The biggest concern for any business in this competitive environment is linked to the cost. The idea is to offer the best customer service and also to manage the cost for the same.

Employing automation can save on the cost of employee training and recruitment. The operating cost can be reduced by adopting automation as the future of customer service.

IBM suggests that by using automation and chatbots, businesses can save up to 30% of customer support costs.

The Next Big Thing

To conclude, automation is undoubtedly the future of customer service. Offering the support that ensures smoother communication, quicker query resolution, 24/7 support, and better customer management, a business can ensure that the customer stays loyal and satisfied with the service.

Where live agents cannot offer support throughout the day, automated platforms can provide better customer support.

Verloop.io offers end-to-end automation support that can improve business performance and customer support. Automation is the cornerstone of customer service, making it the next big thing in customer support.