In past decades, the word "automation" invoked images of robots, automatic assembly lines, and other human-less concepts. Today, however, automation no longer means replacing humans, but enhancing their experiences. For example, delivering a personalized customer experience is much easier with automation on your side.
While companies previously competed on price and product quality, those factors are no longer customers' primary concerns. Now, they judge brands on their customer experiences. For example, customers expect 24/7 customer service options and the ability to interact with brands on their preferred platforms, such as mobile apps or social media. Ninety percent of customers expect a response to customer service questions in 10 minutes or less.
Customers also expect to receive personalization in exchange for the information they share with brands. Personalization is how brands ensure customers feel understood and valued through tailored suggestions and one-to-one conversations. According to a 2019 survey, 74% of customers get frustrated when website content is impersonal.
To keep up with the competition, brands need to leverage automation to provide the real-time conversations and tailored content that customers demand. An Accenture report found that 91% of global customers are more likely to do business with brands that remember and provide them with relevant recommendations and offers. Automation in the form of customer data collection, chatbots, surveys, and email automation can help brands meet customer expectations before they turn to a competitor.
Why should brands make personalization a priority?
Personalized customer experiences lead to greater customer retention, benefit the bottom line, and positively impact a brand's reputation.
Enhanced customer loyalty
When customers feel that a brand values them and is making efforts to provide a personalized experience, they are more likely to return to that brand in the future.
According to a 2020 study, 50% of digital device consumers will become loyal customers if they receive personalized content from a company. Additionally, 80% of consumers are more likely to purchase from a brand that offers experiences that are personalized to them. Conversely, a staggering one-third of consumers ended a brand relationship because they thought it lacked personalization.
Revenue growth
Delivering personalized experiences with self-service options can boost your brand's profit.
Some estimates have found that personalization can boost revenues by 5-15% and reduce acquisition costs by 50%. Self-service options are also a factor in gaining customers, with more than 6 in 10 preferring digital self-service to a live agent. These self-service chatbots can also improve internal efficiency by allowing agents to spend their time on the most complex issues while simpler questions can receive immediate answers.
Providing this quality service boosts revenue, with nearly 7 in 10 Americans spending more money with a company that offers excellent customer service.
Improved reputation
Personalized experiences and impeccable customer service will positively impact a brand's reputation. With almost two-thirds of buyers expecting a customer service response within 10 minutes, call centers need the support of automated, self-service options to uphold a brand's quality service claims. If a brand does not deliver on its promises of great customer service for even one customer, the repercussions to its reputation could be highly damaging.
3 ways automation delivers a personalized customer experience
To provide customers with the excellent experience they are looking for and stand out from the competition, brands can use automation to optimize customer data management, self-service, and customer service email processing.
1. Customer data management and analysis
The first step in developing a personalized experience for your customers is data collection.
Brands need the latest customer data management technology to gather and analyze insights from all available data, especially first-party data directly from the customer. These insights will allow brands to deliver the right information to the right prospects or customers, at the right time. Delivering a seamless omnichannel experience requires a customer experience platform that will unify data from all customer touchpoints.
2. Intelligent self-service with escalation options
If their question is addressed, 40% of consumers say they don't care if they interact with a customer service chatbot or live agent, according to Invesp.
Brands can use automated self-service chatbots to give customers instant answers through their preferred channels including your website, mobile app, or social media such as Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp. Additionally, intelligent virtual assistants can personalize every single interaction with a customer from the moment they begin to explore your products, providing personalized problem-solving along the way. With the insight of historical customer interactions from your data management platform, the chatbots can predict what interactions would lead to the greatest likelihood of making a purchase.
If a customer decides a live agent is preferable, they need an option to escalate at any time. A seamless data management system ensures the agent has all the information from the chatbot interaction to pick up where the customer left off. This helps agents avoid asking any repetitive questions and frustrating a customer.
3. Personalized email automation
Finally, brands can personalize email responses with email automation. Emplifi's Email Virtual Assistant (EVA) is an automated customer service tool that reduces the time spent responding to emails by five times while retaining the personal touch of an agent's review. EVA reads the customer email, drafts a tailored response based on previous responses from human agents, and enters the queue for an agent to review and add any appropriate personal touches. EVA also uses a goodwill calculator to determine the appropriate compensation for the customer, if necessary.
Since 62% of customers want to communicate via email with customer service departments, brands can't afford to ignore optimizing the email response process. EVA's innovative email automation software empowers customer service agents to focus on providing personal answers and solving complex problems without worrying about growing backlogs.
Start your automation journey with Emplifi
Emplifi Service Cloud gives customer care and service teams the automation they need to provide a personalized experience. Emplifi's consumer engagement platform integrates seamlessly into its AI-powered customer service chatbots and email automation solutions, along with a suite of other robust customer engagement solutions. Set your brand apart from the competition today with the solutions to improve efficiency and deliver personalized customer experiences.
Ready to deliver a more personalized customer experience? Schedule time to see a live demo.
Editor's Note: This article was originally published on astutesolutions.com. Any statistics or statements included in this article were current at the time of original publication.
