3 Tips to Decrease Customer Service Turnover with AI and Automation

通过人工智能和自动化减少客户服务流失的三条技巧

2020-09-16 12:00 unbabel

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AI applications and automation have sparked a lot of debate around the future of the workforce. However, many roles such as customer service (CS) still need humans to resolve complex issues. These roles stand to benefit the most from AI-based automation to improve employee satisfaction and decrease turnover.  The biggest benefit of automation in CS is augmenting human interactions to be more responsive to customers. For example, AI technologies embedded in customer experience feedback can aid in channeling customers to the “right” agent with a suitable emotional and professional background. Technology arms the agent with the customer’s past and recent history, as well as recommendations on how to best engage. This helps teams match resources with the job, and removes repetitive tasks from agents’ plates so they can focus on where they’d like to specialize in their jobs. Here are a few tips for how to use automation to your advantage and boost team morale. 1: Help Team Members Focus on a Career Path The front lines of customer support can be one of the toughest jobs at a company. For example, call centers in the U.S. have a turnover rate of 30-45%, which is more than double the industry average. In many cases, AI-based automation can help with customer self-service, reduce call volumes, and empower agents in areas such as multilingual translation. This automation will help CS employees specialize in areas where they otherwise may not have had the time and attention to focus. I believe that the CS role is evolving to the point where generalists will become less common. One of the most important things CS managers can do is to help entry- and mid-level employees identify where they want to focus their career path.  Pro Tip: After a new CS employee has been on the job for six months, strategize with them where they’d like to be by the end of the year. At the end of their first year, they should have a much clearer understanding of the CS career path at your company and how their skill set fits within a specialty.   2: Make an Impact on KPIs Like any team in a metrics-driven organization, CS teams are focused on KPIs such as customer satisfaction scores (CSAT), first response times (FRT), and first contact resolutions (FCR). Performance on these metrics can make or break a CS team. Without automation, metrics like FRT can slow to the point where it’s unacceptable. Automation helps customers help themselves with simple tasks such as resetting passwords, troubleshooting and addressing their FAQs. It can also assist agents in resolving cases faster. For example, multilingual AI agent assistants can help the agent chat with customers in 30 languages. This can reduce the personnel required to translate and increase the likelihood of FCRs. Pro Tip: Automation will free up your agents’ time. Make sure they are able to maximize this time to respond to more cases. Or, they can give challenging cases the attention they need on first contact, helping to increase CSAT scores. If team members are driving toward personal KPIs in these areas, the entire service organization’s KPIs will benefit. 3: Hire impactful roles that support CS If they’re empowered by automation, agents can accelerate more quickly through the ranks. Managers can help agents identify strategic roles to support their career growth. For example, if customers call in more frequently than expected with technical challenges, certain agents will be better equipped to serve them. These team members can specialize and become problem managers. This role works directly with engineers to resolve more complex technical problems.  Automation can also open up doors for the organization to hire more personnel to support the CS team. For example, if more problem manager positions are created, the company will need to hire more engineers to support them.  Pro Tip: If automation is improving your KPIs, you may be ready for the next step. Analyze which areas may require CS management positions or cross-functional supporting roles (in engineering or elsewhere). Make these strategic hires and take the time to talk directly with customers about areas to improve the product. The age of empowerment Instead of fearing the rise of AI, CS teams should view these tools as empowering them to be more efficient. By automating mundane tasks, CS roles can become more challenging and fulfilling to the entry- and mid-level workforce. It’s no secret CS has a retention problem. It’s time we looked to technology to become more proactive – unlocking customer insights and focusing on long-term career growth.
人工智能应用和自动化引发了关于劳动力未来的诸多争论。然而,许多角色(如客户服务(CS))仍然需要人来解决复杂的问题。这些角色将从基于人工智能的自动化中受益最大,从而提高员工满意度,减少离职率。 在客户服务中,自动化的最大好处是增强了人机交互,从而更好地响应客户。例如,嵌入客户体验反馈中的AI技术可以帮助将客户引导到具有符合情感和专业背景的“合适”代理商。技术帮助代理商了解客户的过去和最近的历史,以及如何最好地参与其中的建议。这有助于团队将资源与工作相匹配,并从座席的工作表中删除重复的任务,这样团队成员就可以专注于自己想要专门从事的工作。 以下是关于如何利用自动化来发挥自身优势并提升团队士气的一些技巧。 1:帮助团队成员专注于职业发展道路 客户支持的第一线可能是公司中最艰巨的工作之一。例如,美国呼叫中心人员流动率为30-45%,是行业平均水平的两倍多。在许多情况下,基于人工智能的自动化可以帮助客户自助服务、减少呼叫量,并并在多语言翻译等领域为代理商提供支持。 这种自动化将帮助客户服务员工专注于他们可能没有时间和精力集中的领域。我相信客户服务的角色正在演变到通才将变得不那么普遍的地步。客户服务经理能做的最重要的事情之一就是帮助初级和中级员工确定他们的职业发展方向。 专家提示:新的客户服务员工工作了六个月后,和他们一起制定年底前的工作目标。在第一年结束时,他们应该对贵公司客户服务职业发展道路以及自身的技能如何适合某个专业有更清晰的了解。 2:对KPI产生影响 与指标驱动型组织中的任何团队一样,客户服务团队专注于KPI,如客户满意度得分(CSAT)、第一响应时间(FRT)和第一联系解决方案(FCR)。这些指标上的表现可以决定客户服务团队的成败。 如果没有自动化,像第一联系解决方案之类的指标可能会减慢到令人无法接受的程度。自动化可以帮助客户完成简单的任务,例如重置密码、故障排除和解决常见问题。还可以帮助代理人更快地解决案件。例如,多语言人工智能代理助手可以帮助代理用30种语言与客户聊天。这可以减少翻译所需的人员,并增加第一联系解决方案的可能性。 专业提示:自动化会减少代理商的时间。确保他们能够最大限度地利用这段时间来应对更多的情况。或者,他们可以为具有挑战性的案例提供初次接触所需的关注,帮助提高客户满意度得分分数。如果团队成员在这些领域追求个人KPI,那么整个服务组织的KPI都会受益。 3:雇佣有影响力的角色来支持客户服务 如果客户服务通过自动化获得授权,代理商可以更快地晋升。经理可以帮助代理商确定战略角色以支持其职业发展。例如,如果客户因为技术上的问题而比预期的更频繁地打电话来,某些代理商将更尽心尽力地为客户服务。这些团队成员可以在这方面专业化并成为解决问题型经理。该角色直接与工程师合作解决更复杂的技术问题。 自动化还可以为组织提供门户开放,以雇佣更多人员来支持客户服务团队。 例如,如果创建更多的解决问题型经理职位,公司就需要雇佣更多的工程师来支持他们的工作。 专家提示:如果自动化正在提高您的KPI,则可以准备好下一步。分析哪些领域可能需要客户服务管理职位或跨职能支持角色(在工程或其他领域)。进行战略性招聘,并花时间直接与客户讨论有关改进产品的领域。 授权时代 与其担心人工智能的崛起,客户服务团队应该将这些工具视为增强工作效率的工具。通过自动化平常任务,客户服务角色不仅变得更有挑战性,还使得初级和中级员工更有成就感。客户服务留住人才的问题早已不是秘密。是时候让技术变得更加积极主动了——开启客户洞察,专注于长期的职业发展。

以上中文文本为机器翻译,存在不同程度偏差和错误,请理解并参考英文原文阅读。

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