Gone are the days where businesses had lifetime customers. Today, 60% of consumers in the U.S would consider switching to a different product or service if their customer experience was unsatisfactory. As you may well know, call centers have always played an indispensable role in customer loyalty. And as a customer, you don’t always get a glimpse of the contact center world. Thereby, you may likely be uninformed of their countless challenges such as heavy workloads, high turnover rates, and repetitive tasks.
Therefore, to overcome the challenges mentioned above, companies have been incorporating AI Chatbots to meet their call center needs. For instance, in 2017, KLM, a famous airline company, launched BlueBot (BB), which they described as self-learning and an edgy service bot that would allow customers to book flights directly through the messenger application.
Today, due to the pandemic, all non-essential services have switched to remote work. This move has increased the demand for customer support. Thankfully Chatbots have swooped in and are supporting call centers in providing a satisfactory customer experience. Here’s how.
Contact Centers’ Response to the Pandemic
Agility is the word that accurately describes call centers that quickly adapted when the pandemic struck. For Brian Pokorny, Director of Otsego County, AI Chatbots were a lifesaver. Due to COVID, Pokorny had to lay off staff. Yet, it was during this time that county residents would continuously call to seek health information credibly. He installed a chatbot that helped him tackle recurrent medical questions such as ways of identifying COVID-19 symptoms and where one should go to get tested. Additionally, he could update “virtual assistant” and expand it as the medical questions advance.
Home online shopping, particularly for foodstuff, has surged due to the stay-at-home orders. Those selling groceries have been inundated with customer requests and queries such as delivery and restocking schedule. Chatbots have been useful in handling these queries
After receiving about 100,000 job applications, the Texas Workforce commission employed more call center agents and adopted a Chatbot known as Larry. This Chatbot has so far responded to nearly 5 million questions for more than 1 million people. Just like “Larry,” Robin, a call center chatbot, has helped to lessen agent’s workload.
Chatbots are changing call centers in the following ways.
- Chatbots are available 24/7, thereby reducing the wait time for customers.
- Chatbots relieve agents from handling repetitive queries hence preventing staff burnout
- Chatbots connect call center agents with leads
- This AI software reduces hiring and training costs
- Collects and organizes customer data
- Increases customer calls and satisfaction
The Future of Call Centers
Chatbots are excellent for handling standard queries. However, some scenarios require human intervention. For instance, a person suffering from mental health issues is in distress. Therefore, when they call the contact center for medical advice, they’ll only feel comfortable talking to a human who can perceive their emotions, that’s perhaps something a Chatbot is incapable of doing. Therefore, while Chatbots have proven to be an asset in the call center, this software is ideal for undertaking first-line tasks such as responding to repetitive queries and collecting user details.
Final Remarks
If you run a business, it would help if you educated your call center agents and addressed their fears regarding AI Chatbots. AI software will soon be a requirement for call centers that hope to stay ahead of their competition. Finally, every business has its unique needs. This means that the AI chatbot implemented in the healthcare industry may not apply in the tech world. So before you choose an AI chatbot solution for your call center, make sure it not only promotes efficiency, but it also increases agent and customer satisfaction.