The Importance of Human Touch for the Best Customer Service
Assistance and reassurance are our basic needs as human beings. These are also the kind of services we, as human beings, are capable of giving. Imagine you’re in the middle of a store that you have never been to before, and you are having trouble finding the very thing that you know you will find in this very store. You most definitely wouldn’t mind a helping hand of a customer service agent, would you? Especially if the helping hand not only swiftly gets you that item that you’ve been trying to find but also provides you with the liveliest and most engaging interaction you will have all day. The assurance that a customer gets amidst a confusion is always highly appreciated. At the end of the day, the best experience comes with the best customer service.
This is pretty much why most businesses, especially ones that go about it online, will always have and fancy a “Chat with Us” pop-up at the bottom corner of their webpage. Not only is this going to appeal to customers with the assurance of a round-the-clock assistance, but this will also underline the legitimacy and the customer-orientedness of the business.
In these challenging times, people have now transitioned from going outside to staying indoors, and for this reason, online shopping is now even more relevant than ever. In turn, this great boost of online customers will also require a business to take a very good care of customer experience whilst customers are surfing for items on their website. As such, having customer service representatives at the ready is not something to be ignored.
Automation plays a big part in the reasoning for the existence of technology. This can be seen in the realm of customer service. The advancement of technology has led brands to replace their human customer service representatives with artificial intelligence. While this might save hiring costs, will this fare well compared to human intelligence?
People’s Expectation in a Customer Service
According to a survey conducted by Harris Interactive, about 73% of customers can fall in love with a brand because of the friendliness of the customer service representative of that brand. This is because the customer service representatives are not only able to provide assistance at a professional level, but also an emotional one.
Empathetic Response
It is important to note that customer service representatives are there to give customers the help that they need by understanding the issues they are addressing with compassion and empathy. Having this stapled in customer service representatives’ minds, customers can look forward to someone that is willing to help them without fear of being patronized.
One of the main values that businesses need to uphold is the mindset of treating customers as an asset, and not a transaction. With this in mind, providing the best possible customer experience becomes much, much more important as customers will feel that they can always rely on a brand. This is where customer service representatives come to their purpose; to bridge the customers to the service or product that they are after without the fear of falling into the dark pit of confusion.
Humane Human Interaction
When faced with issues, anxiety commonly arises and guidance is needed. When this occurs, customers who are faced with a certain issue, would want to be given not only a solution but also the assurance that they have someone to rely on. And that someone is the Customer Service representative. One thing that stands out in customer service representatives is that they will be the ones whose advice will be sought for to allay a customer’s frustration.
83% percent of the subjects of a study made by Accenture Strategy state that human beings are very much preferred to solve customers’ issues rather than their artificial intelligent counterparts. This proves that humans are indeed social beings and human touch is undeniably something that can never be replaced; especially when it comes to customer service.
Issues often arise in such an unpredictable way that we, as humans, are very much capable of expecting the unexpected. With this in mind, issues that customers face might not be something that have transpired before. This is where the human touch of a customer service representative comes into play. They will promptly be able to empathize with the customer and acknowledge the issue and approach it in a way that isn’t just a premade template; in other words, personalization. Being ensured that their problem is well-documented and worked on with the customer service representative’s calming mannerisms will truly put the customers at ease.
A survey suggests that despite the ever-developing world of technology and the rise of artificial intelligence, customers are still longing for human interaction as opposed to chatbots. While chatbots might be able to give quick responses, they still fall short in replicating the authenticity of human interaction.
CONCLUSION
Automation might be well-embraced by a brand so that their customers receive the swiftest response. However, in the interaction between a customer and a brand, a human touch remains essential and can never be replaced.
A customer service representative plays a key role in appealing to a customer as well as retaining one. Thus, one can see the very importance for a brand to understand and utilize customer service the best way possible, as the best customer service is the golden ticket to the best customer experience.
If you are looking for professional human customer service representatives, SoftwareSeni has you covered. We understand the needs of giving the best service to customers in a business, and with that in mind, our customer service representatives are fully equipped with experience in dealing with customers and providing alternative solutions.
So, do you think a fully-automated customer service is something that you would prefer over human customer service representatives? Let us know in the comment section below!
