How better customer interactions can benefit your business

Businesses are facing an exponential increase in the number of interactions they have with their customers — across all channels, from email to social media.

While that means they have more opportunities to personalize communications and delight customers, it also means their customer service reps might be completely overwhelmed by the sheer volume of interactions they have to deal with. And that volume will continue to increase, now that remote work and digital interactions have become the norm.

That’s where automation and self-service solutions can help. Simple requests can be handled by customers directly, while more complex queries are funneled to qualified reps. This can help to manage support costs without hiring additional staff, while improving the overall customer experience. At the same time, automating back-end processes — via a case management and ticketing system — helps agents become more productive, in turn increasing ROI.

4 key benefits to your business

A customer can interact with your business in several ways: via email, phone calls, messages on social media, contact forms and reviews on dedicated websites. These interactions should be considered an opportunity to gather feedback and improve the overall customer experience. Indeed, every interaction with a customer is a chance to connect, and to increase retention and advocacy.

When managed properly, customer interactions can benefit your business in several ways:

1. Boost brand loyalty

Customers are more likely to stay loyal to brands that provide personalized customer experiences. Ensuring that interactions with your brand are personalized (and positive) can help to set you apart from your competitors.

2. Reduce bad reviews

A negative experience travels fast, since dissatisfied customers are often eager to share their experience — either by word of mouth or on social media. Prioritizing customer interactions can lead to increased customer satisfaction and, in turn, reduce negative reviews.

3. Increase referrals

On the opposite end of the spectrum, positive interactions can help to boost customer referrals. And referrals — whether to friends or family, or via reviews or social media — can be much more powerful than an advertising campaign.

4. Retain customers

If a customer approaches you with a complaint, how you handle that interaction can determine whether or not you lose that customer. Attracting new customers is typically more costly than retaining existing ones , so it’s in your best interest to nurture those relationships.

How Inbenta can help

Inbenta’s AI-powered customer experience tools let organizations communicate, manage and track customer engagements across multiple channels. They can also reduce friction in the customer experience thanks to automation and self-service tools, from natural language chatbots and semantic search to step-by-step digital demos.

AI automation also frees up call center employees from routine tier-1 support requests so they can focus on more value-added tasks. This improves resolution times (since self-service tools are available 24×7) and reduces the effort required to resolve issues, which is a critical driver of good customer experience. And that’s a win for companies and customers alike.

Did you know that bringing in new customers can cost 25 times more than retaining your existing ones? Discover The Secret Power of Conversational Support - Inbenta