When you think about your customer service, what do you think is the most desirable, the most important, the most wanted aspect you want to achieve in it? For many of us, the answer is quick resolution time. And I can confidently say this, concluding from the statistics we’ve examined. A report by Forrester explains that:
- 83% of decision-makers agree or strongly agree their organizations view customer service as a strategically important function.
- 41% of decision-makers who consider CX a critical priority want to specifically improve the speed of customer service.
- 66% of US consumers agree that valuing their time is the most important thing a company can do to provide them with good online customer service.
- 47% of US online adults say they will abandon their online purchase if they can’t find a quick answer to their question.
- 42% of customers would like to have faster responses when contacting support.
So, it’s now obvious that resolving customer tickets fast is one of the highest priorities of organizations and customers as well. But how do we make the process faster? Let’s see some of the solutions that can make your ticket resolution times 3 times quicker.
Using an AI chatbot is Customer Support
Fortunately, nowadays, we have access to technology that understands and replies to customer questions instantly. So why not use it? The implementation of an AI chatbot in your customer service can do a great job of answering common questions, providing resources that can further help your customers, or just making sure that the initial interaction is handled immediately.
Even if the customer has a more complex issue to report that the AI chatbot cannot handle by itself, it can be used to alert the customer that their issue is addressed and passed on to the right person, who will be able to help them better.
Either way, the customer gets feedback for the reported problem, which can significantly reduce the frustration of long waiting times compared to where no communication is happening.
So, the AI chatbot can either solve the issue by providing the right answers to customers or can assure them that their issue will be handled soon, and then transfer the conversation to the right live agent.
Creating Tickets with the Help of AI
Now, if the live agent is assigned to a specific problem, in most cases, they need to create a support ticket out of it. They have to provide all the necessary information in it, including the data of the customer, and the description of the problem.
This is the traditional way. However, as I have mentioned earlier, it’s always good to think innovatively and include new technology in every aspect you can. AI can be involved in ticket creation as well. AI in the ticketing system can help you with the following:
- It can identify whether the customer has a question or an issue to report, and if it’s the latter, it can create a ticket out of it.
- It can summarize the issue in the description of the ticket.
- It can categorize the ticket and assign it to the responsible person who is most likely to be able to solve the problem.
- And, it can prioritize the tickets based on the importance and urgency of the issue.
So much of the process can be automated, and so much time can be saved with this, leading to faster resolution times.
In addition to this, another great way to reduce the ticket creation time is by being able to create them right from the inbox. Agents don’t have to switch to another platform and go back and forth checking details on it. Everything is in the inbox, the creation, any updates on the ticket, and answering to customers once the issue is resolved.
Reply to Emails with AI
Once again, we can rely on the support of AI in this aspect of the support process as well. Whenever there is an update on the ticket, or you just want to answer incoming emails from customers, AI can be of help here.
For example, SAAS First’s Reply with Milly function can craft professional emails working from the knowledge base and the notes you provide it with. All you have to do is write some keywords and short sentences, and AI will turn them into cohesive, professional support emails in just 10 seconds.
If you think about it, such emails take at least a couple of minutes to compose, and type in, but with this function, the message can truly be created in just seconds. This can also save a huge amount of time when resolving problems and answering customers.
Omnichannel Inbox for All Messages
You wouldn’t even imagine how much time can be lost from switching from one platform to another to make sure all the channels are covered and all the messages are noticed.
An omnichannel inbox can help agents’ jobs in this tremendously. Once all the emails, chats, and messages from all channels are coming to one single place, they only need to focus on that inbox, and nothing else.
Every conversation is there waiting to be answered and handled, meaning there is no need to check any other platforms and handle queries individually.
Customer Information Available in the Inbox
Another great benefit of having an all-in-one platform is that you can get access to information about your customers without having to leave the inbox. When the CRM system is integrated with the inbox, customer data can be displayed in all conversations, making it so much easier to understand the customer’s problem.
It reduces the time needed to be spent on crafting personalized and relevant support for each customer, as agents don’t have to visit complex and external databases and search for the desired data.
You can get demographic information or even behavioral data, such as pages visited, without leaving the inbox, exactly where you write your responses. Instant insights for instant messaging.
Chat Routing and Assigning Problems to the Right People
Lastly, another way of making sure the time you resolve the problem is as little as possible is by making sure the problem goes to the person who is the best at resolving that specific issue.
The inbox should have a feature where you can assign different conversations to different agents or teams. This way, the most competent person gets the right issues, and people can collaborate on solving the problems if needed.
Quick issue resolution depends on the capability of the agents and team as well. All customers want their issues to be handled by the person who has the most knowledge on the subject, that is for sure.
Conclusion
In conclusion, using AI technology in customer service, from AI chatbots for initial interactions to implementing AI for ticket creation, response, and routing, can significantly enhance efficiency and reduce resolution times by three times.
The right allocation of human resources also means that you can exceed customer expectations for quick and effective service.
