Not long ago, computers and the internet were used by a fairly limited group of people
Today, nearly everyone uses the internet on a daily basis. Increasingly, jobs that relied on paper are now done online. Although computer-based operations can lead to far greater efficiency, they also add complexity to our lives, and supporting your customers is essential for maintaining a business.
As anyone who has used automated phone-based support knows, the hurdles to finding the information you’re seeking can be significant and aggravating. Any customer facing business would aim to provide “frictionless” access to information, and the use of multiple support paradigms, in addition to smart language processing, helps them work toward this goal. One technique is to provide a seamless transition from help bots to real people, as letting support technicians read how a user interacted with an automated system can make the hand-off easier and friendlier.
John Walls, EMEA Director of Customer Success at Zendesk believes this real time access to data is “hugely important”.
I think there’s going to be real value for organisations to build great experiences for their customers and continue to improve and evolve that over time. The perfect customer experience is a segmented expression of your brand that delivers value to both your organisation and the end customer
On-Demand Information Access
Support often entails loading customer information, and customer support in the past often resulted in long delays while retrieving data. Providing the ideal support experience requires making this data easily available to those providing support, and integrating this data-retrieving functionality into the core of support can lead to a better experience and reduced time spent providing help. Zendesk has emerged as a leader in the field of providing customer service that takes advantage of what new technology has to offer and the omnichannel approach to providing support, which avoids the siloed conversations typical of support provided the past. Businesses have to accept the reality that users often struggle with communicating and even understanding their problems, and providing access to their past interactions with support can help.
Even though there are psychologists and others who study how people interact with computers, many companies don’t consult with them. As a result, people have become used to cumbersome and often counter-intuitive interfaces. A top goal for any support programs must be providing an interface that users can learn through use and without reading too much text. An interface that’s intuitive to most people, however, might present difficulties for others, so providing multiple ways to access information can make a support system even more effective. Zendesk’s robust and configurable offerings aim to fill these needs.
There’s rarely a one-size-fits-all approach to providing support, but users who have trouble finding solutions to their problems are typically unforgiving. Furthermore, support is unavoidable for nearly all computer-based systems and interfaces. Although companies would often prefer to focus on their product offerings, it’s become clear that focusing on support is essential for building a strong and loyal base of customers or clients.
“It’s key that organisations really understand who their customers are and the value they drive for you” Walls adds. We spoke to him in depth about how technology and data can improve the customer experience. Listen in full below or on Apple Podcasts
