By Umesh Sachdev
Today, technology has become the most important tool of communication for every individual to connect and carry out transactions. Besides, as the global pandemic continues to increase its grip on the world, there has been an increase in technology adoption by various sectors across the globe. Technology is a key solution that is enabling society to function with a sense of normalcy, in such critical times.
An important point to keep in mind is that customers always want to be heard, validated and understood. Especially,in current times, people expect quick solutions to their queries instead of communicating with an outdated IVR system or a basic bot.
Here is the kicker: good customer service is not determined by the brand name. Recently, I wanted to check for an add-on service with my bank, a leading global entity. I waited for about 10 mins on their IVR system, only to be told that the information I was looking for was unavailable as the contact center was manned by fewer employees and they would answer only certain urgent queries. This was an unnecessary frustration and it could have been better handled, had the bank taken full advantage of the technologies that exist today.
There is no doubt the BFSI industry is in the midst of transformative times. As a matter of fact, the sector has been an early adopter of technological innovation and has readily embraced new tools and solutions to deliver better service and gain a competitive advantage. However, they can do better. One such emerging technology that banks can leverage for both the customer and the banks benefit is Conversational Service Automation, which uses emerging technologies such as AI, Speech Recognition, NLP and Machine Learning, alongside Automation.
The importance of Conversational AI
The outbreak of Covid-19 has pressed the panic button for most customers, and they want to connect with their banks or insurance providers, to access more information and resolve their queries. Be it small mid or large banks, all enterprises are facing similar challenges. Every banking customer is unique, so banks want to offer bespoke services that will naturally fit better than the basic options. But it becomes extremely difficult to provide personalization when banks can barely process the huge spike in calls from people dialing in.
This is where Conversational AI and more specifically conversational service automation or CSA, comes in. Along with other capabilities, the most helpful to deal with today is remote contact centers. CSA can empower a call center agent to work remotely. This addresses the health concerns of the workforce and simultaneously ensures that the bank does not suffer downtime due to lack of manpower. The technology can ensure that an agent who is working remotely adheres to all compliance and privacy requirements, while providing the bank with an overview of the quality and content of the interaction, thus assuaging any concerns on that front, for the bank.
CSA uses AI to effectively and intelligently guide customers through self service options and in doing so reduces the burden of calls on the human agent. When required however, AI can transfer the call with all the relevant information on the caller and the call intent, to a human agent- immediately and seamlessly.
The agent who is equipped with the customer history and the reason they called, can pick up the call and provide resolution to the customer in almost half the time, as compared to what would be required via traditional systems. This enables the bank to process almost double the calls in the same time frame.
The human agent is able to concentrate their energy into providing the customer with a personalized, empathetic and effective interaction that leaves the customer with the satisfaction of being heard.
AI and Automation frees the human agent further by taking over the mundane and time-consuming tasks such as after call summaries. The technology has the added benefit of eliminating human error and last but not least, delivers all of these improvements at lower costs.
Infusing customer-centricity within a bank’s support system is the first step towards achieving customer satisfaction.Whether there are calls related to information requests, initiations of transactions, loan recovery or verification of documents, etc. CSA brings the assistance and power of technology to interact with customers through an omni-channel approach. CSA is certainly the game changer for companies who want to focus on customer experience and attract positive ROIs. More importantly, in times like these of Covid-19, Conversational AI could radically increase the efficiency of an enterprise’s customer journey.
(The author is co-founder and CEO, Uniphore and the views expressed in the article are his own)
