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The Missed Opportunity Of Self-Service

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The argument between self-service and live customer service

Do customers prefer self-service over live customer service? It’s the million dollar question every customer experience (CX), user experience (UX), contact center, or marketing leader is asking right now. If you dig hard enough, you can find data that supports either side of the argument. Why is that? 

There’s a time and place for each depending upon a number of factors. For example, older generations may not be accustomed to self-service chatbots, IVR, or other voice recognitions to the same extent as Millennials or Gen Z. (i.e. I recently caught my mom yelling at Alexa). 

Additionally, different customer requests may require the easy and quick automation of self-service versus personalized human help based on how complicated a request is. The list of factors that make self-service or live customer service more important goes on. However, they don’t necessarily have to be thought of as two totally different processes in the consumer journey of customer service. 

Yes, customers today are quite happy to use self-service channels, but they’re also quicker than ever to switch to live channels such as the phone to speak to a live agent if they don’t get the resolution they need. Self-service for the majority of consumers is a rabbit hole that everyone is willing to go down, but quick to jump out of. Theoretically, self-service should be the most important and efficient component of modern customer support, increasing efficiency for business and customer, saving time and money for business, and increasing satisfaction for customer through quicker resolution - one would think. 

However, your customers are skeptical of self-service and the majority of companies are aware of it. According to CCW Digital research, a staggering 65% of companies say very few (if any) of their interactions are resolved without agent assistance. 

In other words, self-service is not the entirety of the customer service journey mapping process in resolving an inquiry, which tells us two things. For one, self-service is not where we want it to be despite the exponential technological advancements we’ve seen in customer service throughout the pandemic. Two, human assistance is crucial to a frictionless customer experience, even when an interaction between customer and business starts out on an automated digital channel. 

Read More: How-to Guide: How To Create An Omnichannel Contact Center

What many contact centers and customer service departments are missing: yes, completely handling a customer service inquiry via a self-service channel such as a chatbot or automated IVR response would be nice. But it’s okay for self-service not to handle every aspect of every interaction. The purpose of automated self-service is to save customer service agents’ time and increase customer service efficiency, automating tasks (or parts of an inquiry) that can be automated and don’t require human personalization, aggregating more actionable customer data as they interact with different AI-driven channels, route customers appropriately when they need more personalized human assistance, and drive traffic (maybe even incorporating a click-bait ad or branded logo into a chat or SMS pop-up).

Self-service does not have to be an all or nothing approach. 

Areas of improvement in customer service

According to our latest CCW Digital market study, top AI objectives in businesses include understanding customer intent, better gathering and analyzing customer data, and automating repetitive processes, all opportunities for the continued evolution of self-service. 

Of course, satisfying these prioritizes requires better tools, or digital channels. Eighty-seven (87%) of companies recognize this need (and opportunity) to improve customer comfort and familiarity in digital channels. Popular “education” initiatives include making digital channels easier to use, “popping up” self-service options at key moments of truth, using more intuitive menus, embedding bots into agent-led conversations, and having agents advise customers on available digital options.  

The vast majority of companies think they can do better at these areas because they are aware of the skepticism that rapidly evolving technologies bring to consumer behavior.

However, according to CCW Digital research, by 2025, 54% of companies believe at least 40% of customer issues will be handled entirely in self-service environments, confirming the advancement in AI-driven self-service channels, as well as the undeniable advantages in user experiences that self-service channels, such as IVR, automated social media, chat, or SMS, ca provide. 

Read More: The Era Of The Conscientious Consumer: What Younger Consumers Want From Your Brand

As Dan Gingiss, bestselling author, Forbes contributor and former social media and CX leader at Discover, Mcdonald’s and Humana recently told me: 

“We know that the #1 complaint customers have about service is having to repeat themselves.”

This is very common when a customer switches channels from self-service to live service or vice versa. But it doesn’t have to be.  

“It’s also convenient. I can post my question and then leave and then go about my day and check back later when it’s convenient for me. I don’t have to wait for somebody to pick up or stare at a screen where it says agent typing for five minutes. I just leave and come back when it’s convenient and I continue the conversation.” 

As AI and automation advance, digital channels become more efficient at solving customer problems, consumers become less skeptical of these channels, customer service gets better, and of course what many forget - customers increasingly will expect more. After all, the only constant in life is change, and digital transformation is a never ending process when it comes to satisfying your customers. 

Of course, societal norms and consumer behaviors play a large factor in the advancement of digital transformation, and ultimately, their success. 

How remote work is playing a role

More specifically, remote work is playing a huge part in the advancement of digital transformation and self-service.

As CCW Digital Principal Analyst, Brian Cantor put it: 

Easier to scale than traditional phone support, digital channels are more conducive to growth. Easier for agents to manage in suboptimal environments at suboptimal times, they are more conducive to remote work. They are quite simply made for a post-COVID world.

And believe us, remote work is to some degree, here to say - which further exacerbates the continued importance of evolving self-service channels (especially as digital engagement increases). During a peak in the pandemic, CCW Digital contact center performance research confirmed digital engagement, including self-service, as the #3 priority from respondents. Only work-from-home and remote collaboration ranked higher. But when you think about it, all three say much of the same thing, as they’re all positively correlated.

Read More: What Starbucks And Microsoft Can Tell You About The Future Of Remote Work (And Consumer Behavior)

In conclusion, self-service channels are evolving in a more digitally driven world. Customers are aware of the advancements, asking for self-service - but they remain skeptical of its benefits. More importantly, brands are aware of the missed opportunities which is why the vast majority of companies are investing heavily in AI and digital. The ones who are willing to educate consumers on the advantages of self-service while simultaneously enhancing their channels to reduce friction are the ones who will gain the competitive advantage in the customer service industry. 

This is a time when the world is vulnerable, where every person and organization is adapting to life with a live virus in their midst, where no one is operating from a best-in-class pandemic playbook to survive modern financial Darwinism. Brands, including marketers and customer service departments must become the very people they’re trying to reach. This means that among innovation, compliance, time and technology, humanity must become the greatest application. 

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For media coverage, lead gen, and digital marketing inquiries, (or to say hi), contact me at matt.wujciak@customermanagementpractice.com, or connect with me on Linkedin at Matt Wujciak. And remember, identifying consumer behaviors before they become trends is how brands deliver competitive customer experiences.


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