Personal preference: live agent or virtual agent?If you're like me, the answer is, "It depends." If you're a customer service organization, the trick is in understanding when your customers are likely to want to speak with a human, and when they're more than happy to interact with a virtual agent. Regardless of what technology vendors will tell you, there are certain things self-service technologies can do, and can do well, and there are certain things self-service technologies simply cannot do. Speech technology will never be able to calm an angry or belligerent customer, save the business of an unsatisfied, defecting customer or make a potential new customer feel good about himself or herself, leading to that person's loyal business. Speech and self-service technologies are a long way from being able to optimally handle a confused customer or skillfully skill·ful adj. 1. Possessing or exercising skill; expert. See Synonyms at proficient. 2. Characterized by, exhibiting, or requiring skill. upsell and cross-sell an existing one. On the flip side Flip side In the context of general equities, opposite side to a proposition or position (buy, if sell is the proposition and vice versa). , many customers like their simpler, more straightforward transactions to be as painless pain·less adj. Free from complication or pain: a painless operation. pain  less·ly adv. and quick as possible. If
a customer wants only to find out if check number 537 was presented to
his electric company, it's safe to assume that he wants it done
fast, and would prefer to accomplish the task without the necessity of
making opening and closing "polite human interaction
chit-chat" with an agent. Self-service technologies don't get
offended of·fend v. of·fend·ed, of·fend·ing, of·fends v.tr. 1. To cause displeasure, anger, resentment, or wounded feelings in. 2. if you don't say "hello" and "goodbye." They don't mind if you yell at the dog to quit chasing squirrels in the back yard while they're directing you ("they" being the virtual agents, not the squirrels) to press one if you'd like to hear options in Spanish. Hanging up on a live agent immediately after she tells you the check was presented last Tuesday Last Tuesday is a Christian melodic punk rock band hailing from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. They played their final show on March 10th, 2007. Last Tuesday was formed in 1999 in Harrisburg, P.A. may not be against the law, but it will surely earn you an unpleasant tag on tag on Verb to add at the end of something: a throwaway remark, tagged on at the end of a casual conversation Verb 1. your record in the company's CRM (Customer Relationship Management) An integrated information system that is used to plan, schedule and control the presales and postsales activities in an organization. database. As we all know, no two people are the same in their preferences, so the optimal solution is to ensure both resources are available, live agents and self-service options, in the correct balance, and allow customers to decide which option they would prefer, and when. It's not unusual that an agent-assisted call can easily be completed via self-service, or that frequently a self-service call must escalate es·ca·late v. es·ca·lat·ed, es·ca·lat·ing, es·ca·lates v.tr. To increase, enlarge, or intensify: escalated the hostilities in the Persian Gulf. v.intr. to a live-agent to preserve the customer relationship. Understanding when to do what can only be done by those who know your call center intimately. Tracey E. Schelmetic, Editorial Director Customer Interaction Solutions A Special Editorial Series Sponsored by West Corporation |
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