Consumers’ expectations are at an all-time high, particularly when it comes to customer experience (CX). In Asia Pacific (APAC), businesses are under increasing pressure to meet and exceed customer expectations. The recent Vonage Global Customer Engagement Report 2024 found that 80% of APAC customers will likely stop using a business if they deliver poor experience. 61% of consumers will do that after just one or two negative encounters.
With CX, there’s little room for error. To meet customers’ ever-growing expectations, brands must focus on identifying and addressing critical pain points for customers across the entire customer journey. One effective solution is leveraging AI technology, which can provide quick resolution, reduce frustrations, and ultimately offer a more targeted and personalised experience for consumers.
Fixing customer experience pain points
AI can enhance customer experience by providing APAC businesses with unprecedented insights into customer preferences and behaviours. By identifying these pain points, businesses can tailor AI-powered solutions to address specific CX challenges. Some common customer pain points include long wait times for assistance, limited communication options, inability to leave feedback, and impersonal experiences.
Jumping through hoops
When customers contact customer service, they expect prompt and thorough assistance. Unfortunately, many customers find themselves jumping through hoops to get their issues resolved. According to Vonage’s report, customers cited multiple frustrations such as long wait times to speak to an agent (63%), no way to speak to customer service via voice or phone (59%), lack of 24/7 support availability (48%) and lack of self-service support (46%).
AI can streamline the customer communication process and eliminate the need for customers to navigate these challenges. An AI virtual assistant can triage calls and route customers to the appropriate person, thereby reducing the need for multiple transfers.
Limited communication options
Customers expect multiple communication options to contact businesses. However, many businesses still offer limited channels for customer communication. AI-powered conversational tools can bridge this gap by enabling two-way communication across various channels. These tools allow customers to respond to text or email notifications in real-time, eliminating the need to switch to another channel or give up altogether.
According to the report, consumers are embracing AI to make their experiences better. In fact, responses show a likelihood that chatbot and video chat usage will more than double within the next year, with 10% using chatbots today and 23% expected usage in the next six to 12 months. 13% indicate they’re using video chat today, with 26% expected usage in the next six to 12 months.
Inability to leave feedback
Feedback is an important component of the customer service ecosystem, providing businesses with valuable insights into customer satisfaction and areas for improvement. However, many customers find it challenging to provide feedback as businesses often lack proper channels for it.
AI can make it easier for businesses to collect and interpret customer feedback. Conversational workflows can be designed to gather customer insights and allow customers to request follow-ups when needed. Message campaign builders can enable one-to-one messaging at scale, allowing customers to comment on their experience and suggest improvements. 56% of consumers indicated they are likely to offer positive survey feedback after a great experience with a business.
Impersonal experiences
Personalisation is key to creating a memorable customer experience. Customers highly value and respond positively to experiences that are tailored to meet their unique needs and preferences, demonstrating a company’s commitment to understanding and serving them individually.
AI can play a crucial role in delivering personalised experiences to customers by using AI-powered conversational commerce workflows that leverage customer profiles to offer personalised shopping experiences and drive sales through AI-powered chatbots.
To be effective, businesses should adopt an omnichannel communications strategy, enabling customers to interact with them effortlessly across their preferred channels. Businesses that implement this approach will also gain from integrating AI’s advanced capabilities across various communication mediums, including voice, video, messaging, and chat. This integration enhances live customer support, ensuring personalised and real-time engagement at every point of contact.
Harnessing AI for enhanced customer engagement
Customers expect a great CX, and AI has the potential to deliver it. By tackling these common pain points and offering tailored experiences, businesses can elevate the quality of their customer interactions. This improvement in CX can lead to happy consumers, positively impacting the bottom line.
This article is written by John Lee, Vice President, APAC Sales, Vonage
The insight is published as part of UPTECH MEDIA’s thought leadership piece, written within its repository of contributor articles.
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