The COVID-19 pandemic has changed how we work, learn, and interact. Social distancing guidelines have led to a more virtual existence, both personally and professionally.
We’ve all reduced the number of in-person interactions we have, so network connectivity and communications have taken center stage. Many businesses have increased their reliance on digital channels and have accelerated the pace of their digital transformation, implementing solutions for connecting their employees, customers, and partners in a remote environment, and relying on communications platforms like Plivo to do so.
Even prior to COVID-19, communications platform as a service (CPaaS) was becoming mainstream for businesses to stay ahead of customer expectations without having to overhaul their existing IT infrastructure. It’s a low-risk, pay-as-you-go cloud solution that enables businesses to conveniently and instantly connect with their customers.
Now we’re seeing an even more demand for real-time communication, with the expectation of a 24/7 multichannel experience, especially as it relates to sharing critical information, scheduling appointments, and receiving essential services.
Here are a few ways businesses can meet new and changing customer expectations to create better experiences and drive loyalty in the upcoming year.
Proactively reach out to customers
Proactive outreach is key for maintaining customer relationships and promoting customer loyalty. From health systems needing advanced communication with at-risk patients to retailers needing to handle delays for supply chains, SMS API solutions can automatically contact individuals or groups via text interaction, auto form fills, and response tracking. CPaaS can enable all the critical messaging capabilities a business needs, and this kind of automation enables them to scale up quickly and reliably.
Consider an omnichannel approach
The best way to satisfy customer demands is via omnichannel, 24/7 solutions with features such as intelligent routing, interactive voice response (IVR), and workflow automation. For instance, if a customer reaches out to your business with a text message late at night, you can configure prebuilt auto responses to confirm receipt and provide a response based on the words they used. You can also add the message to a queue for your customer service team to follow up on during normal business hours, to help deliver a more personalized experience for your customers.
Offer more self-service options
Self-service tools enable customers to solve their own problems quickly. They also free up agents to handle more complex queries. If you integrate an IVR system with your CRM platform, you can let customers open service tickets, pay bills, schedule payments, book appointments, and track order shipments. If you handle large volumes of IT requests, you can offer guided instructions for resetting passwords or rebooting customer applications. Whenever a customer has an inquiry that can’t be resolved with an automated option, you can redirect them to a live agent for more personal attention.
To take even more advantage of self-service, you can implement a skill-based routing system to ensure that the most qualified person, rather than the first available agent, is the one who answers a call. With the right programming, your IVR menu can qualify, filter, and route calls to the team member best suited to address your customer’s needs.
A CPaaS solution enables more effective communication between an organization and its customers, employees, or patients. Sophisticated tools like Plivo enable a fully integrated and automated experience to help scale communications and to engage and advance the user experience. Building these three strategies into your company’s CPaaS strategy in 2021 can turn your automated technology into a customer-first tool that exceeds expectations.
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