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Leveraging Tech To Improve Customer Experience: 11 Smart Techniques

Forbes Technology Council
POST WRITTEN BY
Expert Panel, Forbes Technology Council

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Customer experience is not a new concept, but it’s one that has taken off in recent years. As competition becomes the norm in many digital and application spaces, the interaction that the consumer has with a company becomes more important. CX is vital in helping a company retain its customers and grow its customer base through organic referrals.

Luckily, technology offers several ways for businesses to improve their customer experience. Below, 11 members of Forbes Technology Council explain some techniques businesses can use to improve their customers’ experience.

1. Provide A Multichannel Experience

Empower customers to connect with brands the same way they do with one another. Incorporate mobile features and the real-time sharing of photos and videos in order to provide more contextual information and help agents resolve issues. With conversational AI, data intelligence and real-time analytics, vendors can provide their customers with a fluid and modern multichannel support experience. - Anand Janefalkar, UJET

2. Save Your Customers’ Time With Automation

Automation can make all the difference. For instance, consider integrating a personalized chatbot into your mobile app or website to answer frequently asked questions. Or implement an automated callback feature so a customer doesn’t have to be put on hold for hours when they’re trying to reach you. By saving customers’ time and still satisfying their needs, you’ll drastically improve brand loyalty. - Marc Fischer, Dogtown Media LLC

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3. Have Chatbots On Duty

Let’s face it—nothing can beat a great customer experience. However, if you don’t have all the resources in the world, I strongly recommend using modern treasures. Chatbots are precious when it comes to improving your customer experience. Make them answer the most common question first and always have a human handling the more advanced ones. You’ll be surprised how it builds up into a sustainable success. - Ivan Guzenko, SmartyAds Inc.

4. Leverage The Right Analytics Tools

Technologies allow companies to deliver a unique CX to each individual by analyzing their behaviors. However, with the zettabytes of data people create and consume, it might be challenging to get through so much real-time information about customers and prospects. That’s why it’s crucial to use software capable of processing, augmenting and analyzing this data for actionable insights and outstanding CX. - Katherine Kostereva, Creatio (formerly bpm’online)

5. Make Your Brand ‘Always On’

The days of 9-to-5 work hours are gone. Customers want to be able to engage with the brands in their lives at any time of day, on-demand, without waiting. To keep up with these expectations, vendors can “conversationalize” their business via AI, automation and secure messaging. Always-on conversational interfaces can help customers troubleshoot issues, manage accounts and get answers 24/7. - Evan Kohn, Pypestream

6. Perform Dropout Analysis

Dropout analysis is one good way to gather feedback and analyze the reasons customers drop out of a specific navigation or form. That would provide insight on changes to be made to enhance CX. Combined with A/B testing, the vendor could analyze different experiences and choose the optimal one. - Thiru Sivasubramanian, SE2, LLC

7. Create How-To Guides And Videos

Having a visual guide your customers can reference will make a huge difference in ease of use and retaining customers. The best part is you will only need to publish the material once. A thorough guide on how to operate your software will save your company a ton of money and resources in the future. - Abishek Surana Rajendra, Course Hero

8. Apply The Right Tech For The Right Situation

The key is to utilize tech as a “tool” to achieve a great CX. That means using the right technology, at the right time, for the right outcome. AI, chatbots and automation may be great in certain situations and poor in others. Many times customers want real human assistance that’s supported by tech. Tech serves as “intelligence augmentation” to help deliver a great customer experience. - Ernie Bray, AutoClaims Direct Inc. (ACD)

9. Collect Feedback On Social Media

Be diligent about collecting feedback from all your social media platforms to learn about consumer feelings. Then you can adjust accordingly and create personalized content to increase engagement. - Elaine Montilla, The Graduate Center, CUNY

10. Eliminate Lines And Help Customers Skip In-Person Visits

Businesses can use IoT devices paired with CCTV cameras to analyze customer behavior and reduce lines. Also, they can use biometric devices at the entrance to recognize the customer from the moment they enter to speed up the flow. In banking and fintech technologies, enable remote customer onboarding. Biometric sensors can replace physical signatures to make physical presence no longer obligatory. - Alexey Makarov, Qulix Systems

11. Use Personal Touch Technologies

The personal touch is something that is missing from a lot of digital customer experiences. Companies can easily tie into personal touch technologies from automatic care packages to handwritten notes—not to mention the combination of personalization technologies that create dynamic and tailored experiences. - Matt Moody, Bellwethr