Blog Post Discover the power of virtual customer service and how integrating it with AI automation can give endless possibilities to your business.
Syed Hassan ZamanA competent and well-equipped customer service team always supports a successful business. They are one of the driving forces of any business venture whose effective communication and problem-solving skills can improve your relationship with your customers and boost your business.
Despite all the technological innovations, 53% of customers still prefer to chat with a live agent for their queries. This is where virtual customer service steps in.
Virtual customer service refers to the people who provide online customer service on behalf of their clients, usually through remote channels. But how does the whole process work, and is it as effective as automated customer support?
Virtual customer service means a service model that provides businesses with an entirely remote customer support team. This team consists of CSRs (customer service representatives) who are thoroughly trained in a company's products and aim to provide exceptional customer service, similar to in-house support.
Virtual customer care teams are usually work-from-home employees or a third-party provider. This third party is typically a company or online call center support, with dedicated support teams and technological assistance. These teams provide outsourcing options to businesses for seamless customer service.
Virtual customer staff can work flexibly, ensuring all of a customer's needs are met on time.
Virtual customer service agents use various communication channels to connect with customers, such as live chat, phone calls, emails, messages, or social media apps. Their responsibilities usually revolve around responding to customer queries, handling complaints, troubleshooting technical problems, and related issues. Here is a list of responsibilities of virtual customer service agents.
The primary responsibility of a virtual customer agent is to provide accurate and updated information about a company's products and services to customers. A knowledgeable employee is one of the most important aspects of good customer service and the first step in a successful buyer's journey. They know the ins and outs of a company's offerings and deliver quick and comprehensive information to the customers and prospects.
Virtual customer service agents are able to detect a customer's intent and purpose through open communication. Hence, they can promote special offers and promotions a brand offers, including product recommendations. This is usually done through calls, SMS, and social media marketing with a personalized customer care approach.
Dealing with angry or unhappy customers is an unavoidable duty of customer service staff. Working in virtual customer service means dealing with a lot of complaints and queries. These agents are trained in various customer care skills, such as good listening, clear communication, empathy, and positive language. Virtual support staff use these skills to ensure effective and timely complaint resolution.
Collecting, analyzing, and responding to customer feedback is integral to customer service. Virtual agents use different methods to collect customer feedback, such as follow-up calls and emails, taking notes of customer suggestions, and tracking social media review sections of a brand. They also know how to handle negative reviews and turn them into pleasant experiences through efficient customer service.
Customer service employees deeply understand the company's products/services and how to use them for maximum benefit. They are involved in creating and documenting helpful content for customers and prospects. This includes knowledge base articles, FAQs, help manuals, how-to guides, troubleshooting documentation, and blog posts.
Additionally, virtual customer service agents can turn one-time clients into permanent supporters by providing proactive customer service online.
Hiring a virtual customer service team can be a smart move for your business. Here is how:
Personalized human interactions are the basis of virtual customer service. Virtual assistants are highly trained professionals who can provide customers personalized and tailored communication by identifying their needs. Customers are definitely happier when they know that an empathetic ear is available to listen to and resolve their issues.
With virtual customer service, you don't need to purchase and maintain expensive technology equipment. Outsourcing virtual assistants relieves you of the expenses of physical office, utilities, furniture, and other overhead costs.
An efficient Virtual support team reduces the workload on your permanent in-house employees by dealing with a massive chunk of customer issues as a front-line representative. This allows your staff to focus on more critical tasks that need immediate attention.
Hiring virtual support staff also comes with its own set of possible challenges, such as:
Outsourcing means hiring from a varied pool of talent with diverse backgrounds. Virtual support agents have to deal with customers around the globe. Despite hiring highly trained staff, there are still chances of misinterpretation or human errors due to language and cultural barriers.
Businesses have a lot of data, which includes clients' personal information such as names, contact numbers, bank details, or addresses. Before hiring a virtual staff, make sure to do a thorough background check to avoid the risk of data hacking and avoid legal consequences.
Virtual customer services are still subjected to limited availability. Many outsourcing companies have specific operating hours for assisting. it is also influenced by the timezone in which the company operates. Businesses may also need additional support and assistance during peak times to ensure smooth customer service.
Both AI automation and virtual customer support have significant benefits in customer service. AI automation employs advanced AI chatbots, conversational AI applications, and machine learning to streamline customer support. It can handle a high volume of customer queries and reduce the long waiting times that come with traditional customer service.
AI Chatbots can handle most of the typical customer queries with automated replies. They are developed with NLP technology that enables them to understand human emotions and interact with people personally. Also, unlike regular customer support, AI-enabled customer service works 24/7 to provide non-stop customer support. AI automated systems are highly-sensitive to protecting customer data and ensure there is no breach of privacy or unethical use of sensitive information.
Does that mean AI automation should replace virtual customer support? Surprisingly, the answer is NO!
While AI automation is the future of customer support, many business areas still need personalized human interactions. Human assistance is still required in terms of technical support, complex problem-solving, empathy, cultural sensitivity, and related issues.
What about a hybrid customer service model that leverages both technologies? A combination that leverages the benefits of both systems to provide excellent AI-automated customer service with additional human support.
Integrating AI with virtual customer support means designing a model where AI chatbots and virtual assistants are present 24/7 to deal with customers' queries, provide immediate assistance, and monitor data, analytics, and feedback. These AI assistants can use the existing knowledge base to interact with customers and quickly transfer the more complicated and technical queries to virtual agents. Human support staff, who can provide personalized assistance while working from their homes.
This type of hybrid customer service helps businesses provide personalized and responsive customer care with increased efficiency.
Virtual customer support employs live agents to facilitate customer service. While this system has many benefits, it is only partially possible to scale and manage a business with human backing. This is where you can leverage AI support. Integrating AI chatbots and applications with well-trained human assistance can help you deliver an exceptional customer experience, helping you achieve new productivity levels.
Looking forward to a human and AI collaboration? Use Aidbase. It provides all the AI automation support you need for your business. Aidbase AI provides customized AI chatbots that can easily integrate across various platforms to offer 24/7, automated customer support.
