“It is no surprise that the human touch has been coined as a ‘luxury’ in customer service… As customer expectations continue to climb and tech support needs increase as connected devices proliferate, the live customer support agent’s role will only become more important to customer satisfaction.” – Renee Soulliard
The digital revolution has shifted how and where we do business, but has it shifted why we do it? As humans, our need to feel understood runs deep within our psyche. If you’re experiencing an issue with a product and you need to speak with customer support, the last thing people want to deal with is a digitized support bot that is incapable of empathic understanding.
Technological innovation has provided companies with the opportunity to obtain ever-greater levels of internal efficiency, helping them create better products and services at lower prices. However, as companies continue to embed technology and artificial intelligence within their infrastructure it’s becoming clear where consumers believe they need to re-invest their capital.
In a recent PwC Consumer Intelligence Series survey, 75% of 15,000 consumer respondents confirmed the observation that when it comes to business, the human touch is still very important. The argument that digitizing customer support will increase efficiency is a valid point, but in the long term it seems to be pushing frustrated customers back to companies that are capable of creating, sustaining, and nurturing honest human connection between themselves and the consumer through direct, empathic communication.
As the shift towards digital customer support and artificial intelligence continues, those companies that center themselves on the principle of human connection are continuing to win customer loyalty. Marketing Strategist Renee Soulliard explains that, “A live agent can step into the shoes of a consumer and understand an issue from their perspective, both technically and emotionally. With this perspective, not only can an agent solve the technical problem at hand, but they can also build a long-term, personal relationship with a customer.”
Do you think the increased digitization of customer support is a bad thing or are you happy to see more automation? Let us know in the comments section below.
If you’d like to learn more about some of the retail training programs we offer here at Graff, contact us here.
“Technology will remain central to retailers’ ability to understand and predict customer behavior. But none of these high-tech capabilities would be possible without people. Whether on the front lines or behind the scenes, it takes a veritable army of specialized staff — floor associates, data scientists, product designers, artificial intelligence experts, supply chain specialists, distribution center workers, and more, all operating in concert with technology — to delight customers with products and services they didn’t even know they wanted and keep them coming back.” – Steve Barr & Ellen Davis
At Graff Retail, we create leading-edge retail training programs specifically designed and customized to increase staff knowledge and performance with innovative teaching methods to drive sales and revenue for businesses.
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