As the world has become more connected and omnichannel experiences have become commonplace, the value of customer service professionals’ time has increased exponentially. Companies must now solve issues for customers around the globe and at all hours. As such, service center managers have two choices: hire more representatives or find ways to reduce workloads to streamline service. Naturally, in today’s economic climate, many leaders opt for the latter. However, doing so can be tricky if you don’t have the right tools.
One emerging technology that’s effective in streamlining workflows in service centers is robotic process automation (RPA). RPA technology allows users with no IT or coding background to create and run scripts that can execute repetitive tasks for them. Rather than coding the robot to complete a task, RPA bots learn by observing. All a user has to do is show the bot the steps to completing the task and off it goes!
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Giving representatives access to RPA tools can help call center managers effectively address three of customer service’s most pressing challenges:
- Speed
Unlike macro scripts or many other automated solutions, RPA allows users to teach the bots tasks that use multiple programs. This opens the door for representatives to offload a wide range of tasks to bots, reducing workloads and improving call times. RPAs can be programmed to do just about anything, from b****** and claims processing to issuing notifications, addressing chatbot requests, and more, expediting some of the most time-consuming aspects of customer service and boosting overall productivity without increasing headcount.
- Human error
Even the best-trained representatives make mistakes. They’re only human. And when service representatives are doing repetitive data entry that includes down phone numbers, credit card numbers, birthdays, and other important identifiers, the smallest errors can cause big service problems down the line. But a bot that has been properly taught a task will execute that task correctly every time. Sure, some human oversight or auditing may be necessary to ensure everything is working as intended but offloading repetitive tasks to bots can significantly reduce the number of errors in back-office work.
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- Customer satisfaction
At the end of the day, the goal of any customer service center is to solve problems. Sometimes those problems can be solved by automation—and sometimes they require a human touch. Lightening the load on employees by removing the simpler tasks from their plates frees up their time to address more complex challenges with thought and care. It allows representatives to get back to doing the most important part of their job: keeping customers satisfied.
The key to operational excellence in support centers is striking the right balance between technology, automation, and the human touch. RPA empowers users and managers to do just that. It provides the best of both worlds by empowering workers of all skill levels to leverage automation to optimize their workflow on their terms. That means quicker, more accurate, and more satisfying experiences for customers.
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[To share your insights with us, please write to sghosh@martechseries.com]
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