The customer experience is not the same today as it was years ago and technology has played a pivotal role in that evolution.
This is according to Ebrahim Dinat, COO at Ocular Technologies, who notes customer expectations are higher than they used to be, and the way customers experience brands has changed. Technology enables companies to learn, adapt, and exceed customer expectations.
"Today, customers have the ability to leave feedback in any form they like in-store, online, by phone, etc. And if these channels aren't available, customers can take to social media to share their brand experiences. No matter the circumstances, if a customer has an interaction with your brand, chances are they're going to talk about it," said Dinat.
"Customers want to be connected at all times and want information at the touch of their fingertips without having to wait for long periods just to find what they need. No matter how many apps there are, as long as the customer gets the information they require, they are happy," he added.
Dinat said that companies can leverage the latest technologies to maximise their customers' experience by:
* Lowering Customer Service Costs: providing customers with options that fit their needs and preferences increases self-service adoption and automation rates so that fewer customers require agent assistance.
* Streamline Business Processes: utilise outbound notifications to deliver actionable reminders that enable customers to perform transactions such as confirm a scheduled appointment or pay a past-due bill - including an interactive IVR or SMS dialogue or link to a mobile Web application that makes it easy for the customer to take action.
* Increase Retention and Repeat Business: for marketers, IVR and text channels offer a non-intrusive, inexpensive outbound channel for delivering relevant, customer-specific notifications and opt-in marketing campaigns including virtual coupons, loyalty rewards, new product and service announcements and more.
According to Dinat, changing conversation is the future of improving customer experience. "We are entering a new era in customer experience and this evident by looking at technology giants Amazon, Apple, and Google. They are betting on voice-based systems to be a huge part of consumers' daily lives," elaborated Dinat.
"Google introduced voice search in 2009, while Apple debuted the voice-activated Siri virtual assistant in 2011. But such software is only now reaching the sophistication at which it is likely to feel truly useful to users. The best evidence yet that people are willing to start talking to their computers has come by way of Amazon. The online retailer in 2014 introduced the Echo, a voice-enabled smart speaker able to answer users' questions and comply with certain commands, like setting timers or dimming Internet-connected lights," he continued.
"As consumers we want to use siri or the Amazon Echo to get answers to our problems. Echo's massive success is attributed to the way it interacts with apps on a user's behalf, providing a quicker way to jump between different services than pressing and poking on your smartphone or tablet. By talking to Echo, owners can request an Uber, order a pizza, or - of course - shop on Amazon. We want to get answers from customer service centres in our time via our method. How cool is the future?" he continued.
Ocular Technologies was established in 2003. It is a specialist enterprise communications company and customer experience solutions provider. It will be hosting a free-to-attend executive forum in association with ITWeb Events in July.
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