Here's how you can balance human connection with technology in customer service interactions.

it's essential to strike a harmonious blend of automation and personalization. This can be achieved by using AI-powered chat bots to handle routine inquiries and freeing up human agents to focus on complex, emotionally charged issues that require empathy and nuance.

Technology implementation is excellent for customer service. Technology can address the majority of common customer issues where the solution is consistent. However, when it comes to complex issues, the technology in this piece may still be in development. Not to mention that not all customers are tech-savvy, so certain rules or guidelines must still be in place. For example, when customers interact with an AI virtual agent and the issue is not resolved, offer an option to connect to live agent instead.

A personal connection with your customer is imperative to show you care and that you hear their concerns. This is a great opportunity to stand out in customer service and support.

Trust. You must build that connection of trust with the customer or cooperation will be minimal. Find things you may have in common with the customer. Build a relationship with the customer. Keep politics and religion out of your conversations. Another golden rule I’ve found is, if you don’t have something “good” to say, it’s better to say nothing and try to switch the conversation to another topic you may have in common. If the customer is REALLY upset let them vent and keep yourself calm cool and collected. The customer may feel relief after they’ve vented and understand your there to help not argue.

The team should know how to answer almost anything about the product, and know what questions to ask if not enough information is given off the bat. If your customer doesn’t provide product numbers or charge dates, the team should be trained to know “I need X, Y, and Z to fully answer this person”.

Always listen to CS! I know many companies will prop up other departments (marketing, dev, etc), but CS are the ones talking to your clients, hearing what’s wrong and what’s not. CS is considered an “entry level” position, and so I’ve been in many companies that will tout how much they value the CS team, but then ignore them when customers voice concerns. While it may not seem like a big deal to someone who knows the inner workings of a product, the customers voice is what matters.

Knowing which articles are being clicked, what type of questions are being asked, and how often follow up/clarifying questions are asked helps to know where to place automations, to better streamline the team to answer what needs a human touch.