Great customer service relies on employees who can perform their jobs without bottlenecks or impediments. It also requires efficient workflows and streamlined processes. One of the best ways to eliminate bottlenecks and improve processes is with process automation. From using RPA bots to automate tedious tasks to using more advanced technologies like optical character recognition (OCR) and natural language processing (NLP), there are many opportunities for incorporating process automation into company goals for customer service.
Streamlining Customer Service Workflows with Process Automation
Delivering world-class customer service requires fast resolutions, and it starts at the very first interaction. By allowing the customers to self-direct into their lane of choice for their issue, you eliminate the need to have a human perform this task, keeping all your people available to handle whatever is next for your customer.
Going Beyond Workflows
Automated call ticketing might be one of the most ubiquitous examples of process automation in action, but there are many more ways to put process automation to work for customer service.
By looking at the end-to-end customer service process using a platform like EZFlow, which can automatically map all the interactions along the way, you can easily see where the service issues get hung up and slowed down. With the problems exposed, you can make a data-driven plan for remediation that will consider all the factors at play—instead of reactively trying to fix individual problems as they crop up.
What’s more, EZFlow can show you the potential impact of automating any given step, so you can have an idea of the impact before you even make changes.
Once you look at process automation from this big-picture vantage point, you can also do more with it, exporting the data for further exploration. Forecast call volumes, conduct quality assurance research and more. With your process optimized, you can leverage technology to improve your customer experience from the inside out.
Here are a few more examples of how you can leverage process automation for customer service:
-
Document management: Use bots to send and retrieve documents to free up service reps and still ensure they can access critical information.
-
Data collection: Few things are as time-consuming as manual record-keeping! Reduce paper-based reporting and automate data collection with streamlined forms and even automated form-fills where appropriate.
-
Customer onboarding: Streamline the onboarding process by developing customer experiences that reduce the need for support, providing self-service options that improve outcomes.
-
Data analysis: With your end-to-end processes mapped out, you can start analyzing each customer interaction and leveraging the data you capture along the way. Forecast call volumes, create new customer service initiatives and more.
Putting Process Automation to Work
These are just a handful of examples of how process automation can elevate your customer service experience. Understanding how work gets done is the first step—from there, we can use automation to take a methodical approach, looking at the entirety of work from end to end. This lays the groundwork for sound process automations and workflow improvement across the organization.
Want to see what process automation looks like in your business? Schedule a custom Process Discovery Workshop with EPSoft process experts! We’ll help you uncover your own bottlenecks and explore the best opportunities for improvement.