As websites have evolved from online listings to online experiences, user expectations and business needs for operational efficiencies have been the drivers behind a lot of technical innovations. Take for instance, chatbots and intelligent virtual assistants. Something of a novelty just a few short years ago, now over 80% of people have interacted with a chatbot. This form of digital self-service offers users a convenient way to accomplish their task – whatever it may be – quickly and efficiently. Like most things, there are good and bad ways to implement these emerging technologies into your digital strategy. 

Digital self-service that centers the wants and needs of the customers is the best way to future-proof your digital customer satisfaction.

By centering the customer, you position your company for success. A deep understanding of what they’re looking for is the best place to start. Options for implementation range from offering an automated messaging experience before they even click on your website to an intelligent search bar or virtual assistant that specializes in anything and everything tied to your business – including lead capture, scoring, and routing!

The person who gravitates to chat is not the person who gravitates to using basic site navigation is not the person who gravitates to intelligent search. And yet, they may be the same person at different points in their journey with your business. Their intent, their physical context, their comfort with the site, all factor in to their preferences in that moment. From a business perspective, that means that you’ll want want to provide as many ways for people to get what they need. No matter what path they choose, all roads should lead the customer to what they want.

The best way to guarantee that your customers are satisfied is to give them the freedom and flexibility to choose the path that best meets their needs.

Anything that you can do to make things easier is going to result in more satisfied and loyal customers, which will have a direct impact on your bottom line. The incredible thing about digital self-service is that not only will your customers be more satisfied, your business will benefit, too.

Digital self-service options like chat were expected to have saved businesses over $8 billion dollars last year, with operational efficiencies playing a big role in the savings. 

When you give people a way to answer their own questions and find exactly what they need, they are less likely to call you (and less likely to be frustrated by a long wait, limited availability, or a clunky IVR.) When your website or app uses technology that allows for automatic and immediate response to questions, your ability to be helpful is not dependent on having customer service staffed 24/7/365.

Beyond the obvious operational efficiencies, integrating digital self-service technology gives you access to data about user behavior and how customers interact with the different functions. This information can then be used to improve internal processes, like optimizing content or streamlining customer service operations. From a website design perspective, it gives you rich, first-person data to help guide any future changes to site design or navigation.

Today’s customer experience is no longer about waiting for someone to help you; instead, it’s about giving people the tools to meet their own needs.

A self-service solution can help your customers get what they want faster and with less hassle than ever before is the path to more satisfied customers. Whether it’s intelligent search, virtual assistants, or some combination of the two, empowered customers are the ones that will keep coming back.