Careless customer care?

Ethical business practices and the ability to build lasting trust, topped up with exceptional customer experience, require a certain amount of human touch and empathy in customer care practices.  Building loyalty, boosting revenue and protecting brand reputation requires human intervention. People want to feel that they are being listened to and respected, especially when they are under stress or going through difficult times.  We have helplines for rape victims, cyber fraud and whatnot these days.  These are great steps and helpful because humans are there at the other end.  For example, a customer who has experienced a bereavement of his near and dear one, and may be trying to cancel a service, can get more upset when faced with a robotic or impersonal response from a Chatbot.  Organisations in today's day and age rely heavily on automation and AI to upscale operations and after-sales service.  Ironically, this creates a growing gap between efficiency and the human touch and feel.

The journey of every customer tends to be obviously unique, shaped by varying expectations, needs as well as personal circumstances.  Hence, a respectful approach acknowledges that behind every enquiry, complaint, concern or grievance, a person is navigating a situation that may be quite confusing or frustrating.  By far, a high-quality customer care begins with recognising each customer's experience and aligning a service delivery that is as per that individual's emotional health at that moment, with of course, an appreciable amount of practicality factor to how that complaint or need can be addressed. The phone is a powerful way to offer a meaningful connection that creates clarity and gives reassurance, especially in situations when a personal approach is needed.

Human empathy can make the difference between ‘average’ and ‘exceptional’ customer care.  Interactions with customer care executives over the phone provide room for empathy, enabling them to pick up emotional cues and respond with sensitivity.  Whether a customer is anxious about a lost order or upset over a billing issue, a calm, warm human voice can release tension and turn a potential loss into loyalty.  For these individuals, a lack of empathy can have a tremendous impact on that person's well-being, at a time when they may already be struggling.

Today, technology has enhanced many aspects of customer care. AI-powered chatbots, automated follow-ups and self-service portals offer speed and consistency.  However, they fall short when a situation is complex or emotionally charged.  Recent studies have indicated that the shift to automation is not necessarily improving the customer experience.  To cite an example, a customer trying to resolve a complex billing error that may involve a combination of charges or a dispute would hate to be directed to press number instructions given by the automated customer service and waste 3-4 minutes figuring out which number options to choose.  The anxiety of losing money due to the billing error, coupled with the testing patience of finally finding a human at the other end, can lead to emotional problems as well as earn bad reviews for the company in question as to its ability to solve troubleshooting concerns. 

As much as 60 per cent of consumers say that AI chatbots fail to understand their issues. This is due to the fact that although AI responds quickly, it often struggles with the ‘why' and ‘how' behind a customer's concern.  Chatbots lack the emotional intelligence needed to read tone or adapt to unexpected questions. In developing countries like South Africa, where digital transformation is still gaining momentum, many consumers are not yet comfortable engaging with chatbots. They prefer real people.  An insightful take would be to say that AI works best when it supports, not replaces, human customer service teams.  When used thoughtfully, automation can handle basics. And there is no denying the fact that human-centred customer service goes beyond answering questions because real people create meaningful, trustworthy interactions that make customers feel heard, valued and understood.

Automated customer service can turn out to be quite costly when things go wrong. There have been times when an automated system could misinterpret a customer's request to ‘reset’ a password and instead trigger a complete account lockout due to a misunderstanding of some wording.  The real risk of automated customer service is that, globally, businesses lose $75 billion each year to poor customer service.  When the experience feels robotic or impersonal, it drives away customers faster. Frustrations, such as being misunderstood by a chatbot or getting stuck in a never-ending loop, are usually the complaints received.  Bad AI interaction is often harder to recover from than a poor human one because customers feel ignored.  The Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) are a simpler solution in most cases and can easily supplant humans.  But that alone does not seem to be sufficient. 

Votaries of customer service chatbots state that the cost involved in training humans is much more than that incurred by a chatbot.  Besides, customers lose patience if they have to wait in a queue, which is often the case.   A regular customer support ticket costs the company Rs40-50 and, for private services like travel agencies or some e-commerce platforms, it can go up to Rs150-300.  Then the question again arises of a choice between ‘voice chatbots’ and ‘text chatbots’, with eight out of 10 clients preferring voice chatbots, as that saves time and less exposure to the screen.  Some experts who deal in customer care state that the algorithmic tendency of voice chatbots to block access to humans is an impediment rather than a boon. Many companies are already working on how to configure the voice chatbots in a way that can transfer the line to actual humans – should there be a triggering word or a human tone or perhaps a weeping sound or something else? 

On the legal side, there is no law that embraces these problems and provides for the protection of the consumers, except the fundamental right to privacy and the concomitant data protection law and some of its neighbouring variants.  As AI steps up and the companies constantly tend to better their post-sales service (whether through humans or chatbots), the law will take its time to bring customers within its fold.  The long arm of the law, unfortunately there falls short when human bodies are miles away from each other or when a human is dealing with an automaton.  It is all innovative to see a robot serving me a dish in a restaurant but if the food is lacking taste or is downright bad, I need a waiter instantly to call the chef and get the dish replaced – simply because I am famished!

The future of customer service isn't about choosing between AI and people – it's about blending both aspects.  Whilst AI brings speed and consistency availability, humans bring the heart – empathy, trust and real understanding.  Both these combined create a service experience that's efficient and genuinely expeditious.  Human touch, especially in a digital call centre, is important in ensuring a positive customer experience.  Human interaction creates a personalised experience that chatbots and other AI tools simply cannot replicate and businesses cannot and must not lose sight of the human factor in customer support.