Automation is a hot topic in customer experience (CX) because it enables government and businesses to operate with greater efficiency, personalization, and proactive responsiveness.
To explore strategies for automating CX and its impacts, I sat down with Rich Zanatta, VP of Operations and Chief Technology Officer at NuAxis.
Rich, thanks for chatting with me today! I’m excited to get your insight on this topic. Let’s start with mapping the customer journey – why is that so important?
Sure thing. Journey mapping is a critical first step in automating your CX journey. It provides a comprehensive view of all customer touchpoints, pain points, and opportunities for automation. This will help you strategically target automation where it will have the biggest impact instead of automating for the sake of it.
I like that you mentioned the automation benefiting more than one person; that’s where the true value lies. However, we know that automation can be tailored to the individual. Can you touch on that and give an example of personalization through automation?
Personalization through automation engages customers on an individual level and strengthens the overall CX. An example would be marketing automation platforms. They use customer data to send emails, offers, and notifications based on interests and behaviors. It’s like how Amazon recommends products based on your browsing history – algorithms analyze data to guide you to relevant items.
That’s a great example. Speaking of the individual, how can self-service options be automated?
There are a few ways to automate self-service, like knowledge bases, tutorials, AI-powered searches, and automated password resets or software downloads. The goal here is to help customers find answers themselves. In the end, it’s a win-win situation for everyone because customers can get the support they need quickly, while reducing the strain on an organization’s human resources.
Let’s talk chatbots and virtual assistants – how are they improving CX?
They handle routine inquiries instantly, no matter the time of day. By integrating them into messaging platforms, you’ll automate interactions and resolve issues promptly. The key here is thoughtfully building a well-structured conversation tree around existing processes. You can make sure you’re building the right conversation tree by conducting upfront CX research with your customer segments and analyzing that data to design a natural and helpful virtual messaging experience.
What does monitoring CX automations involve?
Automation requires continuous monitoring and optimization, which involves regularly analyzing metrics, feedback, and behaviors and using that data to make continuous improvements. This constantly adds value for customers. For those who aren’t familiar, we live by our continuous optimization methodology at NuAxis. It’s a concept built around CX and human-centered design (HCD) where continuous improvement leads to ongoing transformation and re-imagined possibilities.
As you can see, automation has the potential to make a huge impact on CX, and from Rich’s insights, it’s clear that a strategic, holistic approach is key. What automation efforts will you explore to engage customers in new ways and improve their experience?