Automation Insights
Where customer support and tech collide
August 2022
Welcome back to your monthly dose of insights into customer support automation from your friends at Ultimate!
In this month’s edition:
- The importance of finding the right balance between people and technology in customer support teams
- Ultimate’s Co-founder and COO Sarah Al-Hussaini sums up why women should be at the forefront of CX developments
- Find out all you need to know about messaging and automation
- Take a look at the new Ultimate Customer Support Academy
- A how-to guide for providing 24/7 customer service, without scaling your team
Customer service technology doesn’t replace agents — it empowers them
In the current climate of economic uncertainty, savvy support leaders will be looking to streamline their operations and make efficiency gains. But these cost-cutting measures can’t come at the expense of customer experience. And that means technology alone is not the solution.
Founder and CS expert Liz Tsai advises against an automation-only approach. Instead, she champions technology as a means to enable support teams in delivering exceptional customer service — and offers some advice on what to consider before implementing new technologies.
Ultimate’s Co-founder & COO on why women should shape the future of CS
According to DataUSA, for every male customer service rep in the US there are two women. And yet, men continue to dominate the industry at a leadership level. Our COO at Ultimate, Sarah Al-Hussaini, explains why now is the time for women — with their wealth of industry knowledge and experience — to close the gender leadership gap and shape the future of customer support.
“In the customer service industry, we are on the cusp of an enormous opportunity — to create the first deep tech specialization (conversational AI) dominated by women.” - Sarah Al-Hussaini
How to provide 24/7 support without hiring new agents
We live in an age of instant gratification, where customers expect brands to be responsive at any time of day, every day of the week. And it’s hard for CS teams to keep up — especially while keeping costs down. Find out the 3 best ways for support teams to serve their customers 24/7 without increasing headcount. (Spoiler alert: automation might have something to do with it).
Introducing: the Ultimate Customer Support Academy
We’re proud to announce the launch of our Customer Support Academy: your go-to place for scaling and improving your customer service. Covering agent soft skills to CRMs, in this interactive learning hub we’re sharing our AI expertise and industry know-how with you.
First up — the best practices for customer service in our fast-paced digital-first world. This module lets you in on the top trends and approaches in CX that leading brands are implementing today.
Automated CS messaging is no longer the next frontier: it’s happening now
Messaging has established itself as the hottest new customer support channel. Zendesk reported that WhatsApp tickets jumped by 219% during the pandemic. And support teams will be feeling the heat from these growing volumes. That’s why CS leaders are implementing smart automation solutions across their messaging and social channels.
Dive into automated messaging for customer service in this no-nonsense explainer: what it is, why it matters, and how to do it right.
Stat of the month:
The best of AI & CS from around the web
- Fast Company: An AI-enabled workforce is the future of customer engagement
- McKinsey & Company: The state of customer care in 2022
- Entrepreneur: How Conversational AI Bridges the Gap for Retail Customers, No Matter How You Shop
We’ve all had frustrating chatbot interactions...
... but automation doesn’t have to come at the cost of your CX.
At this free digital event, you’ll:
- Discover what conversational design is and why it’s important
- Learn how to design bot-to-human conversations that drive business results and improve CX
- Watch a demonstration of the latest updates to our dialogue builder, and see how these enable advanced conversation design