People want to feel connected to the brands they support, and fostering a genuine connection is a two-way street. Brands need to demonstrate that they're invested in their consumers and care about their needs—and what better way to do that than by tailoring each support interaction? Roughly 78% of customers are more likely to make additional purchases from companies that offer personalization. Personalized experiences make customers feel the company knows and cares about their needs, promoting long-lasting brand loyalty.
Taking an invested interest builds customer loyalty.
70% of customers feel that a company must understand their history with the brand, including their buying patterns and previous interactions with the business. Personalization helps customers feel appreciated and understood, speeding up the customer service process. Plus, if a call center has access to a customer's previous brand interactions, it can more quickly get to the root of the problem.
Meeting customer expectations.
With so many brands leveraging big data in day-to-day interactions, personalization is no longer just a perk that upgrades the customer experience; it's an expectation. Because customers expect personalization as a standard business practice, 76% get frustrated when brands don't offer personalized experiences. Offering personalized customer service is essential for meeting customer expectations, upholding your brand image, and enhancing customers’ overall satisfaction.
Personalized product recommendations.
Offering relevant product recommendations is one of the best ways to keep customers in the purchase flow. Approximately 67% of first-time customers consider the relevance of product recommendations to be a significant determining factor that influences whether or not they make a purchase. Being able to recommend relevant products during or after support interactions could keep customers engaged with your brand, while demonstrating your knowledge of their needs and preferences.
The limitations of AI personalization.
While AI can be a helpful personalization tool, it's not yet a standalone solution due to several drawbacks and restrictions. For example, the lack of personal connection and potential privacy concerns are common sticking points with customers.
Lack of personal connection.
Despite the seemingly convenient and efficient use of AI tools, customers still prioritize human connection in customer service interactions. Personalized customer service strengthens brand relationships and shows that the company cares about its audience. Attempting to automate personalized interactions could turn off consumers and alienate them instead of making them feel appreciated.
Privacy concerns.
Barely half of customers trust brands to keep their personal information secure and private. This concern is exasperated when companies use AI tools. Customers may need to share more data in order to power personalized AI experiences, which not everyone is willing to do.
These pain points lead to an additional concern related to consumer discomfort. For many customers, personalization is a fine line. If a company appears to know too much about a customer, or the customer doesn't remember sharing certain information with a brand, personalization efforts could come off as unsettling. 38% of consumers will stop buying from a brand with intrusive levels of personalization. While human agents can often intuitively understand what level of personalization is socially appropriate, AI models may not have the same level of care and nuance.
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Balancing People, Process, and Technology to Deliver Customer Service Excellence
The Workforce Advantage
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Taking a human approach to personalization.
Successfully addressing these concerns about personalization begins with a human-centric strategy. Whether companies use AI to interpret their data or rely on other methods, it's critical to prioritize interpersonal connection in customer service.
Focusing on agent enablement.
A successful contact center strategy will focus on how tech tools can support and empower agents. Instead of relying exclusively on AI-driven solutions, determining how and when to integrate emerging technologies to complement agents at the right time will result in a better end-to-end customer experience.
Behind-the-scenes personalization tools can provide agents with the data they need, while still filtering information through the perspective of a discerning, well-trained agent. By using the optimal AI resources to train and inform agents, call center teams can maximize the impact of their data while still placing their findings into context.
Leveraging omnichannel tools.
Omnichannel engagement is one of the best ways to offer a personalized experience while circumventing the challenges of AI. Around 86% of customers expect customer service representatives to recognize them across channels, and omnichannel tools can help agents maintain consistent customer profiles across social media, email, phone, and many other support channels. Tracking this information can give customers the attentive personalization they need, without being overly intrusive or reliant on low-quality data.
Forging interpersonal connections.
Interpersonal interaction is one of the most critical steps in personalizing the customer support experience. Learning about consumers from previous interactions, such as their call history or previous support tickets, is an excellent starting point. However, agents should also focus on learning more about the customer to tailor and personalize the experience continually. Instead of relying exclusively on data they've collected, call center agents should proactively engage consumers to build upon their existing interactions.
Personalizing the customer experience with contact center support.
When it comes to personalized customer support, AI offers unique opportunities—but still comes with certain drawbacks. Companies must adopt a customer service strategy focused on interpersonal connection and building consumer relationships to carefully and successfully navigate these hurdles.
At KellyConnect®, we provide expert contact center solutions and agents who understand exactly how to interact with your specific environment and customers. Learn how to elevate your contact center strategy by contacting the KellyConnect team today.