Strengthening Trust: The Role of Virtual Receptionists in Reliable Business Communication
Hi Dear Readers
My insight for the week,
Life is a walking lesson. I know this to be true, every day is a learning curve and an opportunity to learn something new.
However, somethings don’t change, let me try to explain my thoughts.
I had my children at a relatively young age, in the beginning it was very difficult being a young Mum and there were most definitely not a shortage of people judging me.
I am not going to go into all the pros and cons of being a young mother, but one huge advantage that I want to highlight, is that I can now connect with my adult children.
You see, although many things have changed, the most important things in life have not changed, it was not too long ago that I experienced many of the lessons they are going through in life.
The lesson I learnt today is that love, heart break, peer pressure, being rebellious, experimenting, relationships give you the same lesson no matter what generation you are born into.
We all must face the reality of life, sometime or other, and one of my biggest fears as a professional virtual receptionist is that I am going to be replaced by a robot one of these days. Honestly, technology is moving, improving and changing at a rapid place.
When I have these thoughts, I think of something that one of my callers said:
“I know that I am comforted when speaking to a person instead of only an AI assistant. Like Facebook, it is notorious for sending you down ‘helpful’ questions when needing to problem solve. There is no one to contact and speak to directly when urgent issues arise, you have to send an email and hope for the best…to say it is frustrating is an understatement”
I am a brilliant receptionist, and I love working for Turnkey Receptionists.
How a human touch improves customer loyalty and retention:
A staggering 86% of customers say they’re more loyal to a company when they can speak to a real person instead of an automated system when they need assistance. Whilst digital solutions are great for improving efficiency and providing 24/7 support, it’s clear that human beings also play a vital role in creating a quality customer experience.
But what is it about the human touch that makes building trust with customers so much easier?
Increase customer satisfaction:
More than half of customers prefer speaking to a human being on the phone in any circumstance, meaning those customers prefer human interaction regardless of both the issue they’re calling about and the other contact options available (such as chatbots or self-service knowledge bases).
To give customers the human interaction they want, it’s necessary to have a team of real people manning your phones. However, it’s just as vital that your team has the training and experience necessary to provide a good experience and satisfactory resolutions to customers’ problems.
Create strong relationships with customers:
Did you know that 81% of high-performing customer service teams ensure their interactions with customers are oriented towards relationship-building? In low performing teams, this figure is almost 20% lower.
Creating a relationship is vital for customer satisfaction. To create loyal, returning customers, a business needs to make sure consumers feel valued and listened to. Although digital solutions are great at resolving problems, it’s difficult to create genuine relationships between a brand and its customers without real human interaction forming some part of the customer service process.
Encouraging customers to return is essential for helping a company survive in a post-pandemic landscape. There are a huge number of financial benefits to focusing on customer loyalty and retention. For instance, returning customers spend 67% more than new customers, and are 50% more likely to refer your business to others.
Demonstrates company values:
Values are important. So important, in fact, that 86% of consumers say they are more likely to spend money with a brand that has values aligned with their own. This preference creates another opportunity to utilise the human touch in your customer service.
A company will likely struggle to demonstrate their values in a sincere way with digital-first customer service, because of the limitations of current technology. While automation is fantastic for efficiency, a human operator is needed to demonstrate company values like honesty, fairness or a community spirit.
For example, if a customer feels that a particular decision or company policy is resulting in unfair treatment, they won’t get far complaining about the issue to a chatbot. On the whole a machine would only be able to provide programmed responses, which would be in line with established policy.
A human being, however, can listen to the customer’s complaint, and investigate further to see if something can be done to accommodate the customer and ensure fair treatment. As well as creating loyalty, these positive interactions are great for building trust with customers, so that they have faith in the company’s customer service.
So by utilising human touch customer service, a brand can demonstrate its values effectively. Doing so helps instil loyalty in customers and retain their business in future.
The importance of a human touch in customer service:
Unlike automated solutions, human beings can demonstrate empathy, which is crucial in creating a connection with a customer. Advisors can also understand customers’ problems and emotions more comprehensively than current AI software can manage.
Without leveraging the uniquely human factors of empathy and understanding, a company might struggle to build relationships with its customers, which is harmful for retention. In this way, it’s essential to have a significant human component in your customer service strategy.
Include a human touch in your customer service with Turnkey Receptionists.
We can provide your company with highly-skilled virtual receptionists, who are trained to ensure every interaction with your customers is a positive experience.
