2020 was a pivotal year for global society, as individuals and companies alike were forced to change how they lived and worked rapidly. Many elements of business and life have been challenged, and the next normal may look very different from what we knew as new ways of working and interacting are carried over into the future.
Customer experience takes on new meaning against this backdrop. In the context of physical restrictions coupled with an increased need for reliable information and secure relationships, companies across many sectors have chosen to focus energy and resources on creating seamless, convenient, and engaging customer journeys. Primarily as consumers increased digital interactions with brands, the expectation grew to interact and receive support on a 24/7 basis. Customer service has become an intrinsic around-the-clock effort, and the most thoughtful customer service leaders have been “doubling down” on investments in technology that help improve customer service.
The world is fast becoming digital, in a trend that the limitations on physical movement imposed by the pandemic have only accelerated on a global scale.
Direct interaction is becoming obsolete as customers shift their preference to messaging and mobile apps. In response to changing trends and in support of its mission to simplify the lives of entrepreneurs and small businesses, in 2021, the company chose to make a move to integrate more digital ease into their existing customer processes. In short, it had become essential to focus on creating a complete, seamless digital customer experience available from anywhere and at any time.
In the spring of 2021, the company joined forces with DRUID to launch Bill, an AI virtual assistant that simplifies users’ customer support experience with a better digital experience and round-the-clock interaction.
At launch, Bill was programmed to provide answers to a comprehensive selection of over 500 predefined questions. Thus, regardless of whether they are on the site or in the mobile application, users can receive answers on how to use the company’s solutions, and billing methods, activate subscriptions, add stocks and returns, and create cancellation invoices, clear invoices, but also other information specific to billing and management activities.
Depending on the complexity of the user’s request and taking into account the work schedule of the technical support center, the virtual assistant can redirect the user to a human operator. Additionally, when a user interacts with Bill directly through the mobile app, the virtual assistant can recognize the customer without requesting additional login information and can, thus, provide personalized support.
The pandemic changed the structure of everything we experience, from how we shop and socialize to how we work. Nearly 80% of CEOs surveyed by Accenture said they would fundamentally change how they engage with and create value for customers.
The research shows that companies that focus their entire organization on delivering exceptional experiences for their customers are poised to grow their profitability “at multiples” compared to their competitors. In this context, AI-enabled virtual assistants have gained popularity as an easy, cost-efficient way to overcome physical limitations and limit reliance on human interactions to improve customer-oriented processes.
Successful implementations represent an essential step in helping companies create more robust and meaningful relationships with their customers.