Article | 3 min read

Providing automated self-service where customers (and agents) want it most

By Teresa Haun,Sr. product marketing manager

Published September 17, 2018
Last updated September 21, 2021

As customers trend towards becoming more self-sufficient, they’re becoming more accustomed to interacting with AI-powered tools for the support they need (especially with75 percent of executives looking to actively implement AI in the next three years). The benefit of customers engaging with these tools means that agents can get involved with fewer support requests and focus their attention on the ones that truly need a human touch. Not only does this free up time for agents, but it ultimately results in a better,APP亚博娱乐 .

Automatedself-servicecan be accomplished with the help of virtual customer assistants likeAnswer Bot. Answer Bot is built into Zendesk Guide and uses machine learning to respond to questions with content from your knowledge base. The automated assistance of AI tools like Answer Bot can help companiesshave down their ticket volumeandenable customers to better help themselves. For example, Dollar Shave Club has benefitted from nine thousand monthly resolutions via Answer Bot with a 14 percent resolution rate.

There’s also an increased demand to help customers where they want to be helped. As customers seek assistance in a way that makes the most sense to them, a proactive support organization can offer automated support where it would be the most beneficial to their customers.

Figuring out where automated support can help your customers

Think about where it is that customers often seek support. Are they having difficulty finding relevant articles in aHelp Center? A steady influx of support tickets and a high rate of bounces from the front of Help Center might be indicative of that. What if customers often seek help during a critical point in the buyer’s journey or prefer to seek help on their phones?

This is where businesses can be strategic with where automated self-service is offered. Beyond offering assistance after a support ticket is created via email or web form, Answer Bot’s new features allow it to be embedded into theZendesk Web Widgetand offer assistance through an in-context help window from anywhere on a website. It can even be implemented into a mobile site or app via theMobile SDK. This allows businesses to decide where customers can access automated help; perhaps from within a Help Center or from within their shopping cart directly within their mobile app. Or, if developers want to fully leverage the automated recommendations provided by Answer Bot, they can build out an experience that connects with their own unique channels through openAnswer Bot APIs.

AI-powered knowledge sharing for agents

AI tools can help a support organization craft a more tailored knowledge sharing experience for their customers. But what about sharing knowledge amongst the agents as well? They too need quick access to help articles for both internal and external knowledge sharing.

Answer Bot for Agents给代理一个捷径推荐的基于“增大化现实”技术的帮助ticles by displaying them within the ticket interface. The articles can be external or internal for businesses that utilize an agent-only knowledge base. An agent can provide a quick link to an article as a resource to educate the customer on self-service options in the future. And, more importantly, it keeps agents updated on the help articles available for their customers, giving them a more holistic view of their support offerings so they can fill in gaps as needed.

For internal knowledge needs, automated self-service can be leveraged with theAnswer Bot for Slack integration, which enables employees to easily locate help articles from a knowledge base using shortcuts in Slack. This helps to save time for employees looking for information so they don’t need to dig through sections or bug their coworkers.

Many are expecting that thewidespread implementation of AI will be incredibly disruptive, so it’s important for support leaders to stay on top of automated support options that can help them improve their customer experience to meet the increasing demands and needs from customers. By leveraging tools like Answer Bot and its new features (that are currently available in early access), customers and agents can find the help they’re looking for when and where they need it the most.

The dynamic, long-term impact of self-service

Don't think of self-service as an end goal—take it from our customers, who say it's a living, breathing efficiency-driving resource.

The dynamic, long-term impact of self-service

Don't think of self-service as an end goal—take it from our customers, who say it's a living, breathing efficiency-driving resource.

Read more