As an ecommerce merchant, your time is valuable. Whether it’s product development, order fulfillment, or marketing efforts, there are seemingly endless ways you could invest time in your growing business.
Still, no matter what the circumstances, customer service should always be a priority, because it can increase customer loyalty. In fact, according to a 2022 survey, 94% of responding customers stated that positive customer service experiences made them more likely to purchase from a company again.
How can you improve your customer service while saving time? One option is to implement customer service automation tools to increase the efficiency of your customer service process. Learn more about how customer service automation works, how it can benefit your business, and some best practices for automating your customer service operation.
What is customer service automation?
Customer service automation involves using software tools to automate customer service tasks. For example, as soon as a customer communicates with you, the software can automatically create a customer support ticket.
With the rise of artificial intelligence (AI), technologies like machine learning (ML) and natural language processing (NLP) can automate complicated customer service tasks. AI tools can provide specific recommendations or route customer inquiries to the right person based on that customer’s unique situation. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
Customer service automation tools
There are various customer service automation tools to consider implementing for your company’s customer service. These include:
Chatbots
A chatbot is a software application that simulates the experience of chatting with a customer service representative. You can use this type of application to field customer questions through a chatbox that appears on your ecommerce store. There are two main types of chatbots: rule-based and AI-powered.
Rule-based chatbots
These chatbots respond with relevant information based on a variety of prompts, so you could program the chatbot to automatically respond to a customer inquiring about the delivery status of their order by asking for the confirmation number. Since the rules they follow and the prompts they answer are set in stone, they’re less able to converse organically.
AI-powered chatbots
Conversational AI chatbots use natural language processing to handle more complex customer interactions than rule-based chatbots, generating brand-new text that reacts to a customer’s communications. For example, if you run an ecommerce store store selling cosmetic products, you could use an AI-powered chatbot to field questions about an out-of-stock product. It may respond with product recommendations specific to what the customer wants.
Interactive voice response software
Interactive voice response (IVR) systems use pre-written or pre-recorded voice messages to respond to customers calling for customer service support. For example, an IVR system can direct calls to the correct person in your company for a particular issue or provide basic information like delivery timelines or pricing information for products.
Automated surveys
This service automation tool can send automatic follow-up emails to ask customers about their experience with your company post-purchase. Automatic surveys increase the amount of feedback you receive from customers and ultimately give you more information about how your customers are feeling and how you can improve their experience with your company.
Workflow automation
Customer service workflows are step-by-step guides for how to address different customer service requests. You can automate customer service workflows by using applications to automatically perform tasks when triggered by one step of the workflow being completed.
For example, you could use a workflow automation tool to automatically create customer support tickets after receiving a communication from a customer through channels like phone, email, social media, or chatbot.
Pros and cons of automating customer service
Automated customer service software can help you provide better customer service by saving you time and offering a constant communication channel for customers. However, there are some challenges. Weigh the pros and cons of customer service automation:
Pros
Here are a few of the main advantages:
- Increased efficiency. Automation can save you and your customer service team time by automatically handling customer service tasks, including repetitive tasks like data entry.
- 24/7 support for customers. Automation tools can increase customer satisfaction by providing customers with open communication channels—even when you or your customer service team are unavailable.
- Better data. Automation software can provide businesses with valuable data about their customer service processes, including information about what issues customers are facing and how to better address them.
Cons
Although automation can benefit your customer service, there are also drawbacks to consider, including:
- Less human interaction. According to a 2022 survey, 86% of responding customers say it is important to be able to contact a real person when communicating with a business. Automated customer service tools can only support a human touch, they can’t replace the need for human customer service representatives altogether.
- Complexity problems. Automated customer service systems are still limited in how well they can handle complex customer service issues. For now, these still require a significant amount of human intervention.
- Cost. Depending on what ecommerce platform you’re using, setting up customer service automation can require an upfront investment in software tools.
How to implement customer service automation
- Choose the right automation tools
- Set clear guidelines
- Train your customer service team
- Roll out your tools gradually
- Perform regular audits
Here are some tips you can consider when optimizing your automated customer service tools:
1. Choose the right automation tools
Identify the pain points in your customer service process that automation tools can improve. For example, maybe you’ve noticed your customer support team spends a lot of time responding to phone calls with basic inquiries about shipping costs or product availability. In this case, you could invest in an IVR system to automate the process of fielding incoming calls.
Pick an ecommerce platform that includes automation or allows for the integration of automation tools. For example, Shopify includes an AI-powered chatbot in Shopify Inbox. You can also explore the Shopify App Store for customer service automation apps built to integrate with your Shopify store, including AI-powered chatbots like SmartBot and Chatty.
2. Set clear guidelines
Create a visual flowchart that covers each specific step of your customer service workflow, including clear guidelines for where automation tools are involved in the process and when human interaction is required.
For example, you could determine that customer queries on your website first go through an AI chatbot that responds to simple questions and immediately flags more complicated support tickets to customer service representatives. From there, explain when and how customer service agents should follow up on those support tickets.
3. Train your customer service team
When automating customer service processes for your company, you still need to provide a human touch to assist customers and maintain a positive customer experience. Train your customer service team on all of your automation tools so they understand how to interact with customers.
For example, if you’re using automation to generate support tickets after customer inquiries, teach your customer service agents how to reference the information on the ticket. This will help them avoid asking customers to repeat information they’ve already communicated to an automated system.
4. Roll out your tools gradually
Once you find the right automation tools for your customer service process, integrate each tool one by one and monitor how well each tool is working before adding more. If you automate a significant portion of your customer service workflow all at once, you risk confusing your customers or your customer service team.
Adding automation tools gradually to your customer service process can help you work out any potential workflow issues along the way. It also helps you make smart choices about when to use automation and when to reach out to customers directly.
5. Perform regular audits
Audit your customer service automation tools often by interacting with them yourself. Go to your online store and ask your live chatbot questions as if you’re a customer with an issue. Email your company’s customer service address and see how well your automation tools respond. Call your phone number and interact with the IVR system. The more you engage with your automation tools directly, the better understanding you’ll have of what it’s like for a customer to interact with your company.
Take advantage of the detailed information automation tools provide and audit past interactions. For example, you could download all of the conversations customers have had with your chatbots and review the interactions. Focus on key performance indicators (KPIs) relevant to your customer service process, such as average resolution time, customer churn rate, and customer effort score (CES).
As a business owner using Shopify, you have access to analytics and reporting tools that automatically gather data about customer behavior and the customer experience on your online store. You can also ask your customers directly by using automation software to request customer feedback through surveys and gain a better understanding of your customer service from them.
Customer service automation FAQ
Which technology is commonly used for customer service automation?
The most commonly used technologies for customer service automation include generative artificial intelligence (AI), natural language processing (NLP), and machine learning (ML).
How do you automate customer service?
You can automate customer service by using an ecommerce platform like Shopify (which includes built-in automation tools), downloading automation tools through an app store, or purchasing automation software that can integrate with your online store.
What is an example of automated customer service?
An example of automated customer service is an AI-powered chatbot on your ecommerce store that fields customer inquiries, answers questions, and flags more complicated interactions to customer service reps for follow-up.
