Automated Customer Service: Advantages Outweigh Disadvantages
The marketplace in the world today is more competitive than ever before. Businesses are trying to increase profits and lower operating costs. Stockholders are insisting that companies make money, thus increasing their stock portfolios. Consumers are busier than at any point in the history of man. They work longer hours and try to squeeze more extracurricular activities into their evenings. Into this arena has come the automated customer service system.
Automated customer service has brought many advantages to today’s businessmen and consumer alike. It has decreased consumer waiting times, enabled businesses to lower operating costs, and eliminated the middleman. While it is not bug free no new innovations are. The telephone was not perfect when it was invented, and I’d be willing to bet that the light bulb burned out a few times at the most inopportune moment before it was perfected.
As with all of these things, the automated customer servant will need time to be fully developed. One thing that is certain however, it does offer us many advantages. The consumer no longer has to deal with a worker. There’s no call for getting into an argument over the phone; this would be a little absurd considering that it is a machine that is being talked to. Not that I have ever yelled at an inanimate object because it wouldn’t do what I wanted it to do. The most important advantage the automated attendant offers in my humble opinion is the decreased waiting times. This allows the consumer the luxury of not being kept on hold while waiting to speak with a human operator, who may or may not provide good service.
Today automated customer service is a necessity. Recent years have shown an increase in the pace of the average consumers life of forty percent. This, added to the stress of today’s economy and the era of the two-income family, has given birth to the need for change. That, however, is only one side of the coin. All businesses are looking for ways to save the almighty dollar. Salaries have increased across the board at arguably a higher rate than the pace of life. The answer for many companies has been to automate as much as possible their customer service function. This allows the company the option of hiring fewer customer service operators. While not good for unemployment rates, it is a definite bene...
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...h the system. There are bugs that through new technology and innovation will hopefully be worked out. How many people thought the first automobile was nothing more than a confounded contraption that was just as likely to blow up on you as get you where you wanted to go? I would imagine there were thousands, even millions of people who felt this way. We live in an imperfect world and in this imperfect world no new innovations are error-free, and it is a given that most people resist change. However, with most people looking for ways to save time so that they can squeeze in that thirty-minute workout or make it to their oldest sons baseball game, the automated attendant innovation is one of the best options available. In addition all businesses are looking for ways to lower operating expenses. By doing so they will increase their profit margins so that their fat end of year bonus will be even bigger and their stockholders will allow them to keep their jobs. These things are what make the automated customer service the best available option for businesses and consumers alike. Given the technology we have today, this innovation like many others can and will only get better with time.
Symbolism is a critical element in literature. Alex Haley’s The Autobiography of Malcolm X displays an abundance of symbols that offer insight into his life. These symbols demonstrate the adjustments that he went through during his dramatic development, as a person, from who the world viewed as unimportant to one of the most controversial and influential men during the civil rights movement. Alex Haley paints a vivid picture of how status became a crucial piece of the movement leader’s life. The author explores how the simple hair straightening process called conk tied him to the Caucasian world. Finally, Haley points out the significance of how eyeglasses, watches, and suitcases play a significant role in Malcolm X’s life, by being the
Comcast Corporation is a company that specializes in cable networking and high speed internet access for residential and commercial customers. “Comcast Creates More Than 5,500 New Jobs as Part of Multi-Year Customer Experience Transformation” (Comcast.com, 2015). I spent a total of three years working for them in a call center atmosphere before relocating my family. This job was one of my most memorable and enjoyable mainly because they followed the management practices which allowed everyone to function efficiently. Nominally “The primary function for most call centers, also known as ‘inbound’ call centers, is to receive telephone calls initiated by customers. Inbound call centers typically spend 60–80% of their budget on staff members who handle phone calls” (der Horst, et al., 2012, 435). My days were spent with between eight to twelve hours a day attached to a desk and phone system monitoring all aspects of job performance. Comcast “today announced a new, multi-year plan to reinvent the customer experience and to create a culture focused on exceeding customers’ expectations, at all levels of the company. The plan centers on looking at every decision through a customer lens and making measureable changes and improvements across the company” ...
He even notices this change within himself – “It was then I began to change—inside. I drew away from white people…nobody, including the teachers could decide what had come over me. I was being discussed.” (p. 39). Not only is this a major event for Malcolm’s character development, but it also conveys the central idea of systemic oppression in the text. Malcolm was an intelligent kid and had higher marks than most of the kids in his school. However, his teacher told him “A lawyer—that’s no realistic goal for a nigger.” (p.38). Systemic oppression is developed in this text because no matter how intelligent a black person was, they could not be as successful as a white
Malcolm’s situation is expressed by speaking in first person: “There I was, wearing my gun, and the detective talking to that Negro with his back to me. Today I believe that Allah was with me even then. I didn’t try to shoot him. And that saved my life.” and “The detectives grilled me. They didn’t beat me. They didn’t even put a finger on me. And I knew it was because I hadn’t tried to kill the detective.” (pg. 152). The excessive usage of short sentences used by the author suggests or symbolizes Malcolm’s current emotions at that
Without good customer service and keeping your promises, your company would have loyal customers. According to 5 Focusing Steps, “If you’re not yet sold on the idea, consider that a 2 percent increase in customer retention has the same effect as decreasing costs by 10 percent. Not only that, but it costs over six times more to get a new customer than it does to keep one.” Customer satisfaction should be a golden rule of all companies.
In Asda, this is a basic and an operative and supportive level class of an employee for the business, whereas the employee would help customers navigate around the store, answer any questions from customers, complete day-to-day set duties/work, tracking orders and handling refunds, handle complaints and talk with their manager if it’s the situation is complex and their number one priority is to help customers. However, the customer service is all the time in Asda, as the service is available for 24 hours every day. Whereas, they handle complaints and enquiries of customers by having a landline on a phone, email address and post for customers to contact about the complaints and enquires they are experiencing,
When American Express first came about, it would fit the assumed picture of a typical call center: a tall building filled with thousands of service agents aligned on every floor. For years, a typical work-day for each employee consisted of repeated, recorded, scripted, and timed phone conversations. Today, though, it is a whole new world. Today, no two conversations are the same. American Express finally realized that opening the gates and allowing employees be themselves would sell more product than ever before.
Customer service is valued as a competitive tool by many organisations. It gives you the ability to gain customer loyalty while meeting the customer’s expectations. Staff will have many skills and knowledge that will provide a competitive edge. Most organisations are known for the quality of their customer service. This means that they are known for good customer service or poor customer service. However, being known for good customer service will attract customers. It will also attract customers who are usually hard to reach.
Over the past few years, the increasing dynamism and competition in the business operating environment has led to a lot of changes in how the companies conduct themselves with respect to its customers. Customers being the focal point of revenue; manufacturers are increasingly taking interest in being focused on customer satisfaction by delivering the products and services on time.
Speed and efficiency are two qualities that everyone looks for in an employee. With consumer brands building AI in their products, speed has been at an all time high. According to research done by Desk.com, more than 22% of millennials expect a response within 10 minutes when reaching out to a consumer. So how did these consumers make sure they kept their customers happy? Well the solution was to turn to AI. Consumer brands turned to chatbots to offer 24-hour service, quickly engaging with customers to make sure all of their questions were answered. But it’s not only millennials that are expecting these rapid answers. Though we hate to say it we’ve all become digital consumers. This year about $2billion in online sales are performed through mobile digital assistance. The crazy part is the number seems to be growing every year. Another example would be artificial intelligence in the health care system. IBM created their own machine called Watson that has slowly transformed the way health care is treated. Watson is able to perform task that some of the best doctors in the world can’t do. Recently Watson has been focusing on treating rare forms of diseases in very young children. Watson is able to read all the medical literature and quickly connect patterns to provide better ways for doctors to pinpoint treatment options. Watson is able to analyze patterns in some
In customer service , reinforcement can be prompt for example, when a customer buys an item. As indicated by the Reference for Business Reference book, nonstop support can be useful when new workers are taking in an association's client administration convention in light of the fact that it can encourage the learning process and guarantee that legitimate requests are taken at a more fast
Lastly, as a customer service in one of the busiest places I have learned so many things, it turned out to be a great outcome and lovely atmosphere. Customer service entails much patience, and listening skills with each different person that approaches me every day. Staying up to date with each customer involves multitasking and building a wonderful relationship while understanding their needs. Recently, I have noticed my job has become a way for me to enhance my techniques to starting my profession confidently and
It's very well known that a companies success is not only dependant on the possession of a good product or service, but the key aspect to a successful business is excellent customer service. As the market grows, now more then ever companies are emerging, they are offering very similar types of products and services. Successful customer service can be a way a business becomes original and unique, it can be the key to attracting and maintaining loyal customers. Good customer service can start-up a business while bad customer service can harm a company. An average customer that experiences an issue will complaint to 9-10 people about the problem. A customer that received support to their problem and a potential solution will tell at least five
Customer service is used to set the direction for the business. In any organization customers should be first priority. Excellent customer service promotes customer satisfaction, employee motivation and gives the business a competitive edge among other businesses. (Adam Toporek, 2012). Excellent customer service is about creating a relationship of trust and loyalty with customers that transcends the interaction of the firm. Customers should be an organization’s number one priority. After all, without customers there will be no business and no income.
Consumers are concerned not only about a product breaking down but also about the time before service is restored, the timeliness with which service appointments are kept, the nature of dealings with service personnel, and the frequency with which service calls or repairs fail to correct outstanding problems. In those cases where problems are not immediately resolved and complaints are filed, a company’s complaint-handling procedures are also likely to affect customers’ ultimate evaluation of product and service quality.