Companies across the world have come to realize that you cannot compete on products and services alone. Ensuring reliable and consistent customer experience and support is just as crucial to growth.

Providing quality customer care, effective communication, and prompt redressal of grievances are key to customer satisfaction. From losing potential clients to eroding consumer loyalty, poor performance in customer support can cost your company in terms of lost business and reputation. It can break customer confidence in your brand and affect retention rates, slowing down growth.

While automated technological solutions in this space can provide easy ways to cut costs in the short term, the absence of committed customer service teams can have severe long-term implications. Multiple studies have shown how the adoption of personalized approaches to customer service is linked to increases in revenues. McKinsey’s Next in Personalization 2021 Report finds that companies that make even small strides in improving customer intimacy stand to have better growth and competitive outcomes.

Automated Voice Messaging Versus Human Interaction in Customer Support

Customer support departments have adopted automated voice messaging systems and other generative AI tools on a large scale. Advances in the field of Natural Language Processing (NLP), for one, have led to the creation of innovative technologies in this field. With this, chatbots and automated voice messaging systems have become common across companies, big and small.

By all accounts, these are highly efficient technologies. The question is, do they contribute to overall business growth, and more specifically, customer retention and expansion?

Market adoption of AI in customer support has been on the rise phenomenally. One report estimates that the conversational AI market size is set to grow from $10.7 billion in 2023 to close to $30 billion by 2028. Yet, poorly implemented Interactive Voice Response (IVR) systems can cost companies to lose core customers.

IVR technology allows incoming callers to access information through a pre-recorded standardized system. This occurs either through a phone menu or speech-recognition options. By very definition, IVR systems are limited to pre-set responses that may not be enough to meet customer needs or expectations. The worst part about them is that they often come without the option of getting redirected to a human agent or a specific department.

Leading B2B research firm Clutch conducted a six-month study surveying 500 people on the effectiveness of human interactions and how companies set up their phone menus. Of those surveyed, more than half ranked automated phone menus as one of their top three frustrations with telephone customer service. Another 79% said “efficient resolution” of their issues was the outcome they valued the most when calling a support team.

This just goes to show how in-house human receptionists and customer support teams are not dispensable. It’s a simple fact that holds even in an age where technological innovations are presented as magic-wand solutions.

While automated voice messaging systems may offer limited convenience in some circumstances, they are not well-rounded solutions. Finding the right balance between automation and personalization to ensure the best possible customer experience and continued business growth is important. Over-reliance on one approach to the complete exclusion of the other is not a smart choice. It certainly helps to automate simplified responses and FAQs, but human intervention still needs to be an easily approachable option.

This helps to avoid tiring out customers through endless navigation, either online or through call options. Without the option for human intervention, automated voice messaging can act as a barrier to customer loyalty. Traits like insufficient context, misdirection, and faulty comprehension are common in automated systems and can create confusion and frustration on the customer’s end. They can mean less work or lower costs for the company, but they end up causing more work and possible exasperation for customers.

Outsourcing Customer Management Anxieties

Companies like Global Messaging Network (GMN) serve as proficient telecom centers providing live answering support to businesses across sectors. Based in Southern California, the company provides a bilingual set-up with English and Spanish fluency. By targeting a metropolitan crowd that has one of the largest Hispanic and Latino communities in America, the company has managed to tap into a unique business opportunity.

Companies outsourcing their call-answering services to third-party providers can focus on more important areas of business development and expansion. GMN offers companies the services of a competent team of fluent bilingual receptionists that answer customer calls. Rigorous testing and training ensure excellent standards in demeanor, tone, language skills, grammatical proficiency, and other soft skills. This helps build a positive brand image for clients with personalized needs.

Check out the company’s client testimonials to know more about the cost-saving and sales-boosting nature of its services.

As Chris Connolly, VP of Product Marketing at Genesys, puts it: “Companies still need human representatives to handle the complexities of certain voice interactions that cannot be satisfactorily synthesized and automated.”

What’s Lacking in Automated Answering Services?

There are various problems with automated voice messaging systems and answering services. The most obvious among them is the lack of personalization. Here are some significant others:

1. Lack of nuanced assistance: Resolving customer concerns can be quite challenging when the problem isn’t a straightforward one. When it comes to complex, nuanced queries, voice messaging systems are not fool-proof methods. Many situations need basic human understanding and common sense, which a machine doesn’t always have.
2. Alienated consumer base: Putting customers off with poor support services is bad news for long-term loyalty. An Invoca survey found that almost 75% of people are likely to switch to another business after a single negative experience with phone support.
3. Time-consuming: Depending on the nature of the query, consumers are forced to spend a long time navigating the complex maze of automated phone menus. Instead of being redirected towards a quick and reasonable solution, they are often left battling irrelevant options. Situations like these can be particularly aggravating for customers who are looking for a quick clarification.
4. Impersonal responses: Automated voice messaging systems often have robotic and flat responses to consumer concerns. They are also unable to empathize or de-escalate a situation in case of an angry response. This can be highly detrimental to customer retention.

Customer Experience Triumphs Short-Term Gains

Customer experience is the new battlefield in fiercely competitive markets. It’s an element that can make or break market dominance. Customers who feel valued are more likely to continue doing business with the company and recommend it to others as well.

Statistics show consumers prefer authentic human resolutions over automated response systems. Automation can become a roadblock rather than a resource in situations of sufficient complexity. Excessive reliance on AI can weaken the bonds between companies and customers that are critical to long-term success.

Cost-Cutting That Leads To Shrinking Revenue Makes No Business Sense

Traditional phone answering teams that manage inbound calls serve as the first point of contact for many businesses. They solve professional inquiries, arrange appointment scheduling, and manage conflict resolution, among other things. Training and assessing various departments can be cumbersome for any growing business, which is why outsourcing virtual reception facilities can be a tremendous advantage.

Ease In-House Reception Worries with GMN’s services!

Global Messaging Network has cross-sector expertise in legal, medical, real estate, and various contractual businesses. Our company offers transparent pricing options and boasts extensive customer reviews to help potential clients make a decision.

All it takes to benefit from GMN’s services is filling out a simple account profile form to get started with a customized live receptionist and answering services. Your account will be programmed and activated in 24 hours.

Get your business on an equal footing with leading competitors with our services today!